Key West, FL—If you have a desire to catch trophy kings, Key West is the ticket in the winter months. These big kings can be found off the Carolina coast later in the year and the upper Gulf all summer. While we didn’t see a large number of these bruisers, the Catch Ya Later scaled a 55 pound king on day one of the first leg of the ‘08 Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour and the Native picked up a 57 on day two.
Most believed they would have seen more big fish but winds blew and seas remained four to six foot both days and the further west you went the bigger they got. Many paid the price for long runs.
Robert Snibbe, Evan Kerstein, Jerry Solovskoy, and Kevin Farner, fishing the Mercury powered Fountain, Native, ran 50 miles west to the Tail End Buoy both days. “Friday we caught and weighed the 31.56 Evan caught using a blue runner set seventy feet down on the rigger,” said team Captain Robert Snibbe. “We decided to go right back to the same spot on Saturday. We caught a couple of small kings in one hundred feet of water, then at nine the 57.35 ate a runner in the prop wash.” Robert went on with his story, “She made a long run pulling 375 yards of line off the spool. Jerry was on the rod but we needed another team member to hold him down. Seas were every bit of seven feet..” When the king hit the deck she went right in the bag and the team headed for the scales. “We were in the Truman Annex Basin before noon and sat on the hook till the scales opened at three,” Robert added. The combined weight of 88.91 pounds was more than enough to earn the Native team the $40,000 top prize in their first year in the Pros.
“We ran from Clearwater down to the Fort where we spent three days fishing, catching bait, and basically doing our research,” added Snibbe. “That was 240 miles, then we heard the big blow was coming so we worked our way east along the reef line to Key West. I think that helped us a lot. In fact we plan on getting to town in each of the stops one week in advance to learn as much as we can about the water. The Pros are the best and if we want to continue having a shot a pay day we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Snibbe also told John Zalad to thank the Pros for all their help and for making them feel welcome.
The Footloose team proved consistency is the way to get recognition and a check. The Yamaha powered Contender team from Pooler, Georgia, picked up second place with a 75.75 two fish aggregate. Plus John Trussell earned Top Senior Angler honors and Tanya Paulk was the events Top Lady Angler.
The Footloose team, with Captain Steven Trussell, Matthew Foote, Bobby Casteel, plus John and Tanya, also worked the same area both days. “Tanya picked up our 37.66 on day one off a long lined blue runner in ninety-five feet of water. Bobby Casteel got our 38.09 when he dropped a blue runner off the side of the boat a little after eight am,” said Steven. “This was our best finish in the Pros to date.”
Both of these kings were bigger than any of the seven fish the team scaled last year in their rookie pro season. The team finished 53rd but certainly has made a statement in the opening round. Don’t be surprised if this team isn’t fighting for the title when the season ends in Little River.
Both of these teams have a great start on their quest to be “Angler of the Year.”
Seasoned veteran Conrad Lau and his team of Dell Williamson, Gill Strelec Jr., and Jesse Williamson, fishing the Evinrude powered Wellcraft, Koolau, picked up third place with 70.63 points.
On day one they braved the elements to run 78 miles to the Tortugas. Fishing in 120’ of water they finally found a 20.92 using a ribbonfish off the downrigger. On day two they stopped at the Tail End Buoy 55 miles west of Key West. “Our 49.71 came in the boat at noon,” said Lau. “Dell did the honors and we thought we had a shot at some money when Gill pulled her in the boat. She hit a blue runner off the downrigger.”
This team finished 12th in the standings last year and with this years schedule being the same you have to keep your eye on this team. They’re good, do their homework, and work very well as a team.
Fourth place fell to another rookie Pro team, Catch Ya Later, a Yamaha powered Donzi. They set the pace for the event after day one when they scaled the second biggest king of the tournament, a 55.61. Captain Shaw Hallman, Danny Tompkins, Robert Thornton, Greg McDonald, Jon Cheny, and Tom Stalbaum, ran only ten miles, stopping at the Western Dry Rocks, a spot that has given up many a big king in years past. “We had caught three smaller kings when the big girl ate a blue runner while slow trolling in eighty feet of water,” said Tompkins. “Bobby was on the rod and made short order of the fight.” They then came to the dock so Tompkins could get some medical help after the king bit him on the leg. He required some stitches.
On day two, the team went back to the same spot but big fish eluded their presentations. They had to settle for scaling a 14.61 for a total of 70.22 points.
Riverbend Marine in St. Augustine, Florida sponsors the Catch Ya Later.
North Carolina’s That’s My Dog, and the ’98 National Champions, picked up fifth on the strength of a two fish aggregate of 68.93. Captain Forrest Taylor, William Taylor, David Hooks, and Preston Kendall fished the Mercury powered Yellowfin at the Tail End Buoy both days. On day one they caught five kings, the biggest a 28.18 was the one they weighed.
Day two they were back in the soup looking for a fish that would move them into the money and much needed points for the chase to the title. They found her at 2 o’clock when she struck a blue runner on the long line. Forrest did the rod work and within a few minutes a nice 40.75 came over the gunwale. “This definitely gives us a good start for the season,” said Taylor who would like a title to go along with his National Champions title. It would be hard to bet against them.
Bear Croft, Tim Horgan, Jack Ross, and Terri Croft fished the Bear Caught into sixth on the strength of a 67.93 aggregate. They were one of the only teams to run east ten miles and fished in seventy feet of water using blue runners. They scaled a nice 47.16 on day one and backed it up with a 21.27 on day two. They fish Mercury powered Yellowfin.
Posse’s Daniel Crowley, Louis Rogers, and Travis Crowley earned seventh with 67.93 points. They weighed a 27.42 on day one, then came back with a nice 40.51 on day two. They fish a Mercury powered Yellowfin.
Carl Carder, Paul Paulk, and Robert Close had a good tournament fishing the Yamaha powered Contender, “C” Crazy. They scaled a 36.64 on day one, then came back on day two with a 23.06 for an aggregate of 59.70. They earned eighth.
Andy Hinton, David Stallings. Ned Grady, and Ward Whitfield, picked up ninth on the Mercury powered Donzi, Hot Grits. They scaled a 38.02 on day one, then added a 21.21 on day two for 59.23 points. This should set the stage for a great season for this North Carolina team. They’ve been close in years past.
Jack Penny’s ProMarine USA.Com / Penny Wise team captured tenth with a two fish aggregate of 55.93 pounds. Their biggest king was a 35.98.
Captain C. Mark Henderson fishes a Contender named Liquid Fire in North Carolina Divisional competition. With him were Chris and Joshua Waters. He was asked to fish the new 23’ Mercury powered SeaCraft we introduced in last months Angler magazine. They qualified in Division Two last year to go to the Nationals and join the Pro ranks. They earned eleventh place first time fishing at this level and in a 23 footer. Crockett Henderson was the events Top Junior Angler. They weighed a 34.91 and a 20.27. A superb effort and a tribute to the boat and their skills.
Ronnie and Matthew Worsham picked up 12th fishing the Trivial Pursuit with 55.13 points while Darren Ratley’s Rat Pak was 13th with 54.76 points.
Rounding out the top fourteen was Ricky Hobb’s She’s All That, a 23T Contender. His team of Al Fulford and Laura Hobbs collected a two fish aggregate of 54 pounds. Another great effort!
It should also be noted that if you’re keeping up with the points race, William Gressette’s Four Sun’s scaled a great 41.24 on day one, Terry Johnson’s Final Strike had a 36.35, and Kenny Crawford’s AT&T Real yellow Pages team scaled a 34.52. Randy Comans had a 33.45 fishing the Voyager and Jeff Dunbar scaled a 33.27 on the Fish Dancer. Not money fish, but good fish in their seven fish aggregate total for the end of the season.
Despite the rough conditions making for tough fishing, once again proved that the best fishermen in our sport can deal with adverse conditions and scale fish. Our hat’s are off to all of them!
