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The weekend of August 11-13 was yet another rough one in the Atlantic Ocean off southeast North Carolina, but 113 boats braved rough conditions to fish the 15th Annual Rotary Club of Snead's Ferry King Mackerel Tournament, based out of New River Marina.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be offer two possible days of fishing, but the inclement weather motivated tournament organizers to cancel Saturday as a fishing day.

The overall winner of this year's event was the 25' Mercury powered Hydra-Sport Madness, owned and Captained by Mark Deans. His son Ashton Deans brought the fish to the Emerald Isle, North Carolina boat in the rough seas and also brought home the Junior Angler prize. The Deans' 30.90-pound king mackerel earned them a total check for $28,600.

The winning king bit around 12:30 between 4-Mile Rock and AR275. It ate a naked pogy trolled 35 feet down on the downrigger. The king took a long run after eating the bait, and then after another short run he came up near the boat.

Mark Deans sank a gaff into the king's head after a fight he estimated at 15 minutes. “We were glad we could put him in the boat quickly in the rough seas,” he said. The Deans trolled for one more hour before running back to New River Marina to weigh their fish.

The Deans also caught several sharks over the day, but the 48-inch tournament-winning fish was the only king mackerel bite they had.

Dean estimated seas at four to six feet with northeast winds of 15 to 20 knots during the day, and he had to run his 25-footer directly into the seas on the way to the fishing grounds.

Instead of burning fishing time trying to catch bait Sunday morning, the Madness team bought their menhaden from Captain Stacy's Fishing Center.

Mark Deans wished to thank the Raleigh Saltwater Fishing Club and specifically its president Walter Simpkins, as well as Cecil Holcomb and the Reel Destruction Fishing Team, for helping him learn to king mackerel fish many years ago. This was the Madness team's first win in a long SKA fishing career.

Second place went to Sanford, North Carolina’s Captain Tom Eshbach. He was fishing aboard his 31' Contender Chevy II, which is powered by twin Yamaha 300 HPDI's, with Billy Boaz and Miles Bunn. Their 29.98-pound king brought the Chevy II team $10,130.

The Chevy II king hit a naked pogy trolled long around 11:45. The bite came at Christmas Rock, and Boaz took the rod. The king's first run wasn't very long, and the team didn't believe they had a large fish. However, when the second run tore over 200 yards of line from Boaz's reel, the anglers knew they had a solid king on. Bunn, who was at the helm in the three- to five-foot seas, got the boat near the fish, only to see it make a third, shorter run. Eshbach planted a gaff in the king soon after the third run.

The Chevy II team lost one smaller king earlier in the day, and the only other action they had under Sunday's mostly overcast skies was a single shark. The crew caught bait over the previous three days, avoiding difficult bait-catching conditions on Sunday.

Eshbach wishes to express gratitude to sponsor Central Chevrolet of Sanford, Power Marine Outfitters, and all his friends in Snead's Ferry who have helped him catch fish over the years.

The Snead's Ferry-based Builder's Choice team secured third place overall in this year's event with a 28.39-pound king mackerel.

Team Power Marine Outfitters was the third place SKA boat in the hometown tournament, weighing a 27.75-pound king. Angler Louis Hayes also captured the Senior Angler title for the team, which included Benjie Dowdy, Mullet Johnson and Captain Rich Tudor. The Power Marine Outfitters team was aboard a 33T Contender powered by triple 250 Yamaha four-strokes.

Their fish bit near Drum Inlet around 9:45 on Sunday. A pogy beneath a clear Cape Lookout Smokers Only skirt trolled on the downrigger accounted for the king. After the bite, the fish smoked 100 yards of line off Hayes' reel, then turned around and came straight back at the boat. Johnson gaffed the fish after the short, ten-minute fight.  

The team also caught a king around 15 pounds and had one other strike before catching the 27.75-pound fish, which brought them a check for $1,441.

Tudor estimated seas at a steady four feet through the partly sunny day, but he added that the new 33T Contender handled them very well with the bow down. The Power Marine Outfitters Team caught bait in about half an hour Sunday morning at Harker's Island.

Tudor wished to thank sponsors Power Marine Outfitters, Contender Boats, New River Marina, Bett's Nets and the Snead's Ferry Rotary Club. Fifth place overall went to the Reel Dream team with a 24.93-pound king.

Ty Cobb, fishing solo aboard the 23' Honda-powered Pro-Line Get-R-Done, secured SKA fourth place and just over $1,000 with a 24.24-pound king mackerel.

His king bit a naked pogy in the prop wash around 11:00 Sunday. The bite came as he trolled on the east side of Yaupon Reef.

Fishing alone, it took Cobb extra time to clear his spread as the mackerel ran offshore. Once the other lines were in, Cobb turned the Carolina Beach-based boat offshore and chased the king down. The king made two more runs after Cobb caught up to it. The king was barely hooked in the side when Cobb was finally able to gaff it. Once in the boat, he noted that one of the hooks had pulled out of the fish during the fight.

Cobb didn't believe he could get a bigger fish in the rough seas, which worsened the further he got from the beach, so decided to head for Snead's Ferry as soon as he put the fish in the boat. The 24-pound king was the only bite he got all day.
 
Catching bait was not difficult for Cobb on Sunday morning, as a friend called him to report at least an acre of pogies on the surface near the old Long Beach Pier. One toss of the cast net was all he needed to fill the livewell. Cobb wishes to thank JaxWraps of Jacksonville, Florida, for wrapping his Pro-Line.

SKA fifth place went to Allen Kinney' s Oak Island, North Carolina team. He and teammate Bruce Jones brought a 23.91-pound king to Snead's Ferry in the Gambler, a 24’ Evinrude powered Hydra-Sport.

Kinney and Jones were about to pull in the lines for the day when their king bit off Yaupon Beach.

“I knew I had to be running by 2:30, and the fish hit at 2:15,” Kinney remarked. The Gambler was chumming with ground pogies at anchor when the king ate a live pogy close to the boat. They were able to gaff the fish after a short fight of around ten minutes. As soon as the fish hit the deck, Kinney headed in to the beach. He ran the waterway for over two hours to make New River Marina before scales closed for the day.

The Gambler crew caught several spanish mackerel and sharks through the day, but the fifth place fish was their only king bite. They had no trouble catching bait, which was abundant off Caswell Beach.

Top honors in the SKA Class of 23' went to Ashley Jones and the Miss Teny team out of Walstonburg, North Carolina. They brought a 13.12-pound king mackerel to the scales in their 23' Mercury-powered Palmetto despite only making 12 knots into Sunday's four-foot chop and northeast 15- to 20-knot winds.

Their king ate a naked pogy trolled on top near Drum Inlet. Angler Randy Chase took the rod when the king bit around 11:00 Sunday morning. Following a short fight that was somewhat complicated by the snotty seas, Josh Reylea was able to gaff the fish.

Other than the king, the Miss Teny crew caught a shark and a triggerfish on the downrigger. They were able to catch bait at Harker's Island Sunday morning, but the breezy weather made it difficult to spot the pogies.

Snead's Ferry Standings

1.   MADNESS.................................................. 30.90
      Hydra Sport/Mercury
      Mark Deans
      M. Ashton Deans

2.   CHEVY II................................................... 29.98
      Contender/Yamaha
      Tom Eshbach
      Bill Boaz

3.   Builders Choice........................................... 28.39

4.   POWER MARINE........................................ 27.75
      Contender/Yamaha
      Rick Tudor
      Robert Hayes
      Gary Johnson
      Benjie Doughtie

5.   Reel Dream................................................ 24.93

6.   GIT-R-DONE.............................................. 24.24
      Pro Line/Honda
      Ty Cobb

7.   GAMBLER.................................................. 23.91
      Hydra Sport/Evinrude
      Allen Kinney

8.   Backlash.................................................... 23.64

9.   Hooked Up................................................. 23.41

10. Release...................................................... 23.14

      Class of 23’

1.   Mean C...................................................... 27.58

2.   Reel Motivator............................................ 22.48

3.   MISS TENY............................................... 13.12
      Palmetto/Mercury
      Ashley Jones
      Randy Chase
      Frankie Jones

SKA Top Lady Angler
Kelly Tannery.................................................... The Right One Baby

SKA Top Junior Anglers
Sponsored by Bethel Marine Electronics

1st M. Ashton Deans.......................................... Madness
2nd Jordan Norris.............................................. G’s Machine
3rd Frankie Jones.............................................. Miss Teny