FLW Southport 2006
Team Blue By U, headed by Captain Welsh Carson of Holden Beach, NC, caught a kingfish weighing 27 pounds, 8 ounces to top a full field of 100 boats and win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series North Carolina Division event in Southport. The top prize of $30,000 included a $9,000 Wellcraft bonus and $9,000 Yamaha bonus.
Aboard a 35’ Wellcraft center console with triple 300-hp Yamahas, Carson fished with Aaron Price of Augusta, GA, and Cory Jones and Allen Williams, both of Holden Beach, NC. The team spent their day on a patch of natural bottom known as the “30-30 Hole” about 18 miles off Carolina Beach in 70 feet of water.
“We had heard that a fish that won a recent tournament was caught there and some other good fish had come from that spot during the week,” Carson said. “We were undecided this morning as to where we’d fish, so we caught bait and then made up our minds to run to that spot.”
The winning fish ate a live menhaden on the port outrigger line around 3:00 p.m. The late day heroics justified the team’s decision to stay put. A couple hours earlier, the anglers had contemplated moving inshore to fish the tide line at Carolina Beach Inlet. Rough seas dissuaded them from making the run and kept them on the right spot.
Jones fought the top kingfish for about 30 minutes and Williams gaffed it. Carson said he was cautiously optimistic about the fish’s potential.
“We knew we had a good fish that would put us high in the points, but we didn’t know how it would do in the tournament,” he said. “It was good enough to do some high fives and a little dancing.”
Rounding out the top five teams were Wild Ride Fishing Team captained by Randy Griffin Jr. of Hampstead, NC (24 pounds, 2 ounces, $6,000 plus $,4,500 Wellcraft bonus and $4,500 Yamaha bonus) in second place; Team Ain’t Life Grand captained by David Henderson of Charlotte, NC (22 pounds, $4,000 plus $3,000 Yamaha bonus) in third place; Team National Guard captained by Lonnie Jones III of Clayton, NC (20 pounds, 4 ounces, $2,500 plus $1,875 Yamaha bonus and $1,875 Wellcraft bonus) in fourth place; and B.A.D. Boys Fishing Team captained by Joe Buie of Welcome, NC (20 pounds, 4 ounces, $2,500 plus $1,875 Yamaha bonus and $1,875 Wellcraft bonus) in fifth place.
FLW Kingfish Series qualifying tournaments are one-day events. The next FLW Kingfish Series North Carolina Division event will be held August 19 in Southport.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
