Atlantic Beach Saltwater Classic
"Ocean Athlete" anglers Jay Russell and Sandy Conklin cradle the 43.53 lb. king mackerel they scaled on their way to winning the 2012 Atlantic Beach Saltwater Classic. The big king fell for a live menhaden on the surface at the 30 Minute Rock east of Lookout Shoals.
Grabbing the leaderboard on the tournament’s first day and fending off the competition by 5.5 lbs., Skip Conklin and the “Ocean Athlete” fishing team earned first place in the 2012 Atlantic Beach Saltwater Classic with a 43.53 lb. king mackerel.
Conklin, fishing with the usual “Ocean Athlete” crew—his wife Sandy and Jay Russell—on the Mercury-powered 28’ Privateer, hadn’t fished in the days preceding the event, but still had confidence in their gameplan going into the event.
“We’ve done about 25 years worth of pre-fishing,” Conklin said. “But no, we didn’t leading up to the tournament.”
The anglers caught menhaden on Thursday before the event’s two days of fishing, and they headed east of Lookout Shoals to the 30 Minute Rock after departing Friday morning.
Around 8:30 that morning they got a solid strike on a live menhaden pinned to one of their top lines, and Jay Russell grabbed the rod, not knowing what the fish had in store.
“That king had a hook in its mouth, but the one that mattered was in the top of his head,” Conklin explained. “He had his way with us a little bit and would just turn his head and go where he wanted.”
Following the king with the boat, the anglers soon encountered another obstacle.
“We had a storm move in on us,” Conklin continued. “We didn’t get the worst of it, but we were on the edge of the squall line for about 15 minutes.”
The fight wore on as the clock passed 9:00, but eventually the anglers were able to close the gap between the fish and the Privateer.
“We’d gone half a mile from the spot with that fish,” Conklin reported, “but after about 45 minutes we crossed paths and I gaffed him and put him in the boat. We felt pretty good at that point.”
Though the eventual tournament winner would’ve sent many crews packing for home to await the opening of the scales, the “Ocean Athlete” anglers went back to 30 Minute Rock and reset their spread, hooking plenty of sharks and several more 15-20 lb. kings before heading for the weigh-in at 2:00 that afternoon.
Their fish took the top spot on the board and held on through the close of scales Friday, but the field still had Saturday to try and best the king.
The “Ocean Athlete” crew headed back to the east side Saturday and targeted the George Summerlin Reef, landing a 20 lb. fish that earned them the top spot in the tournament’s Two-Fish Aggregate TWT.
The other crews were able to catch some fat kings on Sunday, including the second-place fish; however, none topped the 43-pounder, and the “Ocean Athlete walked away with the first place check.
Skip Conklin wished to express the team’s gratitude to Crow’s Nest Marina’s Service Department for their role in the team’s success.
Landing the aforementioned second place fish at 37.37 lbs. were Cecil Holcomb and the “Reel Destruction” crew. A 36.92 lb. king secured third for Mark Henderson and the “Liquid Fire” fishing team. William Littleton and the “Unbelievable” crew took home fourth place with a 33.93 lb. fish, and the James Demyan’s “Final Approach” rounded out the top five with a 33.54 pounder.
More information on the Atlantic Beach Saltwater Classic and a full rundown of the leaderboard are available at www.bluewaterpromo.com.
