Got-Em-On King Classic
Capt. Freddy Holland, owner Charles Lee, and the "Stress Relief" fishing team scaled this monster 56.05 lb. king mackerel to earn the win in the 2012 Got-Em-On Classic by over 15 lbs. The smoker struck a blue-skirted menhaden at a ledge 15 miles off Carolina Beach Inlet.
Hauling a monster 56.05 lb. king mackerel to the scales, Carolina Beach’s Capt. Freddy Holland and the “Stress Relief” crew earned the win at the 2012 Got-Em-On King Mackerel Classic, held July 13-15 out of the Carolina Beach Municipal Docks, by a whopping 15+ lbs.
Hardly fishing aboard one of the typical go-fast center consoles so popular in king mackerel competitions, Holland and boat owner Charles Lee, of Mocksville, NC, fished the event aboard the 32’ Albermarle express “Stress Relief,” with Lee’s daughter Anna, son Chad, and his girlfriend Katie.
They fished the day before the tournament and found conditions they liked at a small ledge 15 miles off Carolina Beach Inlet in 65-75’ of water.
Returning to the spot after they caught bait on Saturday morning, the anglers immediately found action, but not what they were looking for.
“There were lots of sharks out there,” Holland explained. “We had to cull through those. It got so bad we couldn’t even use the downrigger because we were just wasting time with them.”
After a few suspected king mackerel runs that led to pulled hooks, the anglers finally got a big bite around lunchtime on a live menhaden under a blue King Duster skirt.
“It ran real hard to begin with,” Holland reported. “We weren’t clearing lines, but all of a sudden we did because we had to. That spool was getting low.”
Charles Lee was on the rod for the big run, and after the crew cleared their lines, they gave chase to the still-unseen fish.
After they’d put a little line back on the spool, the fish took the fight deep, and the anglers suspected they weren’t fighting a king mackerel.
“I thought it might be a big jack,” Holland said. “We were thinking about pulling the hooks, but Charles said he had to get it a little closer.”
As they inched up on the fish, the crew got a look at its tail and realized it was no amberjack.
“It got real dicey after that,” Holland continued. “We had to be really careful.”
The touch-and-go battle went on for another 20 minutes before the anglers got the fish close enough for the gaff shot.
“I had to stay at the wheel,” explained Holland. “It’s not like fighting one from an outboard, so Chad had to gaff it. He didn’t want to, but I said, ‘You know how to do this and you’ve got a huge target. It’s up to you.’ He did a great head shot and we put the fish in the boat.”
The fish finally came over the gunnel an hour after it ate the bait, and the anglers saw the reason for the long fight as soon as it did.
“He might have been hooked in the mouth to start,” Holland said, “but he had one treble in his side by the time we put him in the boat. That’s the longest I’ve ever fought a king mackerel, and the fact we actually caught it was just a miracle.”
The crew elected to fish a bit longer rather than wait for the scales to open up, easing in to the scales 15 minutes after weigh-in began at 2:00.
Scaling a very respectable 40.15 lb. king were Wilmington’s Joshua Willams and the “Jabbo” team. Clint Hines on the “Reel Thrill” rounded out the top three with a 37.20 lb. kingfish.
More information on the Got-Em-On and a full leaderboard are available at www.gotemonliveclassic.com.
