46th annual U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament
The record-setting 46th annual U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament was held October 3-5 at Dutchman Creek Park. The event attracted 568 boats, beating the highest number of participants in the tournament’s history by seven boats, a mark set in 2021, and the total prize purse was over $425,000.
This year’s US Open KMT was won by “Team FinZ,” made up of Bill Zeron and Terry Eason II, of Southport, NC, fishing on a 22’ bayboat with a single 200 hp Yamaha. The duo had fished just off Holden Beach on the first day of fishing, landing three smaller kings, with the heaviest of the three in the 15-pound class; however, they had a good feeling about the spot, so they headed back on the second day of fishing.
With pogies already in the livewell (they had penned up bait on Thursday, and the bait held up well all day Friday and Saturday), they arrived again about 1/2 mile off the beach and directly in front of the Holden Beach Bridge. Zeron and Eason put out a four-line spread: a downrigger line, a flatline, and medium line from the t-top, and a long line from the t-top. At close to 9:00 am, the medium t-top line, rigged with a live pogie under a bling mylar skirt, started peeling line.
“When he ran, we knew he was a good fish,” Zeron recalled. “He went on a long run, screaming line.”
Terry Eason II and Bill Zeron (l-r), of Team FinZ out of Southport, with the winning king in the 2024 US Open KMT. They found the 41.85 lb. king just off of Holden Beach slow trolling a pogie with a mylar bling skirt.
After the monster initial run, the king then ran directly at the boat. With slack in the line, Eason reeled as fast as he could to successfully catch up, and 15 minutes after hookup, Zeron gaffed the fish and hauled the 41.85 lb. king over the gunnel.
The duo celebrated, fished a little longer though not hard, and at 10:20 they made their way to the scales, arriving right at the opening of weigh-in at 11:00. They won a total of $44,678 for their efforts.
“Scale Bound,” out of Little River, SC, took second place in this year’s US Open KMT, weighing in a 41.40 lb. king on the first day of fishing.
The four-man team of Trask Cunningham, Jack Pawloski, Brent Hoshall, and Chris Taylor caught pogies in front of Tubbs Inlet around 6:45, just as soon as the sun started coming up, and they headed to a reef about three miles offshore of Lockwood Folly. When they arrived, the reef was already loaded with boats, so they decided to avoid the traffic and come back inshore.
The team had their lines in the water at 7:30 at a spot about 1.5 miles off the beach, and in less than one hour, they were hooked up to their first fish. This first fish would also be their only fish of the day, but the fish would also be the fish they weighed in for second place.
The king hit a double pogie rig in the propwash, and Cunningham was the first to the rod. He eventually handed the rod off to Pawloski, who brought the fish within reach of Cunningham’s Grander Custom Tackle gaff.
Brent Hoshall, Jack Pawloski, Chris Taylor, and Trask Cunningham (l-r), of “Scale Bound,” with the second place 41.40 lb. king in the 2024 US Open KMT. The king hit a double pogie rig about two miles off of Tubbs Inlet.
“Scale Bound” got to the scales at 10:40 and waited for them to open at 11:00. The second-place finish earned “Scale Bound” a combined total of $21,807.
Something cool about our catch,” Pawloski added, “was that we were boat number 41, the king weighed 41, and my football number at Elon and Gardner Webb was 41.”
In third-place, “Reel Trashy,” led by Hunter Harrington of Sanford, NC, weighed in a 38.45 lb. king to win $60,939, including first place Single Engine and first place High Roller prizes.
“The extraordinary 568 boats registered this year allowed us not only to extend the awards field from 55 to 80 places, but also made it possible for us to pledge a $12,000 donation to Western NC storm relief in honor of all our anglers,” said 2024 Tournament Board of Directors Chair, Carol Magnani.
The U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament is the largest king mackerel tournament on the East Coast and has a $2 million economic impact on the region. It is held annually the first week of October and is an event of the Southport Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce.
Full tournament results are available at www.usopenkmt.com.
