Correctly confident that fishing far north of most of their competitors would lead them to a high finish; the anglers on the Atlantic Beach-based Thumpin team took over $20,000 and the top SKA spot in the final tournament of Division 2 competition, the re-scheduled Atlantic Beach King Mackerel Tournament, with a 38.00 pound king they landed off Ocracoke.

Linwood Clark, his son Brad, Greg Godwin, and Greg Theodorakis ran their 38’, triple Mercury Verado-powered Donzi even further north before returning to the spot where they found the big king on Friday, October 19th, the event’s first of two fishing days.

“We’d been further north, up off Hatteras at the Avon Rock earlier in the day,” Clark reported, “but all we caught were a few little kings and some sharks.”

After a slow morning of fishing at Avon, the crew determined they’d fish out the day at a live bottom in 50’ of water two miles north of Ocracoke Inlet. The slow bite seemed to have followed them south from Hatteras as the clock eased past 3:00 with the scales closing at 5:00.

Around 3:30, the team finally got some action while making preparations to head for home.

“We were emptying the bait tank and starting to pull the lines in when he ate,” Clark said.

A menhaden trolled beneath a green skirt fooled the last minute fish, which began a hard run offshore as Theodorakis took the rod.

“He was running pretty hard,” explained Clark, “so we knew it was a good fish. We had everything ready to go right after he bit, and we chased him pretty hard because we knew we didn’t have much time to get him.”

With Brad Clark at the big Donzi’s helm and Theodorakis on the reel, the Thumpin anglers caught up to their fish quickly. When they did, Linwood Clark took the first opportunity the fish presented, sinking the gaff and hauling the mackerel over the gunnel less than 10 minutes after the strike.

The big king gave the anglers a reason to head for the scales, and lent a new urgency to the 5:00 weigh-in deadline that was over 60 miles away. Throttling up the three outboards, the Thumpin crew headed into Ocracoke Inlet to run the Pamlico Sound and ICW back to Atlantic Beach. Running 60-65 mph in the sound’s tightly spaced 4 foot chop, they made it to the scales with 15 minutes to spare.

On Saturday, the team returned to the same live bottom area and found only smaller fish, but the 38 pounder stood strong, remaining second on the overall leaderboard and the heaviest landed by an SKA boat. The fish also earned Linwood Clark the tournament’s Top SKA Senior Angler title.

On both fishing days, the Thumpin anglers found and caught menhaden with little difficulty near Harkers Island.

Linwood Clark wished to express his gratitude to the sponsors who make the team’s successes possible, including Donzi, Mercury, Loadmaster, and Furuno.

Al Morris, Jr.’s Sea Drag’N fishing team, from Wilmington, took third overall and second in SKA competition with a 36.9 pound king they landed on Saturday. Morris, Jr., his father Al, Sr., and his wife Kim were all aboard the team’s Mercury-powered 28’ Privateer for Saturday’s fishing, and the crew took home over $11,000 for their fish.

After fishing near Drum Inlet on Friday and landing a 72 pound wahoo but no big kings, the crew returned to the area Saturday morning to find cool, less than ideal water and abundant sharks. They quickly made the call to head offshore in search of better conditions, and found them---cobalt blue and 78 degrees---in 100 feet just inshore of the Chicken Rock, around 12 miles out of the inlet.

From the time they put the first downrigger bait out at 10:30, the Morris’s had steady action with 20-30 pound class kings, and they hooked the big one around 1:30 Saturday afternoon. A ribbonfish trolled at 75 feet on the downrigger fooled the king, and Kim Morris pulled the rod from the holder, passing it to her husband while the fish ran.

“She ran off 250-300 yards at first,” Morris, Jr. reported. While he stood on the bow with his father at the helm, the Sea Drag’N anglers ran the king down. “From there it was just up and down for around 20 minutes,” he explained.

When the king finally surfaced, Kim sank the gaff in its head, and together she and her husband boated the near-37 pound fish.

Although they caught most of their kings on ribbonfish, the Sea Drag’N crew also loaded up with pogies at Harkers Island both mornings of the tournament.

Al Morris, Jr. would like to thank the Sea Drag’N crew’s sponsors Mercury, Star Rods, Sea Striker, and Sea Angler Fish Bags for their continued support.

Miles Bunn and Pat Renfro, fishing aboard Bunn’s Yamaha-powered 235 Kencraft Rod Hog, took the 34.65 pound SKA third place king.

The Snead’s Ferry/Wilson-based anglers found their king near Drum Inlet Saturday, as they were trolling between 4 Mile Rock and Drum Rock. The king fell for a naked menhaden bait around 3:15 Saturday afternoon, as time ran short in the competition, and Renfro took the rod while the fish ran.

“We knew it was a good fish due to the speed of the run,” Bunn said. After he got the other lines in, the pair chased the king down. When they caught up to the mackerel, it sounded once, then surfaced near the boat.

“He came up within 6 feet of the boat,” explained Bunn, “and laid over for us. I knew it was a good one, because I had to choke up on the gaff to get him in. We hauled him in and then hauled it for the scales.”

Bunn wished to thank the Rod Hog’s primary sponsor ES & J Construction, and to thank the Power Marine Outfitters/New River Marina staff for taking care of the team and other local anglers.

A 30.1 pound king secured the fourth place finish in SKA competition for the Southern Bale crew, out of Walstonburg, NC. Matt Gay, Mark Jones, Vernon Jones, and Josh Relyea were all aboard the team’s Yamaha-powered 25’ Contender for the event, and caught their fish on Friday.

The Southern Bale king bit around 8:00 Friday morning, as the crew was trolling at the George Summerlin Reef, just east of Lookout Shoals. A menhaden trolled short on top fooled the 30 pounder, and Vernon Jones was the first to the rod after it bit.

“We hardly fought him at all,” Gay said. “We were still getting the lines up, and we had to throw the throttles down so he didn’t get underneath us.”

The slack line the king created when it ran at the boat momentarily fooled the anglers into believing they’d lost their fish, but Jones quickly came tight on the fish again. Soon after he did, it popped up near the boat and Gay planted the big hook and brought the king aboard.

The Southern Bale crew fished the same area on Saturday, and put a 29 pounder in the boat, but couldn’t find one heavier than Friday’s fish. The caught their baits Thursday at Harkers Island.

Morehead City’s Ocean Athlete crew of Skip Conklin, Sandy Conklin, and Jay Russell weighed in the SKA’s fifth-heaviest king, at 29.75 pounds. The fish also earned Sandy Conklin the SKA Top Lady Angler honors, not only for the event, but all of 2007 Division 2 competition.

Like most of the other boats in the tournament, the Ocean Athlete anglers fished the east side of Lookout Shoals, and hooked the near 30 pound king on a naked menhaden on Friday morning.

The Miss Lexi team, from Salter Path, was the top SKA finisher in the event’s 23’ and Under Division, weighing in a 31.70 pound king on Friday. John Mercer, Allen Willis, and Danny Hope fished the event aboard Mercer’s 23’ Mercury-powered Fountain.

A naked menhaden trolled in the Fountain’s propwash fooled the Miss Lexi king as the anglers trolled around 30 Minute Rock Friday morning. The strike came just after 10:00, and Willis drew the rod from the holder as the fish ran into the seas.

“He made three really long runs dead into the wind,” Mercer explained. With Hope at the helm, the anglers followed the king into the waves. Their fish surfaced soon after they caught up to it, and when it did, Mercer was able to lean over the gunnels and gaff it.

The Miss Lexi anglers would like to express their gratitude towards Outback Marine, of Morehead City, for keeping their boat in top shape, and to Allen’s father Al Willis, who ties all the team’s rigs.

Hunter Sanders, fishing aboard the Reel Screamer, took the event’s Top Junior Angler prize with a 23.80 pound fish.

The Atlantic Beach Tournament, originally scheduled for September 6-8, 2007, was postponed until October 18-19 due to a passing tropical storm. Although the 247 participants still fished in some sporty weather Friday and Saturday, conditions were improved from the original weekend, and the weather didn’t stop the teams from weighing in some impressive fish, including the 50.1 pound king that took the event’s overall top prize.

Proceeds from the event go to the Atlantic Beach Volunteer Fire Department and the Carteret County Sportfishing Association’s artificial reef building fund.