Team “Hot Rod,” headed by Brett Barnes of Wilmington, NC, caught a kingfish weighing 30 lbs. 12 oz. on Saturday, August 25, to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series North Carolina Division event in Southport, NC, and $21,000 cash.
Barnes, along with his son Alan Barnes, was fishing about 40 miles from the take-off site, slow-trolling live menhaden around a live bottom area that they had found in practice prior to the event.
“We are really happy to win this,” Barnes said. “It’s really awesome to win one of these with your son. We have been fishing tournaments together since he was probably nine. He is 17 now, and we probably fish 18 to 20 tournaments a year.”
“Today started off great,” Barnes added. “We got our bait before take-off and were able to go right to our first spot. We probably caught 10 fish throughout the day. We had the downriggers set at 60 and 30 feet, but the one we kept came off a bait trolled on the surface.”
In second place was Team “Not Today” captained by Jimmy Turlington of Wilmington, NC. They landed a 30 lb. 8 oz. king good for $8,820. Team “Wrench Head” captained by Kevin Lawson of Ramseur, NC, weighed in a 26 lb. 14 oz. king to take third place and $3,360.
Team “Jackpot” captained by Tat Fearing of Morehead City, NC, came in fourth with a king weighing 24 lbs. 11 oz. to take home $5,250. And rounding out the top five was Team “Miss Mercy” captained by Walter Geise of Jacksonville, NC, with a 23 lb. 9 oz. king that brought them $2,940.
The award for highest finishing woman went to Monica Cheshire of Rocky Point, NC, who placed 17th with a 19 lb. 10 oz. kingfish as a member of Team “Much 2 Reel.”
The award for the highest finishing angler 16 years-of-age and under was Cole Edens of Hampstead, NC, who placed sixth with a king weighing 23 lbs. 7 oz. as a member of Team “East Coast Sports.”
The next North Carolina Division event will be held Sept. 15 in Atlantic Beach, NC.