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Fernandina Beach, Florida - Anglers moaned and groaned when they read that the Nassau Sport Fishing Association was going to reverse the order of check-out from last year. This year the Open Class boats would check out first. After all, fair is fair. The Class boats were offended but make no mistake, it made no difference either way to the team of the Southbound, Lon Bryan IV, Andy Miska, Tyler Eicholz and Thomas Cowan. In their 23-foot Yamaha powered Contender, the team ran to the same general area at the Elton Bottom where they caught winning fish in both the Sapelo and the Kingbuster tournaments. “When we arrived we quickly hooked up to two small kings,” said Cowan who caught the winning king. “We were in 110 feet of water when our goggle eyes on our short and medium lines were hit. One king skied on the short line and we immediately saw it was a monster so we cut the other line and went to work. She was in the boat by 8:20 and we were off to the scale.”
   Class boats pay attention: this team has won three big events and has banked over $100,000 already this year and we still have three more tournaments in both Divisions 4 and 5. Instead of grumbling about this disadvantage or that problem, this team has just gone out and fished hard. Is Lady Luck on their side? Time will tell, however you can't take away the fact that they are scaling big fish and winning. In fact they now have a two-fish aggregate in Division 5 of 97.20 points. Richard Geiger won the Division last year with 106.87 points and he's one of the best Class fishermen in the country. They're good, fish hard, and deserve all the praise we can give them!
   To add icing to the cake, another Class boat won third with a 46.34, Fishbuster with Robert, Ricky and Kristin Bishop and John Peiffer. “We knew there were good fish at the Elton Bottom and had perfect conditions on Friday,” said Robbie Bishop. “We were in 115 feet of water fighting off sharks and barracudas when the long line got hit at 1:30. A half hour later she was in the boat and we were on the way to the scale.” At the dock Johnny Z asked Robbie to get his fish for a picture. “It's only a 35-pounder,” said Bishop. When the team held the fish up Johnny Z exclaimed, “Your fish is a mid to high 40s.”
It was, and Bishop now sits in second in the Division race and his daughter Kristen won the Top Lady honors and now is in first in the Division's Lady standings.
   How's that for a couple of Class boats?
   Wayne Preeschl's It's A Keeper, a Yamaha powered Hydra Sport, picked up fourth with a 43.18 scaled on the second day of the event. “We knew there were good fish at the Elton Bottom but we but for whatever reason we didn't go on Friday,” said Preechl. “We had to go on Saturday but it wasn't fun in 4- to 6-foot seas but we did it. Trolling in 115 feet of water our king ate a ribbonfish down 52 feet and we had her in the boat at 11 o'clock. Then we took a nice slow ride back to the scales.” They're now sixth in the standings and surely a show in to get to the Nationals with three events left.
   After the Fernandina Beach tournament, Steve Lucie and his team of Jimmy McIntire and Andy Pettit find the Mellow Yellow atop the leaderboard in the Division thanks to a fourth place, 42.02 finish. “We were south of where the big kings were caught, at the 21 fathom,” said a happy Lucie who did well in the Kingbuster tournament also. “After at least ten small kings we finally got a good strike off our downrigger. She ate a ribbon fish 35 feet below the surface and came to gaff fairly easy.” Lucie and his team definitely have a hot hook this season!
   Major League is in second place in the overall standings thanks to a sixth place finish here. Kyle Harding and Robbie Revees scaled a 41.48.
   Justin and Corbell Bohannon shook up the leaderboard scaling a nice 40.10 aboard their Redbone. They are just out of the top 20 but have only scaled one king.
   John and Julia Warren moved the Vital Sign into eighth in the standings after earning eighth place in the tournament with a 40.10 also.
   Ninth place fell to the Low Pressure. Jerry Cloer and Bob and Shane Bullock picked up a 38.92. Shane was the tournament’s Top Junior Angler as well as the SKA's Subway Top Junior.
   Rounding out the top ten was Richard, Jason, Trina and Ritchie Edmonds and Billy Miller's Organized Chaos with a 36.64.
   SKA teams earned the top two spots in the Class of 23’.
   Randy Smith and Bruce Nipper ran the Pack Rat into the top slot with a 38.06, which would have made the top ten overall also. A good weekend indeed. After finding a good fish in the Kingbuster at the Caps House off St. Augustine, the team set forth to make the 55-mile run south. “We fished in 30 feet of water and had a mid 20s in the bag and a release of five others,” said Smith who is now in third place in the class. “At 1:45 my favorite set up of a ribbon fish on a long flat line was smashed. After a 25-minute fight we were on our way to the scale.”
   The Reel Slick was the second place team in the Class. Stephen Carman, Keith Grovenstein and Paul Harnage also went south to St. Augustine waters, the Red Tops. “We hadn't caught a fish and at one o'clock we were getting ready to pull the lines in when she hit,” said Carman who indicated that this was their best SKA finish to date. “We were in 40 feet of water, and she hit a blue runner on the medium line. I grabbed the rod and within a few minutes we thought we had a money fish and went to the scales.” It weighed 32.52 and put the team within striking distance of a top 15 in the overall Class.
   The Nassau Sport Fishing Club does a great job of taking care of the fisherman's needs. From free food at the Captain's Meeting compliments of Hooters, to a great seafood meal at the awards, it has to be one of our top 10 events in the country. Rick Langford, the Tournament Director, has to be commended for putting together such a great event, finding a great array of sponsors, and rustling up a great volunteer staff. We appreciate all you do for our sport!

Fernandina Final Standings

1.   SOUTHBOUND............................53.20
      Contender/Yamaha
      Lon Bryan
      Thomas Cowan
      Andy Miska
      Tyler Eicholz

2.   Miss Jessie..................................65.14 (aggregate)

3.   FISHBUSTER.............................46.34
      Bluewater/Mercury
      Robert Bishop
      Richard Bishop
      John Peiffer
      Kristen Bishop

4.   IT'S A KEEPER...........................43.18
      Hydra Sports/Yamaha
      Wayne Preeschl
      Chuck DeGrove
      Ryan Preeschl

5.   MELLOW YELLOW.......................42.02
      Yellowfin/Yamaha
      Steve Lucie
      Jimmy McIntire
      Andy Pettit

6.   MAJOR LEAGUE..........................41.48
      Contender/Yamaha
      Kyle Harding
      Robbie Revees

7.   REDBONE...................................40.10
      Fountain/Mercury
      Justin Bohannon
      Corbett Bohannon

8.   VITAL SIGN...............................40.10
      Donzi/Mercury
      John Warren
      Julia Warren

9.   LOW PRESSURE.........................38.92
      Contender/Yamaha
      Ritch Mabry
      Jerry Cloer
      Bob Bullock
      Shane Bullock

10. ORGANIZED CHAOS...................36.64
      Sea Chaser/Honda
      Richard Edmonds
      Jason Edmonds
      Trina Edmonds
      Ritchie Edmonds
      Billy Miller

11. HARLANS HABIT........................36.48
      Hydra Sports/Yamaha
      Jim Cissel
      Ryan Jones

12. WOUND TIGHT...........................36.06
      Donzi/Mercury
      Jim Scharfschwerdt
      Tommy Mulligan
      Katherine Scharfschwerdt
      Matthew Scharfschwerdt
      Wendell Nolan

13. HYDRO THUNDER.......................35.10
      Yellowfin/Evinrude
      Fred Peet
      Matt Mattheson
      Matthew Mattheson

14. REEL QUICK...............................34.44
      Donzi/Mercury
      Jerry Carter
      Jeremy Carter
      Jim Thomas

15. TRIPPED OUT............................33.68
      Yellowfin/Mercury
      Joe Heath
      Don Johnson

16. BEER MONEY..............................33.44
      Fountain/Mercury
      Chris Stephens
      Jerry Richardson
      Joey Kaylor

17. A1A...........................................33.14
      Dusky/Mercury
      Ron Gibson
      James Schulte

18. Twin Terrors................................32.94

19. SNATCH-UM...............................32.60
      Contender/Mercury
      Tyler Patterson
      Billy Patterson

20. REAL YELLOW PAGES................32.10
      Contender/Yamaha
      Kenny Crawford
      Doreen Fletcher
      Bill Bazemore
      Chris Bazemore
      John Giese

CLASS OF 23’

1.   PACK RAT..................................38.06
      Mako/Mariner
      Randy Smith
      Denise Zimmerman
      John Dibble
      Bruce Nipper

2.   REEL SLICK...............................32.52
      ProLine/Honda
      Stephen Carman
      Paul Harnage
      Keith Grovenstein

3.   Bladerunner................................31.92

SUBWAY SKA JUNIOR ANGLERS

1.  SHANE BULLOCK ..........................LOW PRESSURE
2.  MATTHEW SCHARFSCHWERDT.......WOUND TIGHT
3.  MATT MATTESON..........................HYDRO THUNDER

TOP LADY ANGLER
KRISTEN BISHOP...............................FISHBUSTER