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Legal Limit Takes Class of 23’ in Division 11
by Ian Warner

When Legal Limit won the Class of 23’ at Marco Island with a 39.14-pounder, the biggest fish that they’ve caught in the SKA, they knew they had a good chance at the division. “We’ve paid our dues, we’re due” smiled Jeff Silverthorne, recalling the Ocala team’s seven year history of fishing the SKA. “If we can put a big fish in the boat two weeks from now, we’ll do pretty well,” predicted Captain Mike Gourley. While the 19.90-pound king they landed at Naples fishing their 23’ Mercury powered Yellowfin probably wasn’t the smoker they had in mind, it would still prove to be big enough to hold their lead through the final tournament in Sarasota. Gourley, Silverthorne, and Paul “PJ” Meyers racked up a 59.04-pound aggregate, riding the strength of their big king to lead Division 11’s Class of 23’. Taking the division as well as being the top Mercury boat in the class earns them free entry and lodging for this year’s trip to the Nationals. Congratulations, guys.

Get Snookerd improved on last year’s standings, rising from third divisionally to take second with a 57.41 aggregate. Captain Chris Workman, Sal Otero, Brian Finger, and Reggie Drielich had a strong, consistent start, landing a 27.99-pounder at Marco Island, and then topping that with a 29.42 at their hometown of Naples. With only 1.63-pounds keeping them from taking the division, they headed to Sarasota with their 21’ Yamaha powered Contender to find kingfish. But with Mother Nature pulling the double-whammy of no fish and rough seas, it was not to be. Still, this strong showing guarantees the team another trip to the Nationals, and they will surely be bringing a nice king to the scales in November.

Tampa native Captain John Thomas secured third place in Division 11 on Junior. Fishing a 23’ Yamaha powered Sea Craft, Thomas, Mike Militis, Brian Calzon, and Steve McCraken landed a 28.81-pound king at Marco Island and managed a 21.56 at Naples. Not one of the chosen few to land a king at Sarasota, the team had an aggregate of 50.37-pounds for the first two tournaments.

Team Typhoon, fishing aboard a 23’ Yamaha powered Regulator and Captained by Ty Ellis, brought in two fish to place fourth. Ty and Boyce Davis landed a 22.88-pound king at Marco Island then backed it up with a 16.81-pounder at Naples. Their two fish aggregate of 39.69-pounds earns them a top five victory to take back to Jacksonville.

The last of the Class of 23’ boats to weigh two fish is Kora, a 23’ Mercury powered Ken Craft, rounding out the top five. Captain Tim Roush and Mike Gervais got their biggest king, an 18.92, at Naples and one slightly smaller at Marco Island, an 18.11-pounder. This Jacksonville team has got to be happy, moving up from last year’s divisional finish of ninth to earn fifth.

Big Fish Dish landed the second largest fish in the Class of 23’ throughout the division’s tournaments: a 32.37-pounder landed at Marco Island on their 21’ Honda powered Action Craft. This single fish was enough to earn Captain Randall Greenhow, Paul Sharp, and Rick Greenhow second place at Marco Island and earns them a sixth place divisional prize to take back to Lakeland.

Team Wilshire from Naples landed the third place fish at Marco Island, a 32.37-pounder. Landed on their 21’ Suzuki powered Helms, this fish earned seventh place for Captain Andrew Gunn and Mick Peterson.

Bone Collector, a 23’ Yamaha powered Sea Pro, took third place at Naples with a 24.82-pound mossback. This nice single fish earned Captain Sam Kennedy and his crew the eighth place divisional prize to take home to Felda, FL.

Making the long trek from Angier, NC, Team Lex-Abb finished in the top ten last year. They managed to do it again with a 22.32.-pounder that they landed fishing Naples on their 20’ Mercury powered Key West. The fish was good to place Captain Robert Hayes and his crew in ninth.

Rounding out the top ten is Team K.O., from Indian Shores, FL. This team was the only Class of 23’ to land anything at Sarasota, a hard won fish by John Ford and his crew aboard the 23’ Yamaha powered Contender, good for tenth place and their ticket to the Nationals. Congratulations to all and good luck with the rest of the season.