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LOOSE LUCY BEST IN FORT PIERCE
PROS!
Weather Shortens Event by One Day!! |
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| by Jack Holmes |
 Fort
Pierce, Florida-- Mike and Susan Kaminski sold their Mercury
powered Fountain the week before the second leg of the Yamaha
Professional Kingfish Tour event in Fort Pierce, Florida.
“We've ordered a new Fountain and it will be ready before
Fourchon but we need a boat for Fort Pierce,” said Kaminski
at the Nationals the week earlier. “Oh, Susan and I
can't make it either, Gary Stecki, our co-Captain, will be
running the boat. We have special obligations to work we just
can't get out of.”
Jay Robertson stepped up to the plate with his boat, Play'N
Hookie, and Gary's brother Jimmy joined the team. You guessed
it; they slammed a 50.50 and won the whole thing. “I
don't know if we're letting Mike back on the boat,”
Stecki said with a big grin on his face. “Seriously,
Mike deserves the Angler of the Year award, especially after
all the bad luck he had last year.”
The event was called after the first day’s fishing
due to unseasonable high winds, which drove the seas on Saturday
to 6 to 9 feet and made inlets treacherous. I had told the
teams at the Captain's meeting the day before that this was
very possible due to weather forecasts. The forecasters were
dead on their predictions.
Winds were already beginning to pick up on day one as Stecki
and his team headed south to Jupiter and waters that gave
up big kings in the National Championship the week before.
“We moved a little south of the pack of boats fishing
the towers,” explained Stecki. “About 11:30 a
big king skied on a blue runner but nothing happened, no reels
went off. Then she skied again, this time on a tinker mackerel,
and the reel went into warp drive.” Jimmy grabbed the
rod and Jay cleared the lines and grabbed the gaff. In short
order the winning 50-pounder slid over the gunwale. The drama
unfolded in 65 feet of water.
The team picked up $40,000 for the win, Raymarine electronics
and a special Pierre Pierce sculptured trophy. Then they added
another $30,000 for having the fortitude to register for the
Division 10 event going on at the same time. Then Alden Thornton
notified the team that because they won in a Fountain, they
had a new Rolex watch and various other prizes. All told,
it was a very big weekend for the South Carolina Loose Lucy
team.
The 2005 Angler of the Year team, Final Strike, let everyone
know that last year's win was no fluke by scaling a 47.95,
good for second place. “We burned very little gas this
weekend,” said team leader Terry Johnson from Jacksonville,
Florida. “We went straight out the Fort Pierce inlet
ten miles and had her in the bag by eight o'clock thanks to
Jake's angling skills. We were in sixty feet of water and
she hit a blue runner on top. What else can I tell you, we
had four other kings.” The team of Clyde Keen, Jake
Fulmer and David Reddick then went back to the inlet and went
fun fishing for the rest of the day. They won $17,000 and
fish a Mercury powered Yellowfin.
Kenny Crawford's Crawfish, the Bell South Real Yellow Pages
team, scaled a 44.59 to pick up third. “We only had
a fifty- to sixty-pound Cobia to show for our day long efforts,”
said the Fernandina Beach Captain fishing his rookie season
on the tour in a Yamaha powered Contender. “We were
in seventy feet of water south of the tower when she hit a
blue runner,” said Doreen Fletcher who caught the king.
“It took us twenty minutes to get her to the boat. It
was truly a blessing.” The king was worth $13,000 and
Top Lady honors for Doreen and Senior Angler honors for Bill
Bazemore. Team member John Geise helped secure the leaderboard
position.
Dave Workman, Jr., three-time Angler of the Year, scaled
a 42.45 to pick up fourth and the $10,000 prize. “We're
here with the rest of the boats,” said Workman when
he called me around noon for a report on whom he had heard
had caught what, and to give us the weather conditions which
we were monitoring closely. He knew his king was in the 40’s
and should place. Dave fishes with Rick Stinson on a Mercury
powered Donzi.
Scott Elliot's Use of Proceeds with Dave Monda and Jon Pearman
aboard scaled a 41.59 and earned fifth place and $6,000. This
team ended the season last year overall in fourth. The Yamaha
powered Contender team is out to repeat their top five finish
and have the title within their sights.
David Heavenridge's Top Gun picked up sixth with a nice 41.17
and Top Junior honors for his son Cameron. That fish won't
hurt his chances at the title. Heavenridge fishes with Ron
Kein, Warren Williams and Christian O'Ryan on his Mercury
powered Donzi.
Seventh fell to the Houston, Texas team of Albert Vrazel,
Bobby Schoenfeld, Sharon Kamp and Chico Chamorro fishing the
Mercury powered Donzi, Lured Away. They scaled the final fish
in the forty-pound range, a 40.99.
Jack Penny picked up eighth with a 39.64 fishing his Yamaha
powered Contender, Penny Wise while Scott Dennis' Strait Shot
got back in the hunt with a ninth place 38.36.
Rounding out the top ten was Ken Thompson on the Twice The
Ice. He scaled a 38.15.
The format for the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour allows
for ten fish to be scaled over the five event series, one
per day for each of the two-day events. From the ten kings
a team could scale, SKA counts the team's best seven fish
with the winner being determined by the best seven-fish aggregate.
Because only one fish was scaled in Fort Pierce, teams will
now be allowed to weigh one extra king in the third event
in Fourchon, Louisiana. Teams can elect which day of the two-day
event they will present the weighmaster with an extra fish.
The two biggest kings scaled each day go toward the Fourchon
tournament with the smallest king being credited to the Fort
Pierce event.
PRO
FINAL STANDINGS:
1. LOOSE LUCY .......................
50.50
Fountain/Mercury
Gary Stecki
Jimmy Stecki
Jay Robertson
2. FINAL STRIKE ..................... 47.95
Yellowfin/Mercury
Terry Johnson
Clyde Keen
Jake Fulmer
David Reddick
3. THE REAL YELLOW PAGES ... 44.59
Contender/Yamaha
Kenny Crawford
Doreen Fletcher
Bill Bazemore
John Geise
4. STRIKE ZONE ...................... 42.45
Donzi/Mercury
Dave Workman Jr.
Rick Stinson
5. USE OF PROCEEDS ............. 41.59
Contender/Yamaha
D. Scott Elliott
Dave Monda
Jon Pearman
6. TOP GUN ............................ 41.17
Donzi/Mercury
David Heavenridge
Ron Kien
Cameron Heavenridge
Christian O'Ryan
Warren Williams
7. LURED AWAY ..................... 40.99
Donzi/Mercury
Albert Vrazel
Bobby Schoenfeld
Elvin “Chico” Chamorro
Sharon Kamp
8. PENNYWISE ....................... 39.64
Contender/Yamaha
Jack Penny
Ken Dellane
Mike Penny
Steve Dellane
9. STRAIT SHOT ..................... 38.36
Contender/Yamaha
Scott Dennis
Billy Crabtree
Mark Roberts
10. TEAM TWICE THE ICE ...... 38.15
Donzi/Mercury
Ken Thompson
Dusty Walker
Jerry Thomas
Chris Saieg
11. TEAM DONZI .................... 36.72
Donzi/Mercury
Dan Upton
Jack Wood
12. SEASON TICKET ............... 36.27
Contender/Yamaha
David Butler
Brad Butler
John Hardie
Todd Crawford
David Williams
13. KWAZAR/WOLF ............... 34.59
Contender/Yamaha
Marcus Kennedy
Pete Shores
14. THE BOTTOM LINE ........... 34.35
Donzi/Mercury
Allen Stevens
Bill Shaver
Russell Shaver
Adam Varnadore
John Stevens
15. PRETTY WORK ................. 34.17
Donzi/Mercury
Jeff Lee
Patrick Bryant
John Rumbold
Keith Logan
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LOOSE LUCY JUMPS INTO
POINTS LEAD IN YAMAHA PRO TOUR!
Final Strike, Top Gun & Season Ticket in the
Hunt! |
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| by Jack Holmes |
After two events and thanks to co-captain
Gary Stecki and his brother Jimmy, plus the borrowed
boat of Jay Robertson, the Kaminsky's Loose Lucy teammates
finds themselves perched atop the Yamaha Pro Tour points
race. They have 124.74 points or a three-fish average
of 41.58. They are the top Fountain team going into
event number three.
Last year’s Angler of the Year
Terry Johnson and his more than capable Jacksonville
team of Clyde Keen, Jake Fulmer and David Reddick fishing
the Final Strike are more than in the hunt again with
114.99 points. That's an average of 38.33 per fish.
This team did very well in Fourchon and there's no reason
to assume they are to be reckoned with in Fourchon this
year. Can they win it again for Yellowfin?
David Heavenridge's Top Gun is third
with 108.09 points and leads the Donzi charge. He has
a 36.03 average but will have to up that average before
coming back to the East Coast.
David Butler's Season Ticket, sitting
in fourth and last year’s third pace finisher,
is in the same boat with Heavenridge. They have a three-fish
average of 35.70 and must improve on that in the Upper
Gulf if their season is to be as good as last year.
Both teams are up to the task.
Rookie to the Pro Tour is Kenny Crawford's
Real Yellow Pages team. They are kicking it into high
gear after a so-so Key West tournament. He has done
well in the Upper Gulf, and then comes home to familiar
waters. While his average is the same as the Season
Ticket's, don't count this winner out. Butler and Crawford
fish for Contender and Yamaha.
Line One's stellar performance in
Key West is still alive, but scoring a goose egg in
Fort Pierce puts the pressure on this Fountain team
to excel in Louisiana. If they do, they will be your
Champions, if not they will be out of the hunt coming
back to Savannah. They have a two-fish average of 52.23.
The need three 45-pounders to set the stage for another
title for Fountain! Talk about pressure for John Griffin.
Kwazar/Wolf, Smooth Ride, Team Hooters
and Lured Away round out your top ten in the standings.
For a complete rundown of all
of the 2006 Yamaha Pro teams go to www.fishska.com.
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