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Georgetown, South Carolina – Tailwalker’s 12th Annual Offshore Challenge signaled the beginning of Division 3 competition, and from the looks of things these South Carolina SKA teams have been keeping their skills sharp in anticipation of this event. SKA boats swept both the top ten in the Open Class and the top three in the Class of 23’, with a vast majority of those boats hailing from South Carolina. But it was a Georgia boy, Captain Rusty Campbell of the Half Mine, who landed the biggest king of the tournament to the tune of 20 grand.

After losing a big one Friday, Captain Campbell set out the next day with renewed determination to the exact same spot: Edisto, about 80 miles from Georgetown. Reaching their destination the team knew they had made the right decision: there was plenty of bait, the skies were clear, and the ocean was calm as could be. “We’re in God’s country,” smiled Campbell, and the good Lord provided a plentiful bounty for Half Mine. Just before noon the long flat line started screaming while trolling the 35’ Yamaha powered Triton in 90 to 100 feet of water. Scott Rizer started clearing lines while Mike Davis grabbed the rod and began a stressful 45-minute battle. “He was fighting the fish and we weren’t sure what it was, and there were about ten amber jacks following the fish for 15 minutes,” reported Patrick Bellamy. “We were really scared the amber jacks were going to attack the fish, but I guess he was too big,” he grinned. Davis finally wore the big girl down, bringing her close enough for Bellamy to seal the deal with the gaff. “We have to give a big ‘thank you’ to Nauti Buoys, a real class act. They knew we had a good fish on and pulled their lines and got out of our way.” Campbell knew their slab had a good chance of taking it all, and Half Mine was soon racing back to Georgetown. The second boat to weigh, Half Mine’s king tipped the scale to 32.19 pounds, setting a lead that could not be contended throughout the rest of the tournament.

Pulling to the scales right behind Half Mine was the Miss Jenn IV, Captain Ron Greene’s 23’ Mercury powered Baja, and from the looks of things they had a twin to that 32-pounder. You know Campbell was sweating it as he returned to his boat passing Mario Difelice carrying the big mossback to the scale, but Miss Jenn IV’s king would prove just shy of the top mark. “We had a great bite with lots of fish from 8:15 to noon,” reported Difelice on the dock after weighing their king, “but we caught that one at 10 a.m.” Fishing 20 miles south of Georgetown in 63 feet of water, that king fell for a naked pogy on a long line 70 yards back. Difelice got their fish to the side of the boat in 20 minutes, and although the team knew they had a real contender in the bag they kept fishing. “Then we were using a small, legal Spanish for bait and a big king hit it but never swallowed it. When we got him to the boat he spit the Spanish out, even though all the hooks were still in the Spanish,” grimaced Greene. Arriving at the dock their big mackerel would go 31.95 pounds, missing Half Mine’s weight by less than a quarter-pound. “We’re looking good,” smiled Greene after Difelice weighed that fish, and indeed they were, that was the second largest king of the event, earning $5000 and top honors in the Class of 23’ to take home to Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Team Blue Runner came to Georgetown early to do their homework, pre-fishing Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and was rewarded by landing two great kings to earn the second place two-fish aggregate position. “We heard there was a pretty good bite down in Charleston, so we went down there,” reported Captain Craig Hoover. Finding good bait in the area the team fished the jetties, and found three good fish. “We kept upgrading, but by 11 o’clock we had the 31-pounder in the boat and decided that was good enough.” Indeed it was, their 31.88 lead the leaderboard after day one, but Blue Runner wasn’t finished. Heading the 31’ Yamaha powered Contender right back to the same spot in an effort to repeat their performance, the team only managed one more king. “But it was all we needed,” grinned Hoover. “The highlight of the trip was my nephew, Alex Hays, catching the big king and making Top Junior Angler for the event,” he continued. A great weekend of fishing for Captain Craig, John and Todd Hoover, Alex Hays and Billy Bryan, this was the team’s best finish to date, and the icing on the cake was a $10,000 check to take home to Pawley’s Island, South Carolina. Watch out for the Blue Runner at their next event at the Rumph Brother Marine KMT.

Third place went to Solid Surface, Captain Andy Nettles’ new custom 36’ Mercury powered Hanley Sullivan. Nettles started designing this boat four years ago, and while he still wants to tweak out a few things, you can tell that he has put a lot of thought and effort into his vessel. “I’ve been laid out of it for about a year now, but I’m ready to get back into it,” smiled Nettles. He got back into it with a bang, landing a 31.57-pounder on day two to earn a third place $5,000 check. Captain Nettles, Mike Rumph and Adam Hempton had a rough day of it on Friday, but came back strong on Saturday fishing the Charleston jetties. “We had five kings in the mid-20s by noon, and that’s when the big one came.” Andy took up angling duties as Mike navigated and Adam waited in the wings with the gaff, and waited, and waited. “She was hooked in the belly, so it took a while to get her in,” Nettles admitted. But it proved to be worth the wait when Adam pulled the gaff into the boat with a flopping 31.57-pounder on the end. Hailing from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Nettles has been tournament fishing since he was 11, and is definitely a Captain that Division 3 anglers should be keeping a wary eye on. Check out next month’s Angler for a more detailed view of the custom built Solid Surface.

Captain Joe Wells and the Wells family on Dirty Work are up next, landing a 31-pounder on Saturday for a solid fourth place finish. Navigating his 26’ Yamaha powered Regulator south halfway to Charleston, Captain Joe, Paula, Amelia and Logan Wells and Randy Worth found themselves weeding through sharks for most of the day, only landing one good fish, but that was all they needed. “Our Lady Angler caught the fish,” beamed the proud father. “She’s been fishing since before she could walk, and been a SKA member for 14 years now,” he continued. Her passion and experience were evident when the fight continued to wear on for the better part on an hour, the king not coming to the surface for even a moment as the team chased her down for over two miles. After weeding through sharks for most of the day and not being able to get an eyeball on this fish, you know what running through the Dirty Work crew’s mind. “We just kept waiting and waiting for it to come up,” he reported, and when it finally did they found Amelia’s efforts were not in vain. A 31.12-pounder earned a $4,000 check for this Wando, South Carolina team, as well Top Lady Angler honors for Amelia.

Hailing from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Captain Mike Hayes and the Raisin Hayes crew round out the Open Class top five. On Friday Captain Mike and Hunter Hayes, Baird and Clayton Sanders and Bob Miller headed the 32’ Yamaha powered Wellcraft east to fish 22 miles off the rocks. Trolling in 60 feet of water their only king of the day came a little before noon, and Captain Hayes stepped up to the plate, grabbing the rod. A quick three minutes later Baird had the gaff planted firmly in the king and the team had a solid 30-pounder in the boat. Heading back out Saturday the team managed one smaller king and a Spanish that fell a half-pound short of winning that category, but they couldn’t beat the initial 30.03-pounder that earned them $2,500 and second place Junior Angler honors for Clayton Sanders and Hunter Hayes.

Sixth place fell to the Frequen-Sea, a 32’ Yamaha powered Contender out of Pawley’s Island, South Carolina. Captain John and Chris Stanfield and Steve and Rhonda Faria landed a 29.88-pounder for the position. Next up is Captain Patrick Condon’s Punch List, a 23’ Yamaha powered Sea Pro also out of Pawley’s Island, South Carolina. Captain Condon, Norman Wilcox and Beau Dingle landed a 28.46 to take Class of 23’ second place honors and $2,500. But that’s not all, Captain Condon and crew had the second largest aggregate, 52.80 pounds, earning an additional $1,500.

Yard Boy caught the next largest king, a 28.05-pounder for seventh place. Captain John Walpole, Jr., Greg Garner and Michael Herald fish a 31’ Yamaha powered Contender out of Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina. Eighth place fell to Captain Bob Wiggins and his 27’ Yamaha powered Contender, Rock Doc. Captain Wiggins, Whit Parnell, Ben Brown and James Smoak landed a 27.46-pounder to take home the honors to Charleston, South Carolina.

A 26.94-pounder was good to earn Captain David Perry and the MSC crew ninth place. A Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina team, Captain Perry, Jay Sims, Ralph Turner and Michael Smith fish a 35’ Mercury powered Triton. Captain Dave and David Yates round out the top ten on Yates Sea with a 26.91. They fish a 31’ Mercury powered Contender out of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. A Salt Weapon rounds out the top three in the Class of 23’, landing a 26.85-pounder. Captain David and Daryl Futch and Jim Chapman found their king trolling their 23’ Yamaha powered Contender 20 miles off of Charleston, and earned $1,500 to take home to Glennville, Georgia.

Captain Robert Olsen’s Knot @ Work came to the scales with a 26.18-pounder to take 11th place, while non-member Reel Job scaled a 26.18 on day one to beat Captain Ralph Justice and the Reel Justice’s day two 26.18-pounder. Finicky landed a 24.70 to earn Captain Spencer Carnes a 24.70-pound 14th place finish, and non-member No Worries rounds out the top 15 with a 24.49.

Tailwalker Final Standings

1.   HALF MINE ............................................. 32.19
      Triton/Mercury
      Rusty Campbell
      Mike Davis
      Scott Rizer
      Patrick Bellamy

2.   BLUE RUNNER ........................................ 54.63 (Agg.)
      Contender/Yamaha
      Craig Hoover
      John Hoover
      Todd Hoover
      Alex Hays
      Billy Bryan

3.   SOLID SURFACE ..................................... 31.57
      Hanley Sullivan/Mercury
      Andy Nettles
      Mike Rumph
      Adam Hempton

4.   DIRTY WORK .......................................... 31.12
      Regulator/Yamaha
      Joe Wells
      Paula Wells
      Amelia Wells
      Logan Wells
      Randy Worth

5.   RAISIN HAYES ....................................... 30.07
      Wellcraft/Yamaha
      Mike Hayes
      Bob Miller
      Baird Sanders
      Clayton Sanders
      Hunter Hayes

6.   FREQUEN-SEA ....................................... 29.88
      Contender/Yamaha
      John Stanfield
      Steve Faria
      Chris Stanfield
      Rhonda Faria

7.   YARD BOY .............................................. 28.05
      Contender/Yamaha
      John Walpole, Jr.
      Greg Garner
      Michael Herald

8.   ROCK DOC .............................................. 27.46
      Contender/Yamaha
      Bob Wiggins
      Whit Parnell
      Ben Brown
      James Smoak

9.   MSC ........................................................ 26.94
      Triton/Mercury
      David Perry
      Jay Sims
      Ralph Turner
      Michael Smith

10. YATES SEA ............................................. 26.91
      Contender/Mercury
      Dave Yates
      David Yates

11. KNOT @ WORK ........................................ 26.73
      Sailfish/Yamaha
      Robert Olsen
      George Saville
      Bob Olynick
      Mark Gabrielle
     
12. Reel Job ................................................... 26.18

13. REEL JUSTICE ......................................... 26.18
      Contender/Yamaha
      Ralph Justice
      Andrew P. Justice
      Brian Justice
      Christopher Campbell

14. FINICKY.................................................. 24.70
      Key West/Evinrude
      Spencer Carnes
      Joel Hair

15. No Worries ............................................... 24.49

      Class of 23’

1.   MISS JENN IV ........................................... 31.95
      Baja/Mercury
      Ron Greene
      Mario Difelice

2.   PUNCH LIST .............................................. 28.46
      Sea Pro/Yamaha
      Patrick Condon
      Norman Wilcox
      Beau Dingle

3.   A SALT WEAPON ....................................... 26.85
      Contender/Yamaha
      David Futch
      Daryl Futch
      Jim Chapman

SKA Top Lady Angler
Amelia Wells...................................................... Dirty Work

SKA Top Junior Anglers
1st Alex Hays .................................................... Blue Runner
2nd Hunter Hayes & Clayton Sanders .................. Raisin Hayes
3rd Aaron Conyers ............................................ Play’N Hookie