UPTON'S TEAM DONZI WINS FIRST LEG OF THE MERCURY PROFESSIONAL KINGFISH TOUR IN KEY WEST!

by Jack Holmes

Key West, Florida -  Ken Upton, his dad, Dan, Jack Wood, and Ken “Captain Camo” Thompson lit up the leaderboard in Key West with a 53.58 on day one of the Mercury Professional Kingfish Tour. Team Donzi then backed it up with a 43.38 on day two to capture first overall with a 96.96 aggregate. It was a great start to a highly competitive series; however, this team is no stranger to the winner's circle. They won a Pro event in Morehead City a couple of years back, plus with Wood at the helm, a National Championship title in 2000. If you're up on SKA statistics you'll also remember that Wood won the '93 Championship with another team.

   On day one of the Key West event held at Murray Marine the team pushed the throttles of the big Verados and pointed the bow to the west. “We got some local information about an area that had been producing big kings in the past. It was out of the way so we figured we'd have the area all to ourselves,” explained Dan Upton who also collected Senior honors for the event. After a 50-mile run in seas two to three feet, they deployed a trio of baits but didn't have to wait long. At 8:30 Ken picked up the rod, and after a very hectic fight Camo sank steel into the shoulder of the biggest king of the event.

   “We left shortly after knowing that it was going to be hard to find a bigger king and we didn't want to put any more pressure on the area,” said Ken. “We moved to an area by the Western Dry Rocks and caught a couple more kings but nothing like what we had in the bag.”

   Day two saw the big Donzi sitting right in the same spot as day one. “We caught five or six over 30 but our spot paid off when we hooked up to our 43-pounder,” Wood explained. “Camo got the gaff and came forward but when he saw it he reported to the rest of the team, she's a teenager. Then she rolled on the surface and I told Ken to take the gaff but Camo refused to give it up. He had a job to do and fulfilled it.”

   Back at the dock, the last fish of the event was weighed and Team Donzi proclaimed the winner, the popular team was then treated to a shower of water balloons from other participants staying in the marina.

   The team won the $40,000 top prize, Raymarine electronics, and all the accolades fellow competitors could bestow on them. With 97 points this team stands poised to capture an Angler of the Year title.

   ProMarineUSA.com / Hannon's Cannon had their best Pro finish to date, scaling a 35.20 on day one, then weighing the second biggest fish of the event, a 52.63, for 87.83 points, good for second place.

   Kevin Hannon, Shannon Armstrong, Steve Rowley and Rick Cook receive sponsorship from Pro Marine, the outboard parts people. To gain more exposure for their sponsorship they elected to bolt on a Mercury, an Evinrude and a Yamaha on the transom of Kevin's Yellowfin. It works and attracts a lot of attention. Of course parts for all three of those brands are sold worldwide by ProMarineUSA.com.

   “We were struggling on day one,” said Kevin. “We went to the Banana Bar, moved past the Tail End Buoy, and settled at the Western Dry Rocks where we finally bagged the 35-pounder late in the day using a long-lined blue runner.”

   The team worked the same area on day two except this time at 2:30 at the Tail End Buoy Kevin hooked up to the 52-pounder. “She hit the short bait, cut it in half, moved to the medium line, and then smacked the long line to finally get hooked up. It was the only bait left,” explained Hannon. “I truly believe the reason we got this big king is because we took time out around noon to find fresh bait. Sixteen fresh blue runners did the trick.”

   The team will share the $14,000 second place money and go to Jensen Beach, site of event number two of the five event series, with a shot of advancing their title hopes.

   Carl Carder, a charter member of the SKA, had a great weekend earning third place honors with 83.24 points. Carder and his team, Paul Paulk, Bob Lail and Hatch Dickey, bagged a 36.17 on day one, then backed it up with a 47.07 fishing the Yamaha powered Contender “C” Crazy to win $11,000.

   Day one found the team sitting at the Rocket, a spot west of Key West. “It was an early bite,” said Carder. “At 9 a.m. our 36-pounder hit a blue runner on top. It took Bob over a half hour to get her to Hatch's gaff. It was our biggest fish of the day.”

   “On day two we moved to the Western Dry Rocks,” Carder continued. “We had caught one in the low 30s, then the big one hit.” Paul Paulk, aka “Rod Hog” or as he prefers, “Rod Boss”, brought the king to the boat; however “Three Strike” Bob Lail missed her with the gaff three times before she felt the steel. “It was a tough fight,” said Carder. “She was fouled hooked, got into the lobster buoys, but we persevered.”

   According to Carder, the “C” Crazy, Season Ticket, Triple Gobble, Bandit and Exterminader have formed an alliance to work together. I obviously paid off as all but one made the top ten.

   “C” Crazy earned $11,000 for their efforts. Could this be their year? They certainly have paid their dues!

   Fourth place fell to Mister Number One, Ron Mitchell, and our '06 Angler of the Year. Ron has two monikers this year, Number One seamed to be the one most were calling him but some were calling him the “Goat”, Greatest of all time. Ron is taking it all in stride but after a fourth place performance he and his new Bandit team had better be taken very seriously. “I'm five points ahead of where I started leaving Key West last year,” he exclaimed. Most will recall his team set the all-time highest seven-fish aggregate in the Pros last year, averaging over 40 pounds per fish.

   “I can't believe this team gelled so well,” said Mitchell referring to Curt Johnson, Rick Stockwell, and Rich Ebersold. “We ran to the Tortugas both days, way up to the Rockpile on the Gulf side.” On day one Rick caught a 44.11 on a ribbonfish off the downrigger. Day two at noon Ron picked up their second biggest king, a 37.11 from a blue runner also off the downrigger. 81.22 points earned the Contender/Suzuki team $9,000.

   The Champions won fifth place and $5,500. Richard Champion, Glenn Champion and Shann Champion Gonzales ran the Mercury powered Fountain to the Tail End buoy both days and found a 39.83 and a 39.21 for 79.04 points. “On day one we had our 39 in the boat early,” said Richard. “She ate a ribbonfish off the downrigger. We had four over 30 pounds.”

   On day two Richard fought a foul hooked king for a long time but his skills persevered. The 45-minute fight ended for the 39-pounder when Glenn slid the gaff into the nice king. “She hit a blue runner on top,” said Richard. “We had just one problem to overcome, we lost three downrigger balls on day one and one on day two.”

   “We had a ball,” said Richard. “We fished the Pros in '99 and 2000 and are now back.”  Shann was the tournament’s Top Lady Angler. This is a good team that has the potential to be at the top when the season ends.

   Dan Crowley's Posse team scaled a 35.17 and a 43.66 for 78.83 pounds for a sixth place finish. The Yamaha powered Yellowfin team had a seven-fish aggregate of 152 pounds last season. They're starting off with half that already weight with just one event under their belt. This could be the dark horse team of the year!

   Seventh and eighth place was decided by just one - one hundredth of a pound. Robert Dawson's Pexto, a Mercury powered Fountain, came out on top with 78.31 pounds over Randy Nader's Exterminader, a Yamaha powered Contender, with 78.30 points. Dawson scaled a 37.38 and a 40.93 while Nader bagged a 37.90 and a 40.40. Both are top teams.

   Ninth place fell to David Butler's Season Ticket with a 29.44 and a 47.94. After a disappointing first day the team rebounded with a 48-pounder. This determination to not be left behind will keep them in the hunt this year and possibly win it all in Little River.

   Tenth place went to David Howard's Hooked for Reel. David fishes with his two sons, Adam and Cory. This event they bagged a 44.06 and a 31.56. The 75.62 aggregate was enough for Cory to take Top Junior Angler honors.
   While everyone enjoyed relatively calm seas and warm temperatures, fishing was not up to Key West standards. Warm weather has the big fish on the move but that's OK, a tournament is a tournament, and the teams proved once again why they deserve to be fishing the Pros.