Southern Kingfish Association, LLC - 15 Garnett Avenue - St. Augustine, FL 32084
Phone 904.819.0360 - Fax 904.819.0331 - E-Mail: sokingfish@aol.com
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| MERCURY TRAIL |
2007 DIVISION 12 TOURNAMENT NEWS: North Carolina
GAME DAY CREW DOMINATES 2007 BRUNSWICK ISLANDS KING CLASSIC!
Rodeffer's Crew Reels In $30k GMC Truck And $20k In Cash
By Max Gaspeny
The four SKA Divisions the North Carolina anglers 
compete in are some of the most
competitive on the entire king mackerel circuit, and local teams generally dominate
the leaderboards. Not in the 2007 Brunswick Islands King Classic, where the Fernandina
Beach, Florida-based Game Day crew weighed in the 39.03 pound winning king mackerel to
take home the top prize, a $30,000+ GMC truck and nearly $20,000 in cash.
The tournament was held August 31-September 1 out of Holden Beach Marina.
“This is only our second tournament up here,” team Captain W.D. Rodeffer said. “This bunch of anglers are great fishermen. It’s really intimidating to come up here and fish against them.” Rodeffer fished with his brother, Ryan, and father, Dave aboard the Game Day, a 31’ Contender powered by twin Yamaha 250 Four Strokes.
The Game Day crew trailered their Contender from Florida to Georgetown, South Carolina, where they put the boat in the water. Saturday morning, they searched for bait in the ICW, and received a little assistance from some area watermen. “We talked to some local crabbers, and they told us exactly where the pogies were,” Rodeffer related.
With bait taken care of, the crew headed out to an area off Georgetown in 50 feet of water where some friends had found big kings earlier in the week. “It was a little hard bottom area holding a lot of live bait,” Rodeffer said. At first the action was a little slow, but around 9, a solid bite developed.
“It was pretty good from 9 to 11,” recalled Rodeffer. The team’s winning fish bit a naked pogy trolled on top at 10:30 Saturday morning, and Ryan Rodeffer took the rod.
“We both saw that fish hit and splash,” W.D. Rodeffer said, “And we felt like it was a pretty good one. We did the right thing, just let him go and took our time.” After letting the fish tire itself, the team chased it down. W.D. gaffed the fish when the crew caught up to it, and was surprised at how easily the team boated the near-40 pound king. “We had some smaller ones that fought harder than that.”
With the big king in the box, the anglers continued fishing, hoping to land an even larger fish. “We knew that fish was over 35,” W.D. Rodeffer explained, “but we didn’t know exactly how big. It was rough enough that the scales we had on board were bouncing all the way from 36-44 pounds”
The spot surrendered several more fish before the bite slowed, but none larger than the one already in the box. With 80 miles to travel in order to weigh their fish, Rodeffer said the Game Day team decided to head for Holden Beach around noon. “We took it easy coming in. It was a good fish, and we had plenty of time to make it. We cruised about 30.”
It took around 2.5 hours to close in on Holden Beach, and the anglers arrived with plenty of time before the weigh-in cut-off. They finished their fishing day by spending a short time trolling the beachfront before heading in to Lockwood Folly Inlet and the scales.
At the weigh-in, their fish topped Fish Meister’s second place king by less than a tenth of a pound. The crew’s next largest fish was a 32 pound king that would have kept them in the top five.
W.D. Rodeffer wished to thank the team’s sponsors and friends at Loadmaster Trailers. “If you want to travel and fish like this, you’ve got to have a good trailer, and they’ve got us covered,” he said.
The Game Day fish narrowly edged out last year’s Brunswick Islands champions, the Fish Meister team, who weighed in a 38.96 lb king to take second. The Calabash, NC-based crew included team Captain Dean Spatholt, his son Russell, and Dennis Watson, fishing aboard a 36’ Yamaha-powered Yellowfin.
In an ironic turn, the Yamaha-sponsored trio won their second 225 hp Mercury Optimax outboard in two years, as the outboard was part of last year’s first prize package. In addition to the motor, the crew took home a check for nearly $10,000.
The Fish Meister crew also had a long run to make to weigh their fish, as they hooked it on the east side of Cape Lookout Shoals Saturday morning, the same area they found last year’s winning fish.
“He hit a live, naked pogy on the long line,” Watson recalled of the second place king. The fish bit around 10:00 while many of the nearby boats were on the radio complaining about the slow bite.
Russell Spatholt was the angler, but didn’t have to fight the fish for too long. “It was a 15 minute fight at the most,” he said. While Russell cranked on the fish, his father followed its movements from the helm. When the king was finally close enough, Watson reached over the gunnel and sank the gaff.
The team continued trolling for a short time after boating their fish, but decided to head towards the scales at 11:00.
Locating bait was a challenge for the Fish Meister anglers Saturday morning, and it took the team nearly two hours of searching at Harkers Island to fill the Yellowfin’s wells.
The team would like to thank their sponsors Yamaha and Yellowfin for their valuable assistance.
Third place went to the Dig It team, from Willow Springs, NC, for a 33.16 pound king mackerel. The team took home a complete Raymarine electronics package along with nearly $4,000 in cash. Greg, Tony, Daniel, and Bryant Carroll made up the family team for the Brunswick Islands tournament, and fish together aboard a 36’ Mercury-powered Contender. The 33 pound king brought Daniel and Bryant the shared Top Junior Angler title in the event.
The area eat of Lookout Shoals also gave up the third place king. It bit a naked pogy on the medium flat line at 10:15 Saturday morning while the Carrolls were trolling around 30 Minute Rock. Daniel Carroll picked up the rod and, as the fish took line, Greg and Bryant Carroll cleared the rest of the spread.
“He made a real strong run for a king,” Greg Carroll reported. “We thought it might be a wahoo at first. While Daniel fought the fish, Tony Carroll began chasing it from the helm. It took the team 20 minutes to get close enough to the fish to confirm that it was indeed a king. After sighting the king, it managed to stay near the boat, but just out of gaff range, for another 10 minutes. When Daniel finally worked the king close enough, Tony planted the gaff.
The third place fish was the crew’s only bite of the day. They caught their pogy baits fairly easily at Harker’s Island the morning of the event.
Greg Carroll wished to express his gratitude to the team’s sponsors Power Marine Outfitters, New River Marina, Contender, and Mercury.
Laurinburg, NC team Toes Up weighed in the 31.80 pound, fourth place king. Richard Bowles, Kurt Cross, and Doug Robeson were fishing their first tournament aboard a 21’, Johnson-powered Sea Pro.
The “Toes Up” crew found their king at the Jungle, a live bottom area around 20 miles off Holden Beach. “We got out there, started fishing at 8, and had that fish in the boat at 8:15,” Bowles reported.
The fourth place king fell for a pogy trolled on top beneath a blue/white skirt. Bowles was closest to the rod, and picked it up as the king began a very long run. “When she hit, she screamed half the spool off,” he said. “She stayed deep, and that’s how we knew she was a good fish. We finally had to take the boat towards her, she came up, and we got her in the boat.”
When the fish surfaced, Robeson gaffed and boated it. The anglers trolled unsuccessfully for another hour before deciding to head in due to the rough seas around 9:15.
The crew wished to thank God, the Ocean Isle Fishing Center, and the team’s sponsors Richard Bowles Funeral Service and Custom Machine and Fabrication, both of Laurinburg.
The “Trouble Maker” fishing team landed the fifth place fish, a 27.24 pound king. Eric and Patricia Arvidson fished the tournament with their children Paul Arvidson and Will Austin aboard a 26’ Yamaha-powered Regulator.
The fifth-place king bit a spanish mackerel beneath a pink/white skirt as the crew was trolling a ledge south of the 27 Foot Hole, off Little River, SC. Austin took the rod after the fish bit at 12:30, and fought the king for 34’ minutes in 5-6’ seas before getting it close enough to the boat for Eric to sink the gaff.
The 27 pound fish one of two the Trouble Maker anglers caught that Saturday, as they released a smaller king earlier in the day.
Eric Arvidson wished to thank the SKA’s Don Ewing, a close friend, for giving the Trouble Maker crew the spanish mackerel they caught their king on.
The Cruise Control II team took the top fish in Class of 23’ competition, a 17.28 pound king. Team Captain Curtis Bolick fished the tournament with his son Hunter and Scott Dalton aboard their 23’ Yamaha-powered Sailfish.
The 17 pounder bit a naked ribbonfish trolled on the downrigger while the Cruise Control II anglers were trolling at the Cabbage Patch around 9:00 the morning of the tournament.
This year’s Brunswick Islands King Classic attracted 120 boats despite a less than favorable forecast. Proceeds generated by the event go to benefit the Rotary Club of Brunswick County and Lower Cape Fear Hospice.
Tournament director Terry Adkins wished to thank all the event’s sponsors and participants.
compete in are some of the most
competitive on the entire king mackerel circuit, and local teams generally dominate
the leaderboards. Not in the 2007 Brunswick Islands King Classic, where the Fernandina
Beach, Florida-based Game Day crew weighed in the 39.03 pound winning king mackerel to
take home the top prize, a $30,000+ GMC truck and nearly $20,000 in cash.
The tournament was held August 31-September 1 out of Holden Beach Marina.“This is only our second tournament up here,” team Captain W.D. Rodeffer said. “This bunch of anglers are great fishermen. It’s really intimidating to come up here and fish against them.” Rodeffer fished with his brother, Ryan, and father, Dave aboard the Game Day, a 31’ Contender powered by twin Yamaha 250 Four Strokes.
The Game Day crew trailered their Contender from Florida to Georgetown, South Carolina, where they put the boat in the water. Saturday morning, they searched for bait in the ICW, and received a little assistance from some area watermen. “We talked to some local crabbers, and they told us exactly where the pogies were,” Rodeffer related.
With bait taken care of, the crew headed out to an area off Georgetown in 50 feet of water where some friends had found big kings earlier in the week. “It was a little hard bottom area holding a lot of live bait,” Rodeffer said. At first the action was a little slow, but around 9, a solid bite developed.
“It was pretty good from 9 to 11,” recalled Rodeffer. The team’s winning fish bit a naked pogy trolled on top at 10:30 Saturday morning, and Ryan Rodeffer took the rod.
“We both saw that fish hit and splash,” W.D. Rodeffer said, “And we felt like it was a pretty good one. We did the right thing, just let him go and took our time.” After letting the fish tire itself, the team chased it down. W.D. gaffed the fish when the crew caught up to it, and was surprised at how easily the team boated the near-40 pound king. “We had some smaller ones that fought harder than that.”
With the big king in the box, the anglers continued fishing, hoping to land an even larger fish. “We knew that fish was over 35,” W.D. Rodeffer explained, “but we didn’t know exactly how big. It was rough enough that the scales we had on board were bouncing all the way from 36-44 pounds”
The spot surrendered several more fish before the bite slowed, but none larger than the one already in the box. With 80 miles to travel in order to weigh their fish, Rodeffer said the Game Day team decided to head for Holden Beach around noon. “We took it easy coming in. It was a good fish, and we had plenty of time to make it. We cruised about 30.”
It took around 2.5 hours to close in on Holden Beach, and the anglers arrived with plenty of time before the weigh-in cut-off. They finished their fishing day by spending a short time trolling the beachfront before heading in to Lockwood Folly Inlet and the scales.
At the weigh-in, their fish topped Fish Meister’s second place king by less than a tenth of a pound. The crew’s next largest fish was a 32 pound king that would have kept them in the top five.
W.D. Rodeffer wished to thank the team’s sponsors and friends at Loadmaster Trailers. “If you want to travel and fish like this, you’ve got to have a good trailer, and they’ve got us covered,” he said.
The Game Day fish narrowly edged out last year’s Brunswick Islands champions, the Fish Meister team, who weighed in a 38.96 lb king to take second. The Calabash, NC-based crew included team Captain Dean Spatholt, his son Russell, and Dennis Watson, fishing aboard a 36’ Yamaha-powered Yellowfin.
In an ironic turn, the Yamaha-sponsored trio won their second 225 hp Mercury Optimax outboard in two years, as the outboard was part of last year’s first prize package. In addition to the motor, the crew took home a check for nearly $10,000.
The Fish Meister crew also had a long run to make to weigh their fish, as they hooked it on the east side of Cape Lookout Shoals Saturday morning, the same area they found last year’s winning fish.
“He hit a live, naked pogy on the long line,” Watson recalled of the second place king. The fish bit around 10:00 while many of the nearby boats were on the radio complaining about the slow bite.
Russell Spatholt was the angler, but didn’t have to fight the fish for too long. “It was a 15 minute fight at the most,” he said. While Russell cranked on the fish, his father followed its movements from the helm. When the king was finally close enough, Watson reached over the gunnel and sank the gaff.
The team continued trolling for a short time after boating their fish, but decided to head towards the scales at 11:00.
Locating bait was a challenge for the Fish Meister anglers Saturday morning, and it took the team nearly two hours of searching at Harkers Island to fill the Yellowfin’s wells.
The team would like to thank their sponsors Yamaha and Yellowfin for their valuable assistance.
Third place went to the Dig It team, from Willow Springs, NC, for a 33.16 pound king mackerel. The team took home a complete Raymarine electronics package along with nearly $4,000 in cash. Greg, Tony, Daniel, and Bryant Carroll made up the family team for the Brunswick Islands tournament, and fish together aboard a 36’ Mercury-powered Contender. The 33 pound king brought Daniel and Bryant the shared Top Junior Angler title in the event.
The area eat of Lookout Shoals also gave up the third place king. It bit a naked pogy on the medium flat line at 10:15 Saturday morning while the Carrolls were trolling around 30 Minute Rock. Daniel Carroll picked up the rod and, as the fish took line, Greg and Bryant Carroll cleared the rest of the spread.
“He made a real strong run for a king,” Greg Carroll reported. “We thought it might be a wahoo at first. While Daniel fought the fish, Tony Carroll began chasing it from the helm. It took the team 20 minutes to get close enough to the fish to confirm that it was indeed a king. After sighting the king, it managed to stay near the boat, but just out of gaff range, for another 10 minutes. When Daniel finally worked the king close enough, Tony planted the gaff.
The third place fish was the crew’s only bite of the day. They caught their pogy baits fairly easily at Harker’s Island the morning of the event.
Greg Carroll wished to express his gratitude to the team’s sponsors Power Marine Outfitters, New River Marina, Contender, and Mercury.
Laurinburg, NC team Toes Up weighed in the 31.80 pound, fourth place king. Richard Bowles, Kurt Cross, and Doug Robeson were fishing their first tournament aboard a 21’, Johnson-powered Sea Pro.
The “Toes Up” crew found their king at the Jungle, a live bottom area around 20 miles off Holden Beach. “We got out there, started fishing at 8, and had that fish in the boat at 8:15,” Bowles reported.
The fourth place king fell for a pogy trolled on top beneath a blue/white skirt. Bowles was closest to the rod, and picked it up as the king began a very long run. “When she hit, she screamed half the spool off,” he said. “She stayed deep, and that’s how we knew she was a good fish. We finally had to take the boat towards her, she came up, and we got her in the boat.”
When the fish surfaced, Robeson gaffed and boated it. The anglers trolled unsuccessfully for another hour before deciding to head in due to the rough seas around 9:15.
The crew wished to thank God, the Ocean Isle Fishing Center, and the team’s sponsors Richard Bowles Funeral Service and Custom Machine and Fabrication, both of Laurinburg.
The “Trouble Maker” fishing team landed the fifth place fish, a 27.24 pound king. Eric and Patricia Arvidson fished the tournament with their children Paul Arvidson and Will Austin aboard a 26’ Yamaha-powered Regulator.
The fifth-place king bit a spanish mackerel beneath a pink/white skirt as the crew was trolling a ledge south of the 27 Foot Hole, off Little River, SC. Austin took the rod after the fish bit at 12:30, and fought the king for 34’ minutes in 5-6’ seas before getting it close enough to the boat for Eric to sink the gaff.
The 27 pound fish one of two the Trouble Maker anglers caught that Saturday, as they released a smaller king earlier in the day.
Eric Arvidson wished to thank the SKA’s Don Ewing, a close friend, for giving the Trouble Maker crew the spanish mackerel they caught their king on.
The Cruise Control II team took the top fish in Class of 23’ competition, a 17.28 pound king. Team Captain Curtis Bolick fished the tournament with his son Hunter and Scott Dalton aboard their 23’ Yamaha-powered Sailfish.
The 17 pounder bit a naked ribbonfish trolled on the downrigger while the Cruise Control II anglers were trolling at the Cabbage Patch around 9:00 the morning of the tournament.
This year’s Brunswick Islands King Classic attracted 120 boats despite a less than favorable forecast. Proceeds generated by the event go to benefit the Rotary Club of Brunswick County and Lower Cape Fear Hospice.
Tournament director Terry Adkins wished to thank all the event’s sponsors and participants.
Final Standings
Brunswick Islands Kingfish Classic
Division 12
CLASS OF 23
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