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MAD DOG'S 46.85 TOPS KINGBUSTER 400
Team Wins A Mercury Powered Fountain |
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| by Jack Holmes |
 “I
can't really tell if this king is over 44 pounds,” said Jim Rachael, Captain of the Mad Dog, after arriving at the Kingbuster 400 dock 15 minutes before weigh-in opened on day two. He needed to beat a non-member Pensacola team who had scaled a 44.60 and emerged with the first day number one slot.
As the bruiser came out of the fish bag, I announced to the large spectator crowd that this king had a shot at moving to the top of the leaderboard. As the fish slid onto the scale it immediately settled on 46 pounds but the tenths kept bouncing. It didn't matter; Rachael, Mike Hurst, A.J. Simonetta and Joe Pacetti went to high-fiving. They had the top spot and it was doubtful a bigger one was on the way. At 5:20 it was official, the Mad Dog team had won the Kingbuster 400 and the $100,000 23' twin Mercury powered Fountain powerboat sitting on a custom aluminum Loadmaster Trailer. What a great weekend!
“We fished 20 miles off Jacksonville,” Rachael explained after all the hoopla calmed down. “It was the first bait in the water, a blue runner,” said Pacetti. “It started burning off my thumb.” Pacetti moved to the front of the boat while Rachael ran the fish down and Hurst got out the gaff. “We had her in the boat in only ten minutes,” Rachael added.
They stayed in the area for the rest of the morning and caught another king in the low 30s but it was the fish in the bag they wanted to get on the scale. “This will be our best finish for Team Mad Dog,” Hurst said grinning. “We've worked hard as a team for eighteen months and it finally happened.”
Rachael did want to thank his sponsor, The Paralyzed Veterans of America, PVA.org, for their continued support. The team fishes a Yamaha powered Contender out of Clearwater, Florida.
“After hooking two small kings, a barracuda, and a shark, it was time to move,” said Bobby Haspel, Captain of the Reel Panic team out of Jacksonville, Florida. “So we ran to the beach and set up in sixty feet of water. The king hit the first double pogy rig deployed about 10:30.” The team of Greg Haspel, Bill Haspel and John Adkins spent the next 35 minutes trying to get her to the surface to get a look. “She acted like a king but until she was on top of the water we really weren't sure,” said Bill, who did the honors of angling the biggest fish the team has ever caught. Greg had the honors of sticking her and proclaimed, “We called her our monster, that was the first thing we said when she came in the boat.”
They captured second place after day one, and slid into third when everything was said and done. A great effort from a very classy team.
Fourth place went to another non-member, but that's kind of expected when you have three hundred teams on the water all trying to be number one. Overall it was one of the best Kingbusters ever. Four kings in the 40s and 20 30-pounders. It took a 26.65 to make the top 40, which, according to Don Combs, the Tourna¬ment Director, was the highest weight for 40th place in the history of the event. It could have been the weather, winds out of the south at five to ten, but we'll report it as great teams and angling skills.
Fifth place went to Charlie McGarity's Bobalou, another Yamaha powered Contender. “We fished the Chum Hole,” said McGarity referring to an outfall area off Jacksonville. “The water was quite clear so we thought after going without a good fish on Friday we'd set up shop here.” It took a ribbonfish to entice the 37.50 king to eat and a lot of patience on behalf of the team. It was a late bite, but at 3:30 in the afternoon Rob Pohl worked the rod while Donnie Buffkin handled the gaff. This was a good finish for the team!
Tyler Patterson's Snatch-Um, a Mercury powered Contender, ate up sixth with a 37.15. “We ran all the way to the Elton Bottom on day one and were rewarded with a nice king at 8:05 in the morning.” Tyler, Billy and Ben Patterson make up the team.
Jacksonville's Season Ticket was seventh with a 36.70. They ran offshore to 110 of water and caught theirs on day two using ribbonfish. “We hooked the biggest red snapper we've ever caught,” said team Captain David Butler. “She went 25 pounds.” There were numerous reports of cobia, dolphin and sailfish being caught all weekend.
Tournament Director Don Combs obviously couldn't fish due to tournament duties, but he enlisted the aid of friends Chris Jonsson, Otis Humphry, Greg Slayton and Earl Jonsson to run his Fountain. They smacked a nice 36.55 to earn eighth. Do you think Don got the message?
Ninth place fell to the Sumthin’ Fishy with John Albritton at the helm. His team scaled a 36.20 while Wayne Preeschl's It's A Keeper rounded out the top ten with a nice 35.70.
The Kingbuster 400 tournament paid out 40 places in the general tournament and three places in the Class of 23’. Our only member finishing in the Class was Steve Thompson's Sea Snake in second. “We fished the Red Tops on the beach,” said Thompson. “She ate a pogy at 7:30 in the morning on day one and weighed 33.40 on the tournament scale. Went back to the same area on Saturday but only caught a 30.”
The Kingbuster 400 remains in the top ten list of king mackerel tournaments in the country, consistently drawing over 300 teams every year. The event, held at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina, has been a tough place to work out of because of the new bridge being built next to the marina. However, Combs has indicated that he is now inclined to move all the festivities over to the events field in St. Augustine, which is adjacent to the new parking garage and currently used for trailer parking. Imaging only going downtown for the weigh in. Parking problems gone. I'm on the same page with you Don!
FINAL STANDINGS KINGBUSTER 400
1. MAD DOG . . . . . . . . . . . . 46.85
Contender … Yamaha
Jim Rachael
Mike Hurst
A.J. Simonetta
Joe Pacetti
2. Renegade. . . . . . . . . . . . 44.60
3. REEL PANIC. . . . . . . . . . . 41.80
Fountain … Mercury
Bobby Haspel
Greg Haspel
Bill Haspel
John Adkins
4. The Renaissance . . . . . . . . 39.70
5. BOBALOU . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.50
Contender … Yamaha
Charlie McGarity
Rob Pohl
Donnie Buffkin
6. SNATCH UM . . . . . . . . . . . 37.15
Contender … Mercury
Tyler Patterson
Billy Patterson
Ben Patterson
7. SEASON TICKET . . . . . . . . . 36.70
Contender … Yamaha
David Butler
Brad Butler
Rob Sanders
Chuck Tower
8. C & H LURES . . . . . . . . . . 36.55
Chris Jonsson
Otis Humphry
Greg Slayton
Earl Jonsson
9. SUMTHIN FISHY . . . . . . . . . 36.20
Fountain … Mercury
John Allbritton Jr.
Josh Higdon
10. IT'S A KEEPER. . . . . . . . . . 35.70
Hydra Sport … Yamaha
Wayne Preeschl
Ryan Preeschl
Chuck DeGrove
Jimmy Hammett
11. Fishin A Loan. . . . . . . . . . 35.45
12. MISLED . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.30
Fountain … Mercury
Michael Williamson
Paul Trayler
13. VENUS BABY . . . . . . . . . . . 33.05
Fountain … Yamaha
William Goodling
Chris Rooney
14. DAYTONA PERFORMANCE MARINE . . . 33.05
Fountain … Mercury
David McGaha
David Knoles
Donna Knoles
Tina Russell
John Reed
15. FINAL APPROVAL . . . . . . . . . 32.85
Donzi … Mercury
Jeff Parsons
Dan Shore
Brandon Shore
Emilee Shore
16. PILGRIM. . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.35
Contender … Yamaha
Keith McCullar
Butch McCoy
17. Meat Merchant. . . . . . . . . . 32.05
18. Bi Polar. . . . . . . . . . . . .31.35
19. HARPOON. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.85
Fountain … Mercury
Joseph J Brown
Sean J. Brown
20. Dat's Right . . . . . . . . . . 30.80
| 21. EXTERMINADER . . . . . . . . . . 30.60
Contender … Yamaha
Randy Nader
Ray Nader
Samanatha Nader
Jerry Moulton
Lance Cote
Lance Cote Jr.
Marcus Nelson
22. FISHTASTIC . . . . . . . . . . . 30.40
White Water .. Yamaha
Greg Sutton
Gary Schmidt
23. DR. HOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.30
Cape Horn … Mercury
Mike McRae
24. REEL SHADY . . . . . . . . . . . 29.55
Fountain … Mercury
James Bryant
James Bryant Jr.
John Bryant
John Wilson
Steve Wilson
25. WOUND TIGHT. . . . . . . . . . . 29.50
Contender ... Mercury
Tommy Mulligan
Jim Scharfschwerdt
Matt Scharfschwerdt
26. RAIN HANDLER . . . . . . . . . . 29.15
Contender … Yamaha
David Chapman
Michael Chapman
27. NUT DEEP . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.95
Mako … Evinrude
Toni Altieri
Greg Altieri
Ronald Ogden
Colt Lewis
28. WISEGUY. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.55
Donzi … Mercury
Greg Bishop
Scott Nicholsehaus
29. FAT & HAPPY . . . . . . . . . . .28.40
Sailfish … Yamaha
Jim Greenwalt
Juan Carlos Arguelles
Frank Reynolds
30. Glenn Dor. . . . . . . . . . . . 28.30
31. Hogwild. . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.80
32. GET WET II . . . . . . . . . . . 27.80
Contender … Yamaha
Sonny Elliott
Steven Elliott
Ryan Cowen
Drew Lewis
33. Thrill Seeker. . . . . . . . . . 27.65
34. No Pressure. . . . . . . . . . . 27.65
35. GAME DAY . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.35
Contender … Yamaha
Ryan Rodeffer
W.D. Rodeffer
Dave Rodeffer
36. CLAY'S COOLER. . . . . . . . . . 27.35
Contender … Yamaha
Clay Russell
Matt Neville
Louis Joseph
Bill Shrager
37. Big Boy's. . . . . . . . . . . . 26.90
38. FOUL HOOKER. . . . . . . . . . . 26.90
Yellowfin … Mercury
Richard Iwaniki
David Tennyson
Keadie Higginbotham
Ryan Beaubouef
39. TYPHOON. . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.90
Yellowfin … Mercury
Ty Ellis
David Vining
Tommy Anderson
40. TAMMY'S TORTURE. . . . . . . . . 26.65
Fountain … Mercury
Jimmy Garza
Shane Hood
James Traylor
CLASS OF 23:
1. Surveying Deep. . . . . . . . 41.55
2. SEA SNAKE. . . . . . . . . . 33.40
ProLine … Mercury
Steve Thompson
3. Ariel's Air Time. . . . . . . 30.50
SKA SUBWAY TOP JUNIORS:
1. Brandon Shore & Emily Shore
. . . . . . . . . Final Approval
2. Lance Cote Jr. & Marcus Nelson
. . . . . . . . . . Exterminader
3. Mathew Scharfschwerdt
. . . . . . . . . . .Wound Tight |
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