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more Mercury Trail stories<< SIC-EM TEAM TOP DOG AT ATLANTIC BEACH
Ford Backs Up Third Place Finish at Wilmington
by Max Gaspeny
Atlantic Beach, NC - Many teams fish the king mackerel tournament circuit for years without standing atop the winner’s podium, but Steve Ford’s Sic-Em team occupied that enviable position in just the seventh tournament they entered, the Bobby Murray Chevrolet/Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club King Mackerel Tournament, held August 3-5 out of Sea Water Marina in Atlantic Beach. The winning fish was also the largest weighed in an NC king mackerel tournament yet this year, at 41.8 pounds. In addition to the overall victory, the Fayetteville, NC team took the top spot in Class of 23’ competition, first place in both the under 23’ and overall TWT’s, and pocketed $17,815.
The Sic-Em crew not only won the seventh tournament of their king mackerel careers, they did it one week after finishing third in the Greater Wilmington King Mackerel Tournament. Team Captain Ford attributed this hot streak to beginner’s luck, but Sic-Em is fast becoming a name to watch out for on tournament leaderboards. For the Raleigh Saltwater event, Ford was joined by his daughter Stephanie and the father/daughter team of Jamie and Jamie Morris aboard the 23’ Yamaha-powered Sea Pro.
The winning king bit a naked pogy trolled on top around 9:30 Saturday morning. The near-42 pound fish struck as the team trolled in 65 feet of water between 30 Minute Rock and 1700 Rock, east of Lookout Shoals.
“It was pretty funny,” Ford said of the big king’s battle. “Stephanie fought it for around 20 minutes, and then we got it up to the boat and saw how big it was. Big Jamie took over while the fish ran around the boat a little bit, then the fish took off again and went about 100 yards. Then little Jamie worked it back to the boat in about 10 minutes. All three of them fought it.”
When the younger Morris had the fish close to the boat, she passed the rod off to her father. As Morris worked the fish within range, Steve Ford left the helm and sank a gaff in the big king.
With a 40+ king in the boat, the Sic-Em crew relaxed their efforts a bit but still landed a few more kings over the course of the day. “We didn’t catch a whole lot of them,” Ford recalled. “We had some trouble with our bait dying because one of my livewell pumps went out. After we caught that one, though, it kind of took the pressure off. We did a little experimenting, started fishing some new areas, and trying some new stuff.”
Though the Sic-Em crew didn’t do any pre-fishing for this tournament over the week, they caught the winning king very close to where they’d caught the 3rd place Greater Wilmington fish the week before, and Ford had a hunch that the area would produce another big fish. “We did exactly what I wanted to do,” he said. “We caught pogies where I wanted to, went to the spot I wanted to go, and caught the fish.” The team caught their baits near Harkers Island Saturday morning.
Ford wished to thank Robbie Boswell from Bleecker GMC and Clyde, Jim, and Brad of A.K. McCallum for their contributions to the team’s success.
The OBX Girl/Team Calcutta crew took second place in the event, weighing a 40.70 pound king mackerel. The Tarboro, NC-based team fishes aboard a 31’ Yamaha-powered Contender, and is comprised of Joe Dupree, his sons Jim and Daniel Dupree, and Scott Watson. Second place earned them a check for $8080.
A naked pogy trolled long on top fooled the second place fish into striking. The bite came just after 1:00 Saturday, as the crew trolled at East Rock, off Bogue Inlet in 54 feet of water. Jim Dupree took the rod just after the strike as the king made its initial run.
“It was a good run,” Joe Dupree said. “He took off about 150 yards and then ran right back under the boat. I asked Jim, ‘Do we still have him or what?’ The he took off on another big run. That fish put up a great fight.”
With Joe at the helm and Jim on the rod, the team followed their king for over half an hour before getting it close enough to think about gaffing.
“I ran the boat until we could see the fish really well, and then Daniel took over while I gaffed him. It was a whole team effort.”
The 40 pound fish was the only king strike the OBX Girl/Team Calcutta crew had Saturday. On small shark they caught in the morning was their only other bite. They fished with both bluefish and pogy baits over the day.
“We were out under the Atlantic Beach Bridge catching bluefish until 11:00 Friday night,” Dupree remembered. “We went to Harkers Island Saturday morning and caught our menhaden, but we mixed blues and pogies in the well, and the pogies got beat up early. We’d started out fishing the rock jetty, but then went back in and caught more bait at Harkers around 11:00. Then we decided to work down the beach towards East Rock, and that’s where we ended up fishing.”
Dupree wished to express his gratitude to the team’s sponsors Calcutta, Fishing Accessories, Long Trailers, Morgan Keegan Stockbrokers, Consumer Marine, Overton’s, Contender, and Yamaha.
East Rock also gave up the tournament’s third place fish---a 39.14 pound king caught by Morehead City’s Nail R Down fishing team. Allen Downing, Jim Wilson, and Jeremy Patterson were all aboard the 26’ Yamaha-powered Sailfish for the tournament.
The third place king struck a naked ribbonfish trolled deep on the downrigger around 9:20 Saturday morning. Wilson was the angler, and grabbed the rod after the fish popped the bait from the downrigger clip. The king stayed on top throughout the fight, which lasted around 45 minutes.
“We just took it easy, finessed him, got him close, and then put him in the bag,” Wilson said.
The Nail R Down anglers caught quite a few kings over the course of the tournament’s only fishing day, and had a 32 lb. fish and several in the 15-20 lb. range in addition to their money-winner. Though they caught their big king on a ribbon fish, many of the others bit live pogy baits, which they caught near Town Creek Marina Saturday morning.
The team wished to thank their sponsors L.A. Downing and Sons and Davis Boat Sales.
The Slick Cam crew captured fourth place in the tournament, weighing in a 36.40 pound king. Craig and Sharon Lewis make up the Pine Knoll Shores, NC team, and fished the event aboard their Yamaha-powered 23’ Contender.
The 36 pounder bit a naked pogy just after noon on Saturday, after the Lewis’s had returned to Beaufort Inlet from catching more bait at Harkers Island.
“I don’t know why, maybe we had some bleach residue in the livewell, but we were killing baits that day,” Craig Lewis recalled. “We didn’t want to leave the inlet because the water looked so good, and we hauled it back there after we re-baited. That king bit the second line I was putting out, with the bait maybe 30 yards from the boat. I handed the rod to Sharon and she did the rest.”
The king didn’t take off on an especially big run after the strike, and the couple had no idea it was a mid-30’s fish at first. After the first lackluster effort, the king made a few shorter runs, and the team decided to try and boat the fish. “On one of the runs, we jumped in front of him, and I decided to gaff the fish,” Lewis said. “I leaned out and stuck him real close to the tail, and the gaff was just in a little bit of skin. I knew I couldn’t pick him up like that.”
Lewis used the gaff to pull the fish towards the boat, and then leaned over the gunnel and tail-grabbed the fish when it was close enough. After boating the king, the pair continued fishing until the last minute, and released another fish in the low 30’s just before heading for the scales.
At the weigh-in, the king was not only good for fourth place; it earned Sharon Lewis the Top Lady Angler award in the tournament.
Craig Lewis wished to thank Outback Marine of Morehead City for all the assistance and information they’ve provided the team.
Randy Pulley’s Precision Marine team, from Goldsboro, NC, earned fifth place with a 35.96 pound king, which also earned Jackson Pulley the top spot in Junior Angler competition. The Pulleys were fishing with friend Pete Forbis aboard their 26’ Suzuki-powered C-Hawk.
Their fish bit a double pogy rig around 7:30 Saturday morning as the team was trolling at the 1700 Rock. Forbis grabbed the rod after the strike, and settled in for what would turn out to be a short fight.
“We had a shark on when we hooked him,” Randy Pulley revealed, “and we just got that shark off, ran the king down, and put him in the boat.” Pulley was able to gaff the fish less than 10 minutes after the strike.
Aside from the fifth place fish, the Precision Marine anglers caught 7 kings during the event, with 3 over 28 pounds. They caught their pogy baits around Harkers Island.
Pulley wished to thank Precision Marine, the team’s sole sponsor.
The Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club King Mackerel Tournament is in its 23rd year, and was proud to welcome Bobby Murray Chevrolet as a title sponsor for 2007. For more information on the club or the tournament, visit www.rswsc.org.
FINAL STANDINGS:
BOBBY MURRAY CHEVROLET / RALEIGH SALT WATER SPORTFISHING
CLUB’S 23RD ANNUAL KING MACKEREL TOURNAMENT.
ATLANTIC BEACH, NORTH CAROLINA.
DIVISION TWO.
|
| 1. |
SIC-EM••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
41.80 |
| Sea Pro/Johnson
Steve Ford
Jamie Morris
|
| 2. |
OBX GIRL / TEAM CALCUTTA •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
40.70 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Jim Dupree Jr.
Jim Dupree III
Dan Dupree
|
| 3. |
NAIL R DOWN ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
39.14 |
|
Sailfish/Yamaha
Allen Downey Jr.
|
| 4. |
SLICK CAM •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
36.40 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Craigh Lewis
Sharon Lewis
|
| 5. |
PRECISION MARINE•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
35.96 |
| C-Hawk/Suzuki
Randy Pulley
Jackson Pulley
Richard Forbis
|
| 6. |
MADNESS •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
34.14 |
| Hydra Sports/Mercury
Mark Deans
M. Ashton Deans II
|
| 7. |
Eye Gotcha ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 33.66 |
| 8. |
TRIPLE TROUBLE••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
29.58 |
| Triton/Mercury
Phil Mitchell
Seth King
Heath King
Philip Mitchell
|
| 9. |
DAWGGONE ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
29.34 |
| Regulator/Yamaha
John Monko
John Monko Jr.
Jennifer Monko
|
| 10. |
Bad Habit ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 29.26 |
| 11. |
JACKPOT •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.92 |
| Wellcraft/Yamaha
Tat Fearing
Gary Johnson
Benjie Doughtie
|
| 12. |
MATERHEAD ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.38 |
| Yellowfin/Mercury
Mark Yokekey
Lee Ball
|
| 13. |
˝ LIT•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.32 |
| Fountain/Mercury
Mike Jones
Mike Jones Jr.
|
| 14. |
DIG IT•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.16 |
| Contender/Mercury
Tony Carroll
Greg Carroll
Daniel Carroll
Bryant Carroll
|
| 15. |
MISS GERI ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
27.80 |
| Regulator/Yamaha
Doug Wilkins
|
CLASS OF 23: |
| 1. |
SIC-EM •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
41.80 |
| 2. |
SLICK CAM••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
36.40 |
TOP SKA JUNIOR ANGLER |
|
Jackson Pulley••••••••••••••••• |
PRECISION MARINE |
TOP SKA LADY ANGLER |
|
Sharon Lewis •••••••••••••••••• |
SLICK – CAM |
TOP SKA / GREGORY POOLE MARINE POWER JUNIORS: |
| 1. |
Jackson Pulley ••••••••••••••• | PRECISION MARINE |
| 2. |
Ashton Deans •••••••••••••••• | MADNESS |
| 3. |
Phillip Mitchell Jr.••••••••••••• | TRIPLE TROUBLE |
|
