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Destin, Florida - If you had to pick a weekend to end Division 7's season, this would have not been it. Fishing out of Destin is tough enough, especially when you have to run so far to the west, but when you add rain squalls and seas of six to eight feet, you have a real challenge. Such was the case but after scoring a big goose egg on day one, Lynn Nolan and his Pure Attitude team were determined to make something happen. After all, they still had a shot at the $35,000 first place prize. Then disaster happened.
 
The team left Mobile Bay into the slop after running the Intracoastal Waterway west from Destin. “The seas were every of bit five to six feet,” said Nolan who fishes with Steve Hall, Elizabeth Roberts, Darren Blanchard and Shawn Smith on his 36' Mercury powered Yellowfin. “We were making good headway when one of our motors quit. We quickly decided to virtually stop where we were, couldn't make much headway in those seas anyway.” At 12:30, sitting in just 53 feet of water, a big king ate a hard tail and the battle was on. Ten minutes later she felt the steel in her shoulder. At the scale the fish weighed 51.14, the biggest of the event, and the team knew the $35,000 top prize was theirs. The moral here is: if you loose a motor, don't fret, just get the lines out, you can still win the event. This is the second time it's happened to this team!
 
After Pensacola, this event was supposed to be the Neal Foster / Marcus Kennedy shootout for Open Class honors. It never materialized. On day one the Kwazar could only weigh a 34.24 while Foster's Intense team weighed a 41.45 to take the tournament lead. On day two Kwazar bagged a 25.51 while Foster came in with a 32.79. The Division win was Foster's this year!

The team that gave Foster fits was the Yamaha powered Contender, Fully Involved, with Bert Baroco, Becky Land and Creighton Parker. They were right on the heels of Intense on day one with a 40.90. After running out into the Gulf through Perdido Pass the team ran, or better chugged, their way to 220 feet. At one o'clock the biggest king ever caught on this boat struck a ribbonfish 100 feet down. It tipped the scales at 45.74, good for second place.
 Third place went to Foster's Intense, also a Yamaha powered Contender. “We would have liked to win this event but winning the Division and getting Andrew Montgomery into the top Junior Angler slot meant more to us,” said Foster. “We made a 150-mile run one way each day. We were in 130 feet of water when the king hit a top line at noon. We went back to the same area the second day.” The team consists of Robby Montgomery and his son Andrew, Chris Taylor and Mark Collier.
 
A local team, Instagator picked up fourth with a 39.98.
 
Rounding out the top five was another Contender, the Jig-A-Low. John Nailling, Chad Parker, Doug Lambert and Judd Tompkins, ran west via the Intracoastal then into the Gulf and set up in 71 feet of water. “This was an area we knew we could get to with the rough conditions and an area we did well in the week before,” said Nailling, the team’s Captain. “We caught a 26-pounder on day one here so we came back on Saturday and picked up the fifth place king, a 38.87, thanks to Doug's angling skills.”
 
Mitch Mosley and Doug Parker earned the top slot for Class of 23’ with a 28.05 caught on the first day. They fish a Yamaha powered Contender and are certainly rated as one of the Class teams to beat. They finished fifth in their Class this year.
 
We had decent weather all year at the events, we were due for a rough one and we got it. But while the Class boats were at a disadvantage, the Open Class teams paid the price for winning.
 
Thanks to Legendary and all the sponsors who helped with this event. See you next season!
 
THE MANUFACTURERS CUP!
 
A neat twist to this event was the Manufacturers Cup. Several companies, Contender, Fountain, Pursuit, Robalo and Century, each put up some money which helped with the event's top prize. But as an additional challenge, the tournament director took the top ten teams from day one using any of these brands, to add one more fish to their total for the Cup title and bragging rights for the manufacturer. It ended up being eight Contenders and two Fountains. Fully Involved caught that 40.90 on day one then added their second place 45.74 on day two for 86.64 points. It will be interesting to see if Contender markets this victory.
 
Second place fell to Foster's Intense with a 74.24 aggregate while the Jig-A-Low earned third with 65.10 points. Both of these teams run Contenders.
 
This was a very interesting concept that was developed by Legendary Marine's Fred Pace, Marty Bistrong and Clayton Kirby. It would be fun to have one of these on the East Coast also.

Legendary Final Standings

1. PURE ATTITUDE......................... 51.14
    Yellowfin/Mercury
    Lynn Nolen
    Steve Hall
    Elizabeth Roberts
    Darren Blanchard
    Shawn Smith

2. FULLY INVOLVED........................ 45.74
    Contender/Yamaha
    Bert Baroco
    Becky Land
    Creighton Parker

3. INTENSE..................................... 41.45
    Contender/Yamaha
    Neal Foster
    Robby Montgomery
    Chris Taylor
    Mark Collier
    Andrew Montgomery

4. Instagator.................................... 39.98

5. JIG-A-LOW................................. 38.87
    Contender/Yamaha
    John Nailling
    Chad Parker
    Doug Lambert
    Judd Tompkins

CLASS OF 23’

1. LINED OUT................................. 28.05
    Contender/Yamaha
    Mitch Mosley
    Duke Parker

MANUFACTURERS CUP

1. FULLY INVOLVED........................... 86.64
2. INTENSE...................................... 74.24
3. JIG-A-LO...................................... 65.10

SKA / CYPRESS COVE MARINA & LODGE JUNIOR ANGLERS

1. INTENSE......................... ANDREW MONTGOMERY
2. SEA HAGG...................... LANDEN RUCKER
3. KWAZAR......................... TYLER KENNEDY