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more Mercury Trail stories<< GATORFAN WINS FINAL EVENT IN DIVISION 5, NEW SMYRNA KINGFISH CLASSIC!
By Jack Holmes
New Smyrna Beach, Florida—David Albritton must have heard there were some good fish that moved into his Fort Pierce waters. Knowing he could get to the scale in New Smyrna and with a no check-out format, he and his team of James Addison, Anthony Oakes, and Ian McPherson, entered the New Smyrna Kingfish Classic. Fishing a 23' Yamaha powered Contender in the Class of 23, the team worked hard all morning but had little to show for their efforts. A little after one o’clock a big king struck a big blue runner trolled on the surface. “She made one big run of 150 yards,” said Oaks, the angler of the fish. “She then made one more run of 50 yards, then came right to the boat.”
“We knew she was a good fish so we picked up and ran 110 miles north,” said Albritton. “We were excited when Terry Adkins called out 45.11 after hanging the king on the tournament scale.” After that, it was time to sit and wait for the remaining boats coming to the scale to see if anyone could top their king. There were none and early evening Adkins presented the keys to a GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab truck valued at $30,000, plus a check for over $9,000.
The Gatorfan is currently in second place in Class of 23 in Division 10 with just the Canaveral tournament left in the Division. They are having an exceptionally good season! Chalk up a great season for the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA.ORG), Team Mad Dog. Their 34.83 pound third place king caught this weekend increased their lead by over two pounds, giving them 117.53 pound three fish aggregate. The Yamaha powered Contender team of Jim Rachael, Mike Hurst, and Joe Pacetti, fished the Fort Pierce inlet this weekend to find the big king and insure their Division Five Open Class win. They caught the king using a blue runner on the downrigger at 12:30. Joe Pacetti was the angler.
A.J. Simonetta, Jeff Brychta, and Austan Brychta, used Paul Dozier’s Yamaha powered Yellowfin, Inside Chance, to capture fourth place. The team caught a 34.79, just five hundredths of a pound out of third. Talk about a close finish! Austan was the event’s Top Junior Angler. Fifth place fell to A.J. Porsche’s Aqua Toy with a nice 33.92. This is the second team in the top five that fish a Class of 23 boat, a Yamaha powered Pro Sport. A.J., Darren Hollifield, and Bill Jones ran twelve miles south of New Smyrna and fished in 32 feet of water. “We caught her about 10:45,” said A.J, referring to their biggest king of the season. “We had no live bait so we were trolling a bare ballyhoo. She hit the long line.” He went on to explain that the big king took a long time to get to the boat, 40 to 45 minutes.
It is interesting to note that very few fishermen realize that ballyhoo is very effective bait. A.J. obviously knows better. Richard Stone, Tailchaser / Woodsman, boat was in the shop waiting for a lower unit to arrive and used Alden Thornton’s Fountain, The A-Team, this weekend. With Alden and Allison Thornton plus Clayton Kirby on board, the team moved to 80 feet of water straight out from the Red Tops. At ten o’clock a blue runner on the long line got hit and within a few minutes their sixth place 33.77 was on ice. Allison became the event’s Top Lady Angler. Later that day the team caught a 70-pound plus wahoo, which they held up for the large spectator crowd to see when they came to the dock.
Mark Worley, Lorena Day, and Wesley Williams picked up seventh place with a 33.48. At the weigh in dock the trio was quick to point out that their gas bill this weekend was minimal. “We went to the two red cans right outside the inlet and at 7:30 she hit a ribbonfish,” said Worley. “This was Wesley’s first time offshore so we didn’t want to go too far.” You gotta love it when a plan comes together! Fore Play was eighth with a 33.19. Scott and Cameron Frye, Lou Smith, Ed Oldham, and Dan Kehrt, fished south off Canaveral on their Yamaha powered Sea Pro. Theirs, too, was an early bite. “She skied on the bait, then boiled on the blue runner two or three times,” said Scott. “We dropped the bait back and she got it.” They had the king in the boat by eight o’clock. The team caught six fish smaller than their 33 and released them. Fore Play qualified seventh in the Class thanks to this king.
The factory-sponsored Sea Strike team, Jewel Seeker, picked up second place in the Class of 23 thanks to a nice 28.40. On board were William Shaver, Ian Bush, and Russell Shaver. Mike McRae won the Class of 23 overall this season with 101.07 points. He caught a 28-pound king in this event to earn fourth in the Class but he did not need it to win the Division.
The Chase’s, Tim, Bob, and Chase Price picked up fifth in the Class in this tournament and needed the fish to help them qualify to go to Biloxi. They caught a 27.89. Terry Adkins lured 127 teams to come to New Smyrna to fish the final Division Five event of the season. That’s a real tribute. The event was good and the facility was great. This should remain a permanent stop on the tour!
FINAL STANDINGS:
NEW SMYRNA KINGFISH CLASSIC
NEW SMYRNA, FLORIDA
DIVISION 5:
|
| 1. |
GATORFAN •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
45.11 |
| Contender/Yamaha
David Albritton
James Addison
Anthony Oakes
Ian McPherson
|
| 2. |
Twister•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 35.98 |
| 3. |
MAD DOG•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
34.83 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Jim Rachael
Mike Hurst
Joe Pacetti
|
| 4. |
INSIDE CHANCE•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
34.79 |
| Yellowfin/Yamaha
A,J. Simonetta
Jeff Brychta
Austan Brychta
|
| 5. |
AQUA TOY •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
33.92 |
| Pro Sport/Yamaha
A.J. Pausche
Darren Hollifield
Bill Jones
|
| 6. |
TAILCHASER••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
33.77 |
| Fountain/Mercury
Richard Stone
Alden Thornton
Allison Thornton
Clayton Kirby
|
| 7. |
TRIPLE PLAY••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
33.48 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Mark Worley
Lorena Day
|
| 8. |
FOREPLAY••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
33.19 |
| Sea Pro/Yamaha
Scott Frye
Lou Smith
Cameron Frye
Ed Oldham
Dan Kehrt
|
| 9. |
Jobesite II••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 33.12 |
| 10. |
Team Pursuit •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 32.94 |
| 11. |
Second Shift•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 32.08 |
| 12. |
Butter Face•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 31.87 |
| 13. |
OPEN BAR••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
31.69 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Lamar Smith
Jim Harris
Nicole Smith
|
| 14. |
Ariels Air Time••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 31.03 |
| 15. |
IT’S A KEEPER•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
30.78 |
| Hydra Sports/Yamaha
Ryan Preeschl
Chuck DeGrove
Jimmy Hammett
Jerry Richardson
|
CLASS OF 23: |
| 1. |
Pit Boss•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 29.04 |
| 2. |
JEWEL SEEKER•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.40 |
| Sea Strike/Yamaha
William Shaver
Ian Bush
Russell Shaver
|
| 3. |
March Madness••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.39 |
| 4. |
DR. HOOK••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.31 |
| Cape Horn/Mercury
Mike McRae
|
| 5. |
CHASER••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
27.89 |
| Boston Whaler/Mercury
Tim Price
Bob Price
Chase Price
|
TOP JUNIOR: |
|
Austin Richard •••••••••••••• |
Inside Chance |
TOP LADY: |
| Allison Thornton •••••••••••••• |
Tailchaser |
TOP SENIOR: |
|
David Thompson ••••••••••••• |
Butterface |
SKA SUBWAY TOP JUNIORS: |
| 1. |
Lance Cote Jr.•••••••••••••• | EXTERMINADER |
| 2. |
Russell Shaver•••••••••••••• | JEWEL SEEKER |
| 3. |
Chase Price •••••••••••••••• | CHASER |
|
