CCSA/ Boater’s World KMT 2007
The wrecks and ledges just east of Cape Lookout Shoals have a well deserved reputation for producing money-wining king mackerel. With spots on the East Side producing four out of the top five kings in the 2007 CCSA/Boater’s World King Mackerel Tournament, including the 43.60 lb. winning king caught by the Youngsville, NC’s “Crazy Legs” team, that reputation stands strong.
Vaughan Ford, Gilbert Brown, and Ryan Brazill, fishing the event aboard the Yamaha-powered 25’ Grady White center console “Crazy Legs,” made up the tournament’s winning crew. The trio of anglers earned over $21,000 for catching the 43 pound king on Saturday, June 14, the tournament’s only fishing day.
The “Crazy Legs” team was trolling around the 1700 Rock when the big king struck at 10:00 Saturday morning. A naked pogy fooled the winning fish, and Ford was the first aboard to get to the rod.
“He about spooled us right from the get-go,” Ford said. “Then we caught up to him with the boat and got some line back. We could all tell it was a good fish, so we just let him go and wear himself out after that. He’d take a bunch of line out, and I’d bring him on back, over and over.”
The seesaw battle wore on for over half an hour, with the fish spending most of the fight deep in the water column. After Ford had been fighting the fish for 40 minutes, it surfaced near the boat, giving Brown all the opportunity he needed to sink a gaff in the 43 pounder.
Knowing that they had a potential tournament winner in the boat early in the day, the “Crazy Legs” anglers decided to make their way to the scales, located at Morehead City’s Jaycee Park.
“They didn’t open the weigh-in until 3:00,” Ford recalled, “but we had that fish in the boat at 10:40, so we just putt-putted our way back in really slow.”
Despite the fact that many of the fish weighed in the tournament came from the East Side, the “Crazy Legs” crew saw only six other boats at the 1700 Rock (normally a popular spot) over the morning.
Second place in the CCSA event went to Bill Manning’s “Enigma” fishing team for a 37.58 lb. fish. Manning fished the tournament with friends Bill Holley and Sam Smith aboard his Mercury-powered 29’ Triton, and the crew collected a check for over $7,000 at the awards ceremony.
The “Enigma” king bit while the team was trolling at the Big 10/Little 10 around 12:30 Saturday. The second place fish fell for a pogy trolled under a blue/white skirt, and it immediately made a scorching run as Smith took the rod.
“He took one real long run to begin with,” said Manning. “Then we tugged and pulled on him and got him close right before he made another long run.”
Smith fought the king to the boat several more times over the course of the next half hour, only to have the fish take off again. Finally, after the fish had been hooked for 45 minutes, it popped up beside the boat, where Manning planted the gaff and boated the fish.
The New Bern-based “Mistyfied” crew caught the third place 37.52 lb. king mackerel. Will Bradley, Troy Dunning, and Jeff Chesney were all aboard the Yamaha-powered 20’ Angler for the tournament, and they took home $6,300 for their third place finish.
The “Mistyfied” team found their money-winning fish at the Atlas Tanker, another popular spot East of Lookout Shoals. The 37 pound king bit as the crew was slow-trolling around the wreck at 11:00 Saturday morning.
“Believe it or not, he ate a dead cigar minnow,” team Capt. Bradley revealed. “We were trolling ballyhoo all morning and were down to our last little bit of bait. We threw out the cigar minnow, and there he was.”
Unlike the first and second place kings, the “Mistyfied” fish was fairly cooperative, and Chesney, who was fighting the king, had it beside the boat in 15 minutes.
“He took a bunch of line right when he hit, then came right back to the boat,” Bradley remembered. “We didn’t have to chase him down a bit.”
The “Mistyfied” crew fished their whole day with dead baits, not wanting to spend time searching for pogies on tournament morning. Bradley felt confident that the team could catch kings on dead bait. He explained the team’s thought process, “When we got out, it was so early; we didn’t even mess with bait. I knew I could catch some, but I decided I’d rather be fishing early than looking for bait.”
Skip and Sandy Conklin’s “Ocean Athlete” fishing team, based in Morehead City, took fourth place, weighing a 34.34 lb. king mackerel. Jay Russell joined the Conklins aboard the 28’ Mercury-powered Privateer for the tournament, and the anglers earned around $4,000 for their fourth place finish. The 34-pounder also gave Sandy Conklin the top Lady Angler spot in the tournament.
The “Ocean Athlete” fish bit around 1:00 Saturday afternoon, as the crew trolled in 80’ of water east of Lookout Shoals. A live pogy fished 15’ deep on the downrigger attracted their king, and Russell took the rod following the strike.
Conklin wished to thank “Ocean Athlete’s” sponsors Mercury Outboards and Outback Marine of Morehead City for their contributions to the team’s success.
“Miss Kayley,” a Yamaha-powered 23’ Regulator from Morehead City, earned fifth place overall with a 33.56 lb. king. Team Capt. Frank Eastman fished the tournament with his son Holton and Brett Parrot, and Holton took the Top Junior Angler honors in the event.
The fifth place team was trolling around East Rock, on the East Side, when their fish bit at 11:30 on Saturday. A blue/white skirted pogy was too much for the 33 pounder to resist, and Holton Eastman was the designated angler.
Eastman wished to express his gratitude towards “Miss Kayley’s” sponsor, 70 West Marina of Morehead City.
The CCSA/Boater’s World King Mackerel Tournament drew 136 boats this year.
This event is one of the Carteret County Sportfishing Association’s main fundraisers. Money generated by this and the association’s other tournaments goes towards artificial reef building programs, two scholarships given to local students each year, and educational programs at the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
Cameron wished to thank the tournament’s sponsors Boater’s World, Budweiser, and Smithfield’s for making the event possible.
