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more Mercury Trail stories<< OCEAN ATHLETE LEADS SKA IN ATLANTIC BEACH
Sandy Conklin Named Top Lady Angler
by Max Gaspeny
The wrecks and ledges just east of Cape Lookout Shoals have a well deserved reputation for producing money-wining king mackerel. With spots on the East Side producing four out of the top five kings in the 2007 CCSA Boater’s World King Mackerel Tournament, including the SKA winning, 34.34-pound king mackerel caught by the Ocean Athlete team, that status stands strong.
Skip and Sandy Conklin fished the event with teammate Jay Russell aboard the Ocean Athlete, a 28’ Privateer powered by twin Mercury 225 Optimax outboards. The 34-pound king not only landed them the top SKA spot in the tournament, it gave Sandy Conklin first place in Lady Angler competition. All told, the Morehead City-based crew pocketed over $4,000 in the event.
The Ocean Athlete’s big king bit as the crew was trolling some structure in 80 feet of water on the East Side. A naked pogy trolled 15 feet deep on the downrigger fooled the winning fish, and Jay Russell picked up the rod after the bite. Russell fought the king for approximately 15 minutes before he worked it boatside.
“He was a very polite fish,” Skip Conklin said. “He came up, laid over on his side right there, and let me gaff him and put him in the boat.”
According to Conklin, the Ocean Athlete crew stayed busy during the tournament. “Besides the big king, we caught a half-dozen smaller ones, some big Spanish mackerel, some sharks, and a whole lot of sargassum.”
The Ocean Athlete team frequently catches bait in advance of a tournament and pens it to avoid burning valuable fishing time searching for bait, but that strategy has been difficult this season. “We had some baits penned up,” Conklin said, “but for whatever reason, bait hasn’t been living real well in the pen this summer. We had to go net some fresh bait this morning, but we didn’t have any trouble with it.”
Conklin wished to thank Ocean Athlete’s sponsors Mercury Outboards and Outback Marine of Morehead City for their contributions to the team’s success.
The Miss Kayley fishing team from Morehead City took second place in SKA competition with a 33.56-pound king mackerel. Team Captain Frank Eastman fished the event with his son Holton and Brett Parrott aboard the 23’ Yamaha-powered Regulator. The second place king also established Holton Eastman as the event’s Top Junior Angler.
“That king bit about 11:30,” Frank Eastman recalled. “We were fishing at East Rock, on the East Side.” The second place fish fell for pogy beneath a blue and white skirt trolled on top.
Holton Eastman took the rod after the king bit, and Frank Eastman estimated that the fish fought for less than 15 minutes. “It was a very typical king fight. He stayed on top, made three runs, and then came right to the boat. We didn’t have to chase him at all.”
When Holton had the fish boatside, Frank planted the gaff and boated the king.
Like the Ocean Athlete crew, the Miss Kayley experienced fast fishing on the East Side Saturday. Aside from the 33.50-pounder, they caught five more kings, several amberjacks, and a number of sharks.
Frank Eastman reported tough bait catching conditions on tournament day. “It was the worst I’ve ever seen it,” he said. “We didn’t get bait until 8:15. We had to go several places, but we finally found it at Town Creek Marina.”
Eastman wished to express his gratitude towards Miss Kayley’s sponsor, 70 West Marina of Morehead City.
SKA third place went to the UnReel fishing team, out of Kinston, North Carolina, for a 32.28-pound king. Steve Squires, Danny Ward, Mel Hoard and Grayson Ketterer make up the UnReel crew, and they fish aboard a Yamaha powered 26’ Regulator. The king earned Ketterer the second place spot in Junior Angler competition.
“He hit a single pogy on the long line,” Team Captain Squires said. The strike came as the crew trolled between Christmas Rock and Sponge Rock at 1:15 Saturday afternoon, and Ketterer was up on the rod. Unlike the first two fish, the UnReel king didn’t surrender easily.
“He was hooked in the tail,” Squires said, “with the hooks about two inches from his tail.” The king immediately went deep, and the crew was hesitant to put much pressure on the foul-hooked fish.
Over the next 90 minutes the fish stayed down in the water column, and it dragged the UnReel around for a mile and a half, according to Squires. “Grayson did an excellent job with him. He had to use a soft touch.”
As the fight neared the 1:45 mark, the king finally surfaced, and Wallace sank a gaff in it.
The UnReel crew elected to purchase bait from Island Harbor Marina rather than waste valuable fishing time searching for it. They’d like to express their gratitude to sponsor Auto Generator and Starter Service of Kinston.
The Slick-Cam crew from Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina weighed the fourth heaviest fish in SKA competition, a 26.50-pound king. Craig and Sharon Lewis fished the event aboard their Yamaha powered 23’ Contender.
The Slick-Cam fish bit at 10:00 Saturday morning as the pair trolled around the Triple Nickel, a hard bottom area in 65 feet of water off Morehead City. Sharon Lewis picked up the live bait outfit after the king struck a naked pogy trolled long on the surface.
“He took a real good initial run,” Craig Lewis said. “But we caught up to him. He made one circle and came up.” Once the fish surfaced, Lewis left the helm, gaffed the king, and swung it aboard. Lewis estimated the fight took around 20 minutes from the bite until the fish was in the boat.
The 26.50-pound fish was the first the Lewis’s boated, but they caught four smaller ones over the course of the day. The caught their menhaden baits in Bogue Sound, directly in from of their home.
Craig Lewis wished to thank Outback Marine in Morehead City for all their help.
A 26.12-pound king mackerel secured SKA fifth place for the Snead’s Ferry-based G’s Machine team. Kevin Norris, Jordan Norris (who took third place SKA Junior Angler) and W.G. Lankas fished the tournament aboard the 31’ Mercury powered Fountain.
Trolling a ledge 25 miles off Morehead City in 80 feet of water, the G’s Machine crew was beginning to haul in the lines and head home when their fish bit at 4:05 Saturday afternoon. Jordan Norris had already cleared two lines when the king struck a ribbonfish trolled on the downrigger, and Kevin took the rod.
With 55 minutes left before the weigh-in closed, 25 miles to travel, and a storm building, the team knew they’d have to boat their fish quickly in order to make it to the scales. They chased the king down after its first run, and luckily, the fish stayed on the surface.
“When we ran up on him, I handed the rod to W.G. and he handed me the gaff.” Kevin Norris recalled. “I gaffed him, threw him in the bow, snatched the hooks out of him, and we ran wide open to the scales.” They made it with minutes to spare.
The fifth place king was one of two the G’s Machine anglers caught during the tournament. Though their big fish hit a ribbonfish, the anglers also jigged up some cigar minnows and greenies for bait off New River Inlet.
Kevin Norris wished to express his gratitude to the team’s sponsor, Gary’s Auto Sales of Snead’s Ferry.
The CCSA/Boater’s World King Mackerel Tournament drew 136 boats this year. CCSA President Eddie Cameron was pleased to report that Saturday’s marine weather was even calmer than the mild forecast predicted.
This event is one of the Carteret County Sportfishing Association’s main annual fundraisers. Money generated by this and the Association’s other tournaments goes towards artificial reef building programs, two scholarships given to local students each year, and educational programs at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
Cameron wished to thank the tournament’s sponsors Boater’s World, Budweiser and Smithfield’s for making the event possible.
Final Standings
CCSA/Boater’s World KMT
Atlantic Beach, North Carolina
Division 1: |
| 1. |
Crazy Legs•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 43.60 |
| 2. | The Enigma •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 37.58 |
| 3. |
Mistyfied •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 37.52 |
| 4. |
OCEAN ATHLETE ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
34.34 |
| Privateer/Mercury
Skip Conklin
Sandy Conklin
|
| 5. |
MISS KAYLEY•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
33.56 |
| Regulator/Yamaha
Frank Eastman
Holton Eastman
|
| 6. |
UNREEL FISHING TEAM ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
32.28 |
| Regulator/Yamaha
Steve Squires
Mel Hoard
Charles Wallace
Grayson Ketterer
|
| 7. | Release ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 30.38 |
| 8. | Miss Mercy •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 27.72 |
| 9. |
SLICK-CAM •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
26.50 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Craigh Lewis
Sharon Lewis
|
| 10. |
G’S MACHINE •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
26.12 |
| Fountain/Mercury
Kevin Norris
Jordan Norris
|
SKA Top Junior Anglers
Presented by Power Marine Outfitters: |
| 1. |
Holton Eastman••••••••••••••••••• | Miss Kayley |
| 2. |
Grayson Ketterer ••••••••••••••••• | UnReel Fishing Team |
| 3. |
Jordan Norris •••••••••••••••••••••• | G’s Machine |
SKA Top Lady Angler: |
| Sandy Conklin •••••••••••••••••••• |
Ocean Athlete |
|
