Day At The Docks KMT
After his crew were forced to cancel the evening before the tournament, local angler Daniel Mason decided to go it solo, and it turned out to be a good decision. Unassisted, he landed the 22.7 lb. king mackerel that took the top spot in the Day at the Docks KMT, held May 7 out of Capt. Pete’s Seafood in Holden Beach.
“It was just me and my bungee cord autopilot,” Mason said.
Fishing aboard the 20’ Trophy walkaround “Gone Again,” going it alone wasn’t the only hiccup in Mason’s tournament day.
“I came out Lockwood Folly Inlet and looked for bait along the beach,” Mason explained, “but I ended up having to run up to Sunny Point in the river to find any.”
After finally loading up the livewell around 10:30 that morning, Mason was stopped by the Coast Guard. He set off at 11:00 and headed for Yaupon Reef.
“When I got within sight of the reef,” he said. “I saw all the boats and pulled up on a live bottom area about a half-mile off there where I’ve had some luck before.”
His luck held, as the winning king struck a live pogie just 5 minutes after he began slow trolling.
Mason grabbed the rod as the king ran and chased it with the boat, using the bungee cord to hold his course while he reeled. He had the fish close after around 10 minutes.
“Since I was by myself I couldn’t clear the lines,” Mason continued. “I had a downrigger down, and he tried to get in that, but I was able to keep him off that side of the boat and get the gaff in him.”
Figuring his fish would go around 20 lbs., Mason felt good about it based on radio reports of the other boats in the area, but he kept trolling for a larger fish until heading for the scales around 4:00 that afternoon.
At the weigh-in, the fish held the lead by over 5 lbs. and earned Mason the first place check.
Al Fulford and the “King Creecher” crew scaled a 17.35 lb. fish to earn second place in the event, and the “Honey Do’s” team landed third with a 15.95 lb. king.
Tiffany Gales, fishing aboard the “King Hunter,” earned the event’s Top Lady Angler prize.
