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more Mercury Trail stories<< SIMPLY STORAGE TOPS JOLLY MON FIELD!
Kennedy’s 38.80 is Worth Over $25,000
by Max Gaspeny
Winning any fishing tournament involves a precise combination of luck, skill and preparation, but when competing against 360 other boats, as the Simply Storage team was in the 2007 Jolly Mon King Classic, held June 22-24 out of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center, those elements must be incredibly finely tuned.
The Winnabow, North Carolina based team, comprised of Mike Kennedy and Rodney Benton, landed a 38.80-pound king mackerel on Saturday, June 23, to top the record field of competitors and take home over $25,000.
Taking advantage of the Captain’s Choice format that enabled anglers to choose to fish either day of the weekend, the Simply Storage crew elected to fish the first day, and got their fish early. “That king hit about 7:45,” Benton said. “After we got him in the boat, we were taking it easy all day.” Kennedy and Benton were fishing the Jolly Mon aboard the Simply Storage, a 31’ Contender powered by twin 250 hp Yamaha Four Strokes.
The winning king struck a naked pogy fished under a balloon while Simply Storage was anchored up on a spot between the Cucumber and the Cabbage Patch. Kennedy grabbed the rod after the fish struck, and Benton began clearing the lines and anchor, preparing to give chase to the big king. Over the course of the fight, the two-man team passed the rod back and forth, so both Kennedy and Benton played a hand in fighting the first place fish.
“When he hit, he pretty much ran hard and blistered that reel down,” explained Benton, “and we followed right behind him.” With Kennedy at the helm, the Simply Storage stayed on top of the king until it finally surfaced, around 15 minutes after eating the fateful pogy. When the king came up, Kennedy was ready with the gaff and planted the steel in the big king’s flank.
With the nearly 40-pound king in the boat, the Simply Storage crew continued fishing the Cucumber/Cabbage Patch area for several more hours. “We lost another good king,” Kennedy said, “and then some big sharks ran us off of our spot. After that we came back in and fished the Lighthouse Rocks and the (Cape Fear) River Channel. Then we went down to Lockwood Inlet and fished a little bit.” Other than the winning fish, the pair managed to boat one other king mackerel, and two Spanish.
“We pre-fished all week, and pretty much stuck to our game plan. We knew where we were going to fish on Thursday,” Kennedy revealed. The crew had no difficulty locating their menhaden baits, and filled up the live well in the ocean off Holden Beach Saturday morning.
The Simply Storage team would like to thank sponsors Contender Boats, Yamaha Outboard Motors, M and M Mini Storage and Access Mini Storage.
The No Alibi fishing team from Greensboro, North Carolina, took second place in the Jolly Mon with a 37.55-pound king they caught Sunday. That No Alibi king was the only fish in the top five caught on Sunday. Donnie Ward, Bill Edmonds and Neal Loman were all aboard the 24’ Scout Cuddy Cabin for the tournament, and the trio went home with over $15,000 in total winnings.
“We were about five miles south of the Jungle when he hit,” said Edmonds. “His first run almost spooled us. We had to chase him a good bit to get some line back.”
“That’s the longest run I’ve ever seen a king mackerel take,” added Loman.
Ward grabbed the rod during the impressive run and began fighting the king. After the long run, it took Ward around 15 minutes to work the king to the boat and to where Edmonds was waiting with the gaff.
Other than the second place fish, the No Alibi crew landed three sharks and several more kings up to ten pounds. They had no difficulty filling their live well with pogies just off the beach at Cherry Grove, South Carolina.
Samuel Cernugel and the Coon Dog crew of Wilmington, North Carolina, took third place with a 36.00-pound king mackerel. Cernugel was fishing with friends Chris Nealon and Jeremy Padgett aboard the 36’ Yellowfin powered by triple 275 hp Mercury Verados. The crew took home a check for over $10,000 for third.
The Coon Dog’s king bit at 10:05 Saturday morning as the crew trolled around the 90/90. Like the top two fish, the third place king fell for a naked pogy, and Padgett took the rod after the strike.
“He made a couple good runs, and we just chased him down,” recalled Cernugel. “We stayed on top of him, but he stayed down.” Padgett battled the 36-pound king for nearly 40 minutes while Cernugle ran the boat. When the king finally surfaced, Nealon leaned over the rail and sank the gaff, boating the third place king.
After landing the king, the Coon Dog stayed in the same general area hunting for a bigger fish. “We worked about three miles offshore, but yeah, we stayed pretty close to the 90/90,” Cernugel explained. In addition to their money-winning king, the Coon Dog caught seven more kings and a dolphin over the course of Saturday’s fishing.
The crew loaded up with menhaden in about 45 minutes Saturday morning. Cernugle wished to thank sponsors Yellowfin, Mercury and Southport Concrete.
The Roofing Contender, a Contender 33T from Hickory, North Carolina, took fourth place, as well as the Top Junior Angler and Top Lady Angler titles, for a 32.65-pound king. Jon Pugh, the team’s Junior Angler, was fishing with his father, Geoff Pugh, Lady Angler Amy Wallace, and her father Randy Wallace. All told, the Roofing Contender team earned over $11,000 in the Jolly Mon.
The Roofing Contender’s big king bit around noon on Saturday while the crew trolled at the Jungle. A pogy beneath a chartreuse skirt proved too much for the fish to resist. It was Amy Wallace’s turn on the rod when the fish struck.
“At first she said it felt like there was a little snake on there,” Geoff Pugh said, “but then all of a sudden it just took off. Then we had to chase it down.” Amy Wallace fought the king for around 15 minutes before it finally surfaced. When the king came up, Geoff Pugh gaffed it.
“After I gaffed it, I hung it over the side for Randy to see, and he was just shouting to ‘bring it in the boat, bring it in the boat’,” Pugh recalled.
Randy Wallace wished to thank Contender and Yamaha for their contributions to the team’s success.
Jeremy Harrelson's Reel Action fishing team, hailing from Hope Mills, North Carolina, took fifth place by weighing a 29.60-pound king mackerel on Saturday. Harrelson was fishing with his father Ronald Harrelson, Tim Bell and Ricky Long, Sr., aboard his 27' Honda powered Sea Pro.
Reel Action's king struck a pogy the team was bump trolling beneath a pink skirt. The fish hit the short T-top bait as the crew was fishing around a bait ball five miles offshore of the Jungle. Long, Sr. grabbed the rod after the strike as the king took off on a long run.
"It was probably 300 yards," Harrelson recalled. "He took a lot of line in a hurry." With Bell at the Sea Pro's helm, the Reel Action chased their fish down. "That's when we had to fight him," said Harrelson.
Long and the king mackerel were locked in an up and down struggle for nearly 30 minutes as the king swam in deep circles. When Long finally tired the fish, Jeremy Harrelson gaffed it and brought the nearly 30-pound fish over the Sea Pro's gunnels.
Along with the fifth place fish, the Reel Action crew landed a dolphin and nine more king mackerel up to 25 pounds. Catching pogies Saturday morning was a struggle for the team, but they filled their livewell after an hour-long search just outside Lockwood Folly Inlet.
The tournament’s top Class of 23’ boat was Jamey Stewart’s Black Cat II with a 29.25-pound. king. Stewart was fishing with Mickey Todd aboard the Georgetown, South Carolina based 23’ Sea Hunt powered by a 250 hp Yamaha Four Stroke. Todd and Stewart took home a check for nearly $10,000.
The Black Cat II king bit a naked pogy as the boat was trolling in 30 feet of water just off Georgetown. When the fish ran, it swam across another bait in the spread and was foul hooked.
With two rods hooked to the king, Stewart and Todd each had to take a rod and fight the fish. It didn’t take long to get the king to the boat with two sets of hooks in it, but gaffing was a bit tricky. “It’s kind of hard to hold a rod and a gaff at the same time,” Stewart said.
The Jolly Mon Saturday was the first time Stewart had the brand new Sea Hunt in the water, and early that morning, the live well pump gave out. “After the livewell pump broke, we took a five-gallon bucket and kept that livewell water fresh to keep the baits alive,” Stewart said, “and we had to do that until our fish bit at 2:00.”
The Jolly Mon is one of the most family-friendly tournaments on the SKA circuit, paying 20 Junior Angler, ten Lady Angler and three Senior Angler places. In addition, all Junior Anglers weighing fish are eligible for a drawing with three $100 prizes. The prize winners then get to select one of 100 envelopes, one of which contains a $10,000 college scholarship sponsored by Magic-Tilt Trailers.
The 200-plus boats that fished on Saturday enjoyed two- to three-foot seas all day. Sunday the ocean was even milder, with seas running one to three feet.
“We couldn’t have had better weather this year; it was perfect,” said Tournament Director Brant McMullan. “We’d like to thank all our sponsors, especially Yamaha, Sailfish, Anglers Marine and BB&T. We get tremendous support from area fishermen, and we couldn’t put this on without it.”
FINAL STANDINGS:
JOLLY MON KING CLASSIC,
OCEAN ISLE BEACH, NORTH CAROLINA,
DIVISION 9.
|
| 1. |
SIMPLY STORAGE•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
38.80 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Michael G. Kennedy
Mark Kennedy
Rodney Benton
|
| 2. |
NO ALIBI ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
37.55 |
| Scout/Yamaha
Neal Loman
Donnie Ward
Bill Edmonds
|
| 3. |
COON DOG •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
36.00 |
| Yellowfin/Mercury
Samuel Cernugel
Jeremy Padgett
Chris Nealon
|
| 4. |
Zig Zag••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
33.95 |
| 5. |
ROOFING CONTRACTOR ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
32.65 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Randy Wallace
Geoff Pugh
Amy Wallace
John Pugh
|
| 6. |
Play' N Hookie••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
30.35 |
| 7. |
REEL ACTION •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
29.60 |
| Sea Pro/Honda
Jeremy Harrelson
Ronald Harrelson
|
| 8. |
Bird Man •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
29.55 |
| 9. |
STEEL FISHING ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
29.50 |
| Privateer/Yamaha
Randy Spainhour
|
| 10. |
Reel Time ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
29.40 |
| 11. |
BLACK CAT II•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
29.25 |
| Sea Hunt/Yamaha
Jamey Stewart
Hunter Harrelson
Chris Harrelson
|
| 12. |
LIQUI-DATE•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
29.05 |
| Pursuit/Yamaha
Kenny Clark
W.D. Caldwell, Jr.
Hunter Clark
|
| 13. |
TOTAL CHAOS ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
28.60 |
| Contender/Yamaha
Sid Cauble
Charles McClure
|
| 14. |
WHITE COLLAR CRIME••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
27.20 |
| Edgewater/Yamaha
Tor Swenson
Carolyn Swenson
|
| 15. |
SANDPIPER••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
26.50 |
| Hydra Sports/Evinrude
Fred Piper
Dane Piper
|
| 16. |
Mac Daddy••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
25.80 |
| 17. |
Tall Tail••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
25.75 |
| 18. |
BILLZFISHER•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
25.25 |
| Mako/Mercury
Bill Welborn
Brent Welborn
Stephen Welborn
|
| 19. |
FINAL APPROACH••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
25.20 |
| Pursuit/Yamaha
James Demyan Jr.
Don Johnson
|
| 20. |
Trust Knot••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
25.00 |
CLASS OF 23: |
| 1. |
BLACK CAT II •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
29.25 |
TOP LADY ANGLER ……. Amy Wallace ….. ROOFING CONTENDER |
| TOP JUNIOR ANGLER …… Jonathan Pugh ….. ROOFING CONTENDER |
SKA TOP JUNIOR ANGLERS
Presented by Guy C. Lee Building Materials: |
| 1. |
Jonathan Pugh |
ROOFING CONTENDER |
| 2. |
Crockett Henderson |
LIQUID FIRE |
| 3. |
Grant Pollard |
WET FLASH |
weather |
| Day one ….. seas 2' to 3' |
| Day two …… seas 1' to 3' |
|
