BOB CLEMENT'S 401K BEST AT WEST DELTA KINGFISH INVITATIONAL!
One Of The Best Leader boards Ever At World's Largest Saltwater Tournament!
by John Zalud

Venice, Louisiana. The Butler clan, owners of the Venice Marina, like to show what real cajun hospitality is all about. It's apparent how well they succeed based on the success of their West Delta Kingfish Tournament, a two-day, two-fish, aggregate event. It doesn't hurt when the big fish show up in the Delta also.

Bob Clement retired from the railroad and decided to leave Jacksonville, Florida and return to his roots in Mobile, Alabama with his wife Julie. "It's quieter here and the fishing is superb," said the Captain of the Mercury powered Fountain, 401K. Clement, who also fishes the Yamaha Pro Tour for Team Fountain, needed a good fish in this Division if for no other reason than just to show the home boys his team was a reckoning force. He accomplished his task and got a new Yamaha powered Contender boat for his efforts, winning the event with a two-fish stringer of 99.8 pounds.

"The first day we ran to a spot 32 miles from the scale. We set up and almost at once caught a 41 pounder. Then it shut down," Clement explained. "We moved but found nothing but sharks. We picked up again to go in but both Brian Shumoch and Darrell Farish had managed to set hooks in their hands. I cut the hooks from the wire and fired up the Mercury's. On our way in we passed the spot where we had caught the 41 earlier and found another competitor there, hooked up. The boys said to stop. We did, set a ribbon fish 30 feet down and the big girl hit." They brought the big fish to the scale and headed for the doctor's office. Todd Turner and Al Deane helped with the winning effort also.

Hutch Thompson, his dad Jack, John Ashworth, Bill Lawler, and Robby Bush, pre-fished an area 105 miles to the west. Fishing in 137 feet of water, the trio bagged a few small fish but were in seriously shark infested waters. "Robby was bringing in a hard tail to check. About 50 feet from the boat the big girl hit," Thompson said. "We went right back to the same spot on the second day. It was good to us." Obviously! They captured second place with a 93.1 aggregate caught on the Sujac, a Yamaha powered Regulator.

Jenny Dees skillfully caught two good fish this weekend to put her family into third place. Mike Dees, his wife Sherry, Jenny, his son Jeff, and Rob Goree fish the Top Producer, a 36' Yamaha powered Contender. "I ran to the east side on Saturday where we found a half way decent fish," said the elder Dees and team Captain. "It was a 90 mile run and we had a good bite of fish, just no really big ones. At 2:00 our long line set up with a hard tail went off and Jenny grabbed the rod." It was a 52.60, the biggest fish she had ever caught, and made her the Top Lady Angler of the event. Her mother bagged a 62-pounder just a few weeks ago in the Alabama Deep Sea Rodeo.

On day two the team heard about the bite in the Delta and decided to fish there. The biggest they caught was a 35.7 caught by Jenny using a Better Baits ribbon fish. They had an 88.3 pound aggregate.

P.J. McLeod and his team aboard the Renegade ran 70 miles to the southwest on Saturday and set up in 150 feet of water. "The bite was on but at 12:15 our biggest fish ate a hard tail on the long line," said P.J. after weighing a 40.8. "We decided on the way in to go right back to that same spot on Sunday." Fishing was a little slower but the team hooked up to a 46.7 at 11am which sealed their fourth place finish. Fishing the Renegade, Paul Jr., Matt McLeod, Paul McLeod, and Michael McLeod.

Don Jackson, his son Donny, and Charles DiLeo rounded out the top five this weekend aboard Jackson's Mercury powered Donzi, Sea Cruiser. "We worked real hard on Saturday but could not find anything bigger than a 38.8," said Jackson after he praised his son, Donny, for getting the fish to the boat. "We ran 40 miles back to the same area on Sunday where at noon our big fish of the weekend hit a hard tail in the prop wash." The fish weighed 44.9 pounds and gave the team 83.7 points. Donny won Top Junior Angler honors. The team now has a shot at qualifying in the Division. They need another 40-pounder to make the ticket. Stephen Barfoot, Spencer Johnson, and Kevin Butler, fish the Snafu, a Class of 23 Contender. They were in fifth place in the Division but thanks to a 48.8 caught on the second day, it has moved the team to the top of the Division. "We fished the 95 block after pre-fishing the area," explained Barfoot, the Captain of the team. "We caught a lot of fish on Saturday but our biggest was 38.2. We went right back there on Sunday and a little after noon our big king, a 48.60, ate a hard tail on a long flat line." They earned first in the Class of 23 with 86.8 points.

The Lined Out, captained by Mitch Mosley, caught a 45.5 on Sunday also and now moves up the ladder in the Division. "Charlie Oberkirch and I ran 60 miles to the east where we had found fish earlier. The bite was good on Saturday but the best we could do was 36.8," Mosley explained. "Charlie had said to me when we were coming in, 'You know we never leave fish,' so I took the advice and went right back to our spot on Sunday and it paid off." They bagged a 45.5. The team would have second place Class of 23 with 82.30 points.

Third place in the Class fell to Mark McPherson's Time Out who, along with Lane Carter, caught a 43.90 and a 32.10 for a 76-point aggregate.

Anglers love fishing the Delta. Sid Steverson and David Van Lent both brought their boats over and spent the week fishing for tuna, wahoo, snapper and grouper. You've just gotta do this trip and then stay to fish a great tournament.