Seagate KMT 2007
The competition at the Seagate King Mackerel Tournament, an event limited to boats less than 23’, gets tougher every year, but that didn’t faze Danny Wrenn and Alan Riggins, who weighed in a 31.6 lb. king to take the top spot in the event. This year’s tournament, held August 3-5, attracted a record 48 boats, who weighed in nearly a dozen fish in the 20 lb. class.
Wrenn and Riggins fished the event aboard the 21’ Honda-powered Sea Mark “Gosling.” They found the winning king around Knuckle Rock, south of Wrightsville Beach in 70’ of water.
It must have been lunch time for the big mackerel, as it hit a green-skirted live pogy around 12:30 on Saturday. After the strike, Wrenn grabbed the rod as the fish took off on its first run. The king kept near the surface, and the “Gosling” anglers followed it for around 15 minutes before it tired. Once Wrenn worked the spent fish to the boat, Riggins planted the gaff and boated the money-winning mackerel.
After putting the king on ice, Wrenn and Riggins continued fishing the same area. Aside from the big fish, they caught four other kings over the day and had one more in the mid 20’s that would have kept them in the top 5 if they hadn’t caught the winner.
The pair caught their pogy baits easily Saturday morning in the Lollipop area behind Wrightsville Beach. They’d like to thank Tex’s Tackle, Sea Mark Boats, Johnson Marine Services, and Dr. Salling for their contributions to the team’s success. They also credited Capt. Lee Parsons, Capt. Al Edwards, and Capt. Travis Dant for their help.
A 30.8 lb. king secured second place for Neil Robertson and Andy Mcinnis, of Wilmington.
They fished the tournament aboard the 18’ Neptune “Short and Stout.”
The second place king bit a ribbonfish trolled beneath a green skirt in the Neptune’s propwash. The fish struck as the anglers were trolling in 60’ of water between the 30/30 and the Cape Fear River Channel. Mcinnis grabbed the rod after the king took the ribbon and didn’t have to battle the fish for long.
“He came right to the boat,” reported Robertson. When the fish was close enough, Robertson planted the gaff and boated the 30 lb. king. Aside from the second place fish, the “Short and Stout” anglers caught only a small shark over Saturday’s fishing.
Instead of burning up valuable fishing time trying to catch bait, Mcinnis and Robertson trolled only frozen cigar minnows and ribbonfish. “We haven’t even used live bait this year,” Robertson added.
Eric Jabaley and Dave Dondero, fishing aboard the “Donna Marie,” caught the third place 26.8 lb. king in the tournament.
A 22.2 lb. fish secured fourth place for George Page, aboard the “George’s Girl.” Fifth went to Chad Bridges and Jeremy Russell, on the “Reel Wired,” for a 22.0 lb. king.
The Seagate tournament is scheduled for the first week of August each year in order to take advantage of the generally stable weather and excellent nearshore fishing at that time of year. Both those agendas were accomplished in 2007, as boats fished in calm seas for the majority of the day, and participants caught several dolphin and released four sailfish over the course of the event, in addition to their kings.
This year was the 11th consecutive Seagate event, and Tournament Director Jamie Rushing was very pleased with the turnout. “This thing started out as a few friends putting 20’s into a jar and whoever could make it to my driveway with the biggest king took the money. I can’t believe it’s grown to what it is today.”
Rushing would like to thank Dennis Rushing, Shea Roller, Dickie Burwell of Tidal Market II, Jody of Blue Water Candy, West Marine, Domino’s Pizza, Bayside Electric, Intercoastal Angler, Tex’s Tackle, Reel Bait and Tackle, Bug-Em Bait Company, Motts Channel Seafood, and Budweiser for making the event possible.
All proceeds generated from the Seagate King Mackerel Tournament went to the Brandon Matthews Fund. Matthews is an outdoors enthusiast from Southport, NC, who broke several vertebrae in his back in a fall from a tree stand last October, and the money will help ease the financial hardship that makes his recovery process that much more challenging. For information about donating to the fund, contact Douglas Cutting at (843) 534-3911.
