Added on Thursday, August 20, 2009  Fish Post

Sneads Ferry KMT

Traveling 500 miles north to fish the Sneads Ferry Rotary King Mackerel Tournament proved to be a sound idea for Yulee, FL’s “Reel Office” fishing team, as the 41.74 lb. king that Jeff and Vicki Keeton and Colin Williams hauled to the scales took the top spot in the event, earning them over $25,000 and bragging rights for besting a tournament record field of 190 boats, many of them seasoned local pros.

Not only did their fish earn them the first place in the event, the stud mackerel earned Colin the tournament’s Top Junior Angler honors and Vicki the Top Lady Angler crown.

After a slump over their past few tournaments in SKA Division Five competition, the “Reel Office” anglers wanted to qualify for SKA Nationals but were edged out in their home division. Heading north with their Mercury-powered 32’ Yellowfin in tow to attempt to qualify in Division One, the anglers got a serious head start with the only 40 lb. fish weighed in the Sneads Ferry Tournament.

“We got in on Wednesday,” Jeff Keeton explained at the awards ceremony. “We didn’t really pre-fish, but we went out looking for bait Thursday and Friday, trying to catch some bluefish and pogies.”

The anglers scored bait before the tournament, and then headed for a spot legendary for producing money-winning fish in NC tournaments, the 1700 Rock, east of Cape Lookout Shoals.

“There were 40 or 50 boats out there,” Vicki Keeton said. “We were fishing a little outside of them.”

After arriving and setting out a spread, it didn’t take the winning anglers long to find some action. At 7:05 Saturday morning, something grabbed their medium top line, a naked double pogy rig.

“We didn’t see it bite,” Jeff Keeton continued. “Colin got started on the fish.”

The junior angler held on while their fish ran hard, and the crew still wasn’t sure what they had, fearing it might be a barracuda.

“It made a real long first run,” Jeff Keeton said. “It ended up being a little bit tough for Colin, so Vicki fought it back to the boat.”

The “Reel Office” anglers didn’t chase their fish much, as they were outside the large fleet at the 1700 and didn’t have to worry about it tangling with another boat. Over the course of the next 20 minutes, Vicki worked the fish back to the boat, but the crew still hadn’t gotten a glimpse at its adversary.

“It was staying down, and we still thought it might be a cuda,” Keeton reported. “It made a couple more short runs when we had it under the boat.”

When the fish finally surfaced, it was obvious that it was no cuda, and Jeff Keeton planted the gaff and swung the stout king mackerel aboard.

“There were a lot of high fives,” he said. “That’s definitely the biggest king we’ve ever caught.”

With a great start in attempting to qualify for Division One, there’s no doubt the anglers will be returning to the area to fish the next tournament in the Division.

“Oh yeah, we’ll be back for Atlantic Beach,” Keeton confirmed.

“We’re in it to win it!” Colin Williams added.

The “Reel Office” anglers would like to express their gratitude to Daniel Dupree of the OBX Girl crew, John of Pro Finder Charts, and Wiley of Yellowfin Boats for their roles in the team’s success.

Coming up with a 37.80 lb. fish to finish second, Wilmington’s “Coon Dog” crew, aboard a 36’ Mercury-powered Yellowfin, took home over $13,000. Sam Cernugel, Chris Nealon, and Jeremy Padgett made up the crew for the tournament, and they elected to fish not far from home at the last minute.

“We haven’t fished the Cabbage Patch in 4-5 years,” Nealon explained, “but spur of the moment this morning we decided that’s where we wanted to go, and it worked out for us.”

With only one boat at the live bottom area off Carolina Beach when they arrived, the anglers began trolling and hooked up to their first bite at 9:00 Saturday morning.

“He ate a tiny pogy naked on the long rigger,” Nealon continued. “I’ve never seen a fish burn it down like that.”

Padgett took the rod as the king began its mighty run, and he couldn’t do much for a while, as the run seemed endless.

“We chased that fish, got up to it, and it was down about 20’,” Nealon said. “We thought it was a decent fish, but we didn’t know how big it was until it came up.”

When the fish surfaced, Nealon sank the gaff and boated the big mackerel.

“That fish ran for 12 minutes. We fought it for three, it rolled over, I stuck it, and we put it in the boat,” Nealon concluded. “We ran for the scales right then.”

The “Coon Dog” anglers wished to thank sponsors Southport Concrete, Strongback Footings and Concrete, and Mercury for the help they’ve provided.

Thomas Justice and Derek Hansley, aboard the 23’ Aquasport “Southern Girl,” weighed in the 30.94 lb. king mackerel that took third place, earning $3,800.

Unlike the two teams ahead of them, their fish bit in the afternoon.

“We’d been moving around pretty much all day,” Justice said. “We were going between two of our favorite spots when we saw a bait ball on top, decided to stop and work it, and got lucky.”

The “Southern Girl” fish fell for a naked pogy on the anglers’ left flat line at 2:55 as they worked around the bait ball in 75’ of water about 15 miles off the beach.

Hansley took the rod as the fish ran, but the run wasn’t too strong, and the anglers were soon questioning what they’d hooked.

“It didn’t run real hard,” Justice continued. “We’d been hearing about AJ’s all day long on the radio, and we thought it might be an AJ since she was headed down.”

After Hansley fought the fish for the next 20 minutes, the anglers got it close to the boat.

“We finally got her up, but she just wouldn’t come to the boat,” Justice said. “She started circling, and then we just ended up in a tight spiral with her.”

When the fish eventually came within range, Justice was ready and sank home the gaff, securing the team’s third place finish.

Scaling a 30.24 lb. king to finish fourth were New Bern’s Theodore Connor and the “Nancy Rae” crew. Al Fulford on the “King Creecher,” from Supply, NC, rounded out the top five with a 28.39 lb. fish.