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LUNASEA WINS FIRST SKA TOURNAMENT!
Sujat Wins New Yamaha 225 and $3,500!
by Jack Holmes
Fort Pierce, Florida - Fishing their fifth SKA event, the Lunasea made it to the winner's circle with over a pound to spare. Rich Sujat and Mike Thies began their day with a trip to the Cove but no one came knocking. “That spot produced nothing so we moved to the Fishing Club Reef where we found a 25-pounder, a good points-fish but not the one we needed to win the event,” explained Sujat, the Captain of the 25' Yamaha powered Contender. By mid-afternoon the team had moved to South Beach, and while trolling in 40 feet of water a big king hit a blue runner but spit the hook. “She came back and hit another bait, but in the process got wrapped up on the second downrigger clip. We cut the clip off, unwrapped the line, and then managed to get her to the boat. It was a very chaotic fight,” Sujat added. Rich fought the fish while Mike gaffed the king.
At the scales the big king tipped the scales at 41.19, a pound better than the second place team. “We won a Yamaha 225 hp outboard motor and $3,500 in cash,” the Captain told us. “This really helps us in the standings. Now it looks like we can qualify.” The team also wanted to thank Yamaha, Contender and Professional Home Construction.
The Aley family, Kevin, Kevin, Jr. and Terry, plus Lacie Jennings, saw only one fish all day, but it was the one that would propel them into second place, a 40.09. The Mercury powered Fountain, Maniac Mack, ran north to Sebastian Inlet and fished the mouth of the inlet on the beach. “It wasn't until just after noon when she hit a blue runner on a long line in 25 feet of water,” explained Kevin before accepting his award for second place. “Lacie angled the fish and won Top Junior honors while Terry picked up Top Lady honors. It was a great day for us.” It was also their best finish in SKA competition.
Michael Mock’s BG Nole scaled a 38.87 and came home with third place honors, the best SKA finish to for he and Delvin Moberg to date. “We went north to Sebastian and fished north of the inlet in 23 feet of water,” Mock stated. “She hit a long-lined blue runner.” Mock was on the rod while Moberg ran the boat, cleared lines, and brought her in the boat. The team fishes a 21' Yamaha powered Bluewater. This king should push the team into the top five of the Class and with one event left in Canaveral, who knows how far they'll go this season!
The Hastings, Keith, Kim and Paige, got some good local information about some fish north of Sebastian. “We made the run north 33 miles,” said Keith, team Captain of the No Name Contender. “We were in 21 feet of water at 11 o'clock when she hit a mullet in the prop wash.” The king inched over the 35-pound mark on the scale, which gave the team fourth place honors. Paige was second place junior. This is their first year fishing SKA.
The current Class of 23’ Division 10 leader, Grant Cloughley and Travis Whitfield fishing the Yamaha powered Contender, No Limits, improved their overall lead in the Division with a fifth place 34.71. They, too, fished Sebastian in 35 feet of water. “We were in the same area where we caught our fish in the Jensen Beach Tournament,” said Cloughley, referring to their 51-pounder. “We caught her at 11:30 using a ribbonfish on the downrigger.” This team has the opportunity of having the best three-fish aggregate of all teams fishing Division 10 this year. Canaveral will be crucial for a lot of teams.
“Obviously we were one of the few teams that ran south,” said Captain Frank Dloughly of the Direct Strike, an Evinrude powered Prowler Cat. The team ran south to the Loran Tower where they had pre-fished. “We were in 70 feet of water when a Pearl Duster in front of a blue runner enticed a 31-pounder on a short line to strike,” said Captain Dlouhy. “Zack got her to the boat in short order.” The king gave the team a first place finish in the Class of 23’ and a seventh place in the overall standings. Mike Altman fishes the team also.
Rich Cook and Mark Pernice ran the Mercury powered Sap III to a second place finish in the Class. They scaled a 21.69. Running 15 miles past Sebastian the team set up in 25 to 35 feet of water. After finding small fish all morning the team hooked up to the money-fish at 2 o'clock. The king ate a blue runner in the prop wash.
Chris Thomas and Greg Haskins caught a 22-pound king to capture tenth fishing the Hold’em Hook.
Terry Adkins did a good job putting on this tournament for the SKA. He was fighting two elements, several teams who fish the Pros were in Louisiana and the Fort Pierce Chamber of Commerce held their annual multi-species event on the same weekend. The tournament was originally scheduled for the 18th and 19th of May but bad weather forced the date change. Terry went to the Chamber to try not to re-schedule on their weekend and they told him they would use the weekend prior to Terry's but then changed it again to run with Terry's. When you consider what the SKA brings to the Fort Pierce area, this was a low blow by the Chamber. The SKA will now have to re-think about any future events in the area. When the representative of the business community works against you, you get the message real fast. There are too many communities who appreciate the money we leave in an area to loose any sleep over this treatment.
FINAL STANDINGS:
FORT PIERCE KINGFISH CLASSIC;
FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA
DIVISION 10.
|
| 1. |
LUNASEA••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
41.19 |
| Contender … Yamaha
Rick Sujat
Mike Thies
|
| 2. |
MANIAC MACK••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
40.09 |
| Fountain … Mercury
Kevin Aley
Kevin Aley Jr.
Terry Aley
Lacie Jennings
|
| 3. |
BG NOLE •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
38.87 |
| Bluewater …. Yamaha
Michael Mock
Devin Moberg
|
| 4. |
NO NAME CONTENDER•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
35.10 |
| Contender … Yamaha
Keith Hastings
Kim Hastings
Paige Hastings
|
| 5. |
NO LIMITS ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
34.71 |
| Contender … Yamaha
Grant Coughley
Travis Whitfield
|
| 6. |
Team Strategix•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 31.78 |
| 7. |
DIRECT STRIKE ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
31.43 |
| Prowler … Evinrude
Frank Dlouhy
Mike Altman
Zachary Burns / Dlouhy
|
| 8. |
Sake •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 28.13 |
| 9. |
Advocater•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | 26.07 |
| 10. |
HOLD-EM HOOK •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
22.12 |
| Fountain … Mercury
Chris Thomas
Greg Haskins
|
CLASS OF 23: |
| 1. |
DIRECT STRIKE ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
31.44 |
| 2. |
SAP III •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
21.69 |
| ProLine …. Mercury
Rich Cook
Mark Pernice
|
SKA TOP JUNIORS: |
| 1. |
MANIAC MACK ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
Lacie Jennings |
| 2. |
NO NAME CONTENDER ••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
Paige Hastings |
| 3. |
DIRECT STRIKE •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
Zachary Burns / Dlouhy |
TOP LADY: |
| MANIAC MACK•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• |
Terry Aley |
|
