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MINING MY BIDNESS TAKES JENSEN BEACH
Covey of 50-pounders Shake Division Standings

by Ed Killer

Jensen Beach, Florida. - Wherever she is, Frances Langford is all smiles. The longtime benefactor of this small beachside community loved fishing as much as she loved the peacocks that roamed her estate.

If she were still alive, she would have been at the weigh-in cheering all four 50-pound plus kings, the five 40-pounders and all the families and young anglers that proudly carried their catches to the scale that first weekend of May.

Without question the 61.30-pound career fish caught by Chuck Permenter’s team on Mining My Bidness will be one of those hallmark fish that will talked about for years to come in these parts. In fact, only a fish like that could overshadow the efforts of Hooked For Reel’s 58-pounder, ProMarineUSA.com / Penny Wise’s 53-pounder and many of the other stellar kings weighed over the weekend.

But when it comes to the competitive standings race in the Mercury Tournament Trail’s Division 10 schedule, the teams aboard No Limits, Kalee, Psycho and Gatorfan seized the opportunity to make mid-season moves.

No Limits now leads the Class of 23 thanks to the 51.5-pounder scaled by Vero Beach anglers Grant Cloughley and Travis Whitfield. The two fished their Yamaha-powered 23’ Contender in a spot in 28 feet of water on North Beach just north of Fort Pierce Inlet.

“This is by far the biggest fish we have ever caught in a tournament,” said Cloughley, who with Whitfield won the 2005 Class of 23 in D-10 and the SKA’s Rookie of the Year honors. “We had about 10 more minutes to fish when this girl hit.”

The duo had scaled a 30-pounder on day one to keep pace in the Division, but made a serious upgrade with their last minute catch to collect nearly $5,000 for fourth place overall and bonus best fish in Class of 23’. No Limits now has 101.75 pounds and is armed with a 21.91-pound drop fish heading into the Division’s final two events.

Cloughley and Whitfield had to remain positive while fishing a spot that earlier in the day had given up ProMarineUSA.com / Penny Wise’s 53-pounder. “We were so close to them that when their big fish hit, we thought it was one of our reels going off,” Whitfield said. “But later on we saw a really big king skyrocket on some bait, so we stuck it out a while longer.”

Boynton Beach team Kalee with Manny Rodriguez, Lee Rodriguez, Kasey Rodriguez and Kevin Alexander landed a 49.16 on the second day to rocket through the Division standings. On a 33’ Contender with Yamahas, they are shooting to qualify for the National Championships and stand 12th with 81.04 pounds on just two fish after bypassing the Hog’s Breath event to open the year.

“We were north of Jupiter Inlet in 80 feet of water and fished a blue runner down 30 feet,” said Lee Rodriguez who helped sister/angler Kasey. “We missed a heartbreaker of a fish Friday, but made up for it (Saturday).” Kalee collected $2,500 for fifth place overall and will attempt to make up lost ground during events in Fort Pierce and Canaveral.

Psycho with West Palm Beach’s Gil Strelec, Jason Naumann, Greg Haskins and Steve Kemp scaled a 48.74 to now lead Division 10 with 117.16 pounds after three events. Psycho took the sixth largest fish of the event and $1,500. “We’re really happy, but we were pretty bummed when we lost two bigger fish earlier in the day,” said Strelec who fishes an Evinrude-powered 27 Conch. “We got to the spot off Boca Raton and one of the first baits out got hit, ran off 300 yards of line, turned and then tail-whipped us.”

Psycho also had to contend with dead bait on day two and had to spend time locating and catching more bait. While trailed in the standings by Angler of the Year Ron Mitchell’s team on Bandit (109.57) and Salty Marine’s Don Testa (108.60), Strelec has his eye on Twin Vee led by Port St. Lucie’s Skip Chandler whose 102.44 pounds includes a 20.84 drop fish that can easily be replaced.

Gatorfan led by Port St. Lucie’s David Albritton trails No Limits in the Class of 23’, but with a 46.10 at the Langford, they are keeping pace trailing by just five pounds. The 23’ Contender reckons to try to steal the title from No Limits as the Division winds down the stretch.

Other teams poised to make moves in Fort Pierce (mid-May) and Canaveral (August) are Tom Mulligan and Wound Tight sitting 11th with 82.18 pounds for two fish; Randy Crabtree’s Vamoose in 13th with 79.92 pounds for two fish; followed by Perfect Foursome, Spectre Yanmar / Top Gun, Miller Tyme, Hold’em Hook, and Simrad - all solid teams with two fish and better than a 36-pound per fish average. One well-placed fish in the mid-30s will send any of these teams into the mix for the Division lead and a possible year-end trip to Biloxi.

As for Langford who passed away in 2005, the event showed the class and substance for which she was remembered. Following her career as a songstress, actress and USO entertainer with Bob Hope during World War II and the Korean War, the Lakeland, Florida girl settled in Jensen Beach with her longtime husband Ralph Evinrude (yes, that Evinrude).

So when it came to fishing, she would have happily lent her name to an event such as the one tournament director Jim Scharfschwerdt and the Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce assembled. With fishing as good as it was, it will be an event that will be looked forward to by SKA anglers for years to come.