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The final tournament in 2006 SKA Division 9 competition, Ocean Isle, North Carolina’s Fall Brawl King Mackerel Tournament, was postponed one week due to rough, windy forecasts. However, the following weekend also had a sloppy forecast, but Ocean Isle Fishing Center, the hosts of the Fall Brawl, went ahead with the event on November 3rd through the 6th anyway.

With seas approaching six feet on both fishing days, fishing conditions were tough; however, many of the 152 participating teams really showed their mettle, persevering through the rough weather to catch and weigh nice kings.

Fishing on Saturday, by a slight margin the rougher of the two days, the Reel Pursuit team weighed a 24.75-pound king good for first place overall.

Scoring the big SKA victory, Holden Beach, North Carolina's Twister team brought a 24.60-pound fish to the scales on Sunday. Patrick Bryant and teammates Alex Bryant and Derek Savage pushed their 25' Contender powered by twin Yamaha 150 4-strokes through bumpy seas stacked up by a 15- to 20-knot northeast wind to catch the fish. The 24-pound king secured Twister's victory in the 2006 Division 9 Open Class, as well as propelling Senior Angler Austin Bryant to the top of the Division 9 leaderboard.

The Twister left Shallotte Inlet Saturday morning headed to one of Patrick Bryant's favorite fishing spots, the Horseshoe. Upon arriving, the crew laid out a spread of bluefish and began to troll around the area. Not long after, a fish hit a naked bluefish 40 feet deep on the downrigger and pulled a little line.

Savage grabbed the rod immediately after the bite, and the king made a good run. As the run ended, though, Savage brought him right to the boat. Bryant was ready with the gaff, and he brought the fish aboard less than five minutes after it bit. “It was a pretty easy fight,” Bryant said.

It was a quick fight despite the sea conditions, according to Bryant, “We never even changed course. The sea was a good four to six feet, and that's why we stayed the course we were going.”

With a mid 20s king in the boat and knowing that the previous day's leading fish was only 24.75 pounds, the Twister crew relaxed their efforts a bit, anchoring up on the Horseshoe to ride the rough seas more comfortably. While anchored up, they managed to catch several more kings up to 18 pounds, as well as gag groupers and amberjacks.

At about 1:30 the team left the Horseshoe to make the weigh-in, which ended at 4:00. They were one of the last teams to weigh fish, finally making the scales around 3:45. “It was a real sloppy trip back,” Bryant commented.

Some boats reported that the ocean calmed a bit Saturday afternoon, but not according to Bryant. “I didn't see that; it didn't lay down at all for us,” he said. Though the seas were ugly, the Twister fished under sunny skies all day.

Patrick Bryant wished to express his thanks to friends Randy Robinson, Dwight McCormick and Braden Gardner. “I had to work Saturday, and they took time out on Saturday afternoon to go catch bait for me,” he said appreciatively. The trio caught bluefish and pinfish around Lockwood's Folly Inlet and penned them for Bryant.

SKA second place honors went to the Final Approach team, of Southern Pines, North Carolina, for a 24.30-pound king mackerel. James Demyan, his twin sons James III and John Demyan, and teammate Dr. Don Johnson caught the fish Saturday aboard the Final Approach, a 33' Yamaha powered Pursuit. The second place king also propelled the team into ninth place in the 2006 Open Class of Division 9.

James Demyan knew he'd have to do something to separate the Final Approach from the other 50 boats that fished Friday. “I had it in my mind that we'd need to find some warm water to catch a good fish,” he said. “I also believe strongly in the solunar tables. All the fish we've done well in tournaments on this year have hit during the major periods.”

The Final Approach found warm, 73-degree water at the Gary Enis Numbers, and began to troll. Reaching the E 45 number as the major solunar period began at 11:30, a fish bit a naked pogy 45 feet deep on the downrigger. John Demyan took the rod and the fish stayed deep, not making a blistering, king mackerel signature run. As they became convinced it was a shark or amberjack, the fish came up about four waves from the boat, and James Demyan could see it was a nice king. Fighting the fish with new enthusiasm, it took 20 minutes for John to get the mackerel to the boat where James sank a gaff in it.

The six- to eight-foot seas driven by 23-knot north winds at the Enis Numbers soon grew tiresome for Johnson and the Demyans, and they headed back towards the beach with the 24-pound fish in the box. The team decided to anchor up and freeline baits at Shallotte Inlet, eat lunch, and wait for the scales to open. They weighed the king without incident, and had only to wait and see what else was caught on Sunday.

The Final Approach crew caught menhaden Friday afternoon on the beach near Oak Island's Ocean Crest Pier.

Georgetown, South Carolina’s Bank On It fishing team caught the SKA third place 23.45-pound fish. Craig and Ricky Rabon and Don Wright caught the king Sunday on their 32' Mercury Powered Donzi, and the 23-pound king qualified the Bank On It for SKA Nationals, pushing them to a tenth place finish in Division 9’s Open Class.

The Bank On It was trolling around an area of live bottom off the coast when their king bit a foot-long bluefish around 12:30 on Sunday. The boat was around 25 miles North of Georgetown in 60 feet of water when the king hit and Wright grabbed the rod. The fish took a long run just after striking, but with Craig Rabon at the helm, the team ran the king down. The tired fish was next to the boat ten minutes after it bit, and Ricky Rabon gaffed it and brought it aboard.

After fishing for little while longer, the Bank On It headed back into Georgetown Inlet and began to run the waterway north to the scales at Ocean Isle Fishing Center. Just after crossing into North Carolina, however, the Bank On It was held up by the Sunset Beach Bridge. With only 15 minutes before the weigh-in ended, the crew ran full throttle out of Little River Inlet, up the beach to Shallotte Inlet, and made it to the Fishing Center just in time to weigh their king.

Craig Rabon wished to thank his friend CK Blanton for calling the Bank On It in to the bait Saturday. The crew caught bluefish by trolling spoons just off Myrtle Beach, with the assistance of Rabon's daughter Maria.

Rabon wished to express gratitude to sponsors Donzi, Mercury, Bank of America and Rabon Construction for the roles they played in the Bank On It's success over the course of the 2006 SKA circuit.

The Reel Attitude Team of Allen Wells and Jeff Naylor caught the SKA fourth place 21.45-pound king.

A 19.75-pound king mackerel gave SKA fifth place to the Playin' Hookie, a 31' Mercury powered Fountain based in Pawley's Island, South Carolina. Jay Robertson and Eddie and Kyle Fisher caught the fish on Sunday, and the nearly 20-pound king named Kyle Fisher the SKA Top Junior Angler for the Fall Brawl.

A naked bluefish trolled on top fooled the Playin' Hookie king into biting around 7:30 Sunday morning. The crew was trolling at the Bulky Bear, a spot about 14 miles from the Murrell's Inlet jetties when the fish bit. Robertson and Kyle Fisher alternated turns on the rod, and Eddie Fisher ran the boat during the short fight featuring a long surface run followed by an up and down tug of war. Just ten minutes after the bite, Robertson passed the rod back to Kyle and gaffed the king.

The Playin' Hookie caught bluefish at the Murrell's Inlet jetties on Saturday afternoon. They also caught three other kings and several sharks over the course of the day on Sunday.

Robertson wished to thank the Playin' Hookie's sponsors: Fountain, Mercury and C&H Lures.

Continuing a very successful tournament season, Wilmington's Reel Buzz fishing team captured top honors in the SKA Class of 23’ for the Fall Brawl. Chip Nifong, Wes Hege and Brian Schoenwisener brought their 14.60-pound king to the scales aboard their 21' Mercury powered Sea Pro. The fish put the Reel Buzz on top of the Class of 23' in Division 9. The team also took the top spot in the Division 12 Class of 23' for 2006.

The Reel Buzz was trolling at the Jungle around noon on Sunday when their king bit a double pogy rig in the prop wash. When the fish struck, Schoenwisener pulled the rod from the holder and quickly pumped the fish to the boat. However, the hooks pulled when they got the king to the side of the boat. The king then became tail-wrapped and was able to make a decent run. It then took Schoenwisener about ten minutes to get the fish close enough for Nifong to make a gaff shot.
Bait was scattered Sunday morning, but the Reel Buzz located and caught some pogies on the beach at Cherry Grove.

Nifong wished to thank the Reel Buzz team's sole sponsor, Brookelynn Premium Cigars of Wilmington, for their continuing support.

A 13.55-pound king earned Dayspring’s Jessica Reiter Top Lady Angler honors in the Fall Brawl. Reiter was not only the Top Lady in the tournament, she was also the first place Lady in Division 9 as well.

Fall Brawl Final Standings

1.   Reel Pursuit...................................... 24.75

2.   TWISTER......................................... 24.60
      Contender/Yamaha
      Patrick Bryant
      Austin Bryant
      Alex Bryant
      Derek Savage

3.   FINAL APPROACH............................ 24.30
      Pursuit/Yamaha
      James Demyan
      James Demyan III
      John Demyan
      Don Johnson

4.   BANK ON IT..................................... 24.35
      Donzi/Mercury
      Craig Rabon
      Ricky Rabon
      Don Wright

5.   REEL ATTITUDE.............................. 21.45           
      Hydra-Sport/Mariner
      Allen Wells
      Jeff Naylor

6.   Fightin Triton..................................... 20.45

7.   PLAY’N HOOKIE............................... 19.75
      Fountain/Mercury
      Jay Robertson
      Eddie Fisher
      Kyle Fisher

8.   HOT ROD......................................... 19.25
      Contender/Yamaha
      Brett Barnes
      Allen Barnes

9.   FOOTLOOSE..................................... 18.80
      Wellcraft/Yamaha
      Craig Lewis
      Mark McKeithan
      Ryan Cooper

10. ALL IN............................................. 17.45
      Triton/Mercury
      Ken Strictland
      Mike Morgan
      Scott Core

     
Class of 23’

1.   Capt N Dad....................................... 16.00

2.   REEL BUZZ...................................... 14.60
      Sea Pro/Mercury
      Chip Nifong
      Brian Schoenwiesner
      Wes Hege

3.   Wild Thing......................................... 13.90

SKA Top Lady Angler
Jessica Reiter.......................................... Day Spring

SKA Top Junior Anglers
Sponsored by Guy C. Lee Building Materials

1st Kyle Fisher......................................... Play’n Hookie
2nd Adam Taylor..................................... That’s My Dog
3rd David Jackson.................................... Live Line