Tournament Report: US Open King Mackerel Tournament in Southport
The 2023 US Open King Mackerel Tournament was held the weekend of October 6-7, with Dutchman Creek Park in Southport, NC, being the center of action as tournament headquarters, and it was another great turnout for the event’s 45th year, as 558 registered teams entered for the opportunity to win this prestigious event.
Team Triple J, led by Winnabow angler Joe Matthews and joined by his wife Deanna and son Joey, took home first place with a 43.45 lb. king.
There was some talk about a good group of fish around the popular Yaupon Reef area, and running out, the team confirmed there was a bunch of bait around and decided the rumors would at least be worth testing.
On their first morning in that area, they were having little successes but not the bigger bites that they were searching for. Around lunchtime, they paused to discuss how the day was going. Joe was ready to run out and look elsewhere for that big fish, but ultimately took the advice from his son who was adamant about how all the factors looked good and they needed to stick it out.
Realizing that being the captain of a team meant sometimes taking other’s input and putting that above your own, especially when it’s your son, the team refreshed with a bunch of good-sized baits.
Within 30 minutes, the long line went off, and Joey grabbed the rod that was previously rigged with a large “popeye” mullet. It didn’t take long for them to land the 43.45 lb. king that ultimately held the top leaderboard spot for the rest of the event.
Team Blew By U!, comprised of Wilmington anglers Corey Durako, Brady Durako, Richard Gilligan, and Darron Glen, finished second overall in the tournament with their weight of 41.5 lbs.
When deciding on their event strategy, Blew By U! chose to focus on the event’s history and look into areas that produced the winning fish in the past. This year, that led them up off the coast of Topsail Island.
The plan worked out, as it wasn’t long into the event when the team found themselves with a double hookup of kings. They had watched about a 30 lb. king sky on their first bait and take off, while simultaneously another rod went screaming. They fought both fish, and both fish hung deep and continued to make their best attempts to tangle each other.
They knew they had to cut one of these fish off before losing them both. They finally got eyes on the second king, as it went darting by the front of the boat, and knew it was bigger than the skying fish.
The team quickly cut the first king off and focused on getting Richard’s king in. Corey gaffed the fish, and the team headed straight to weigh-in knowing they had landed something worthy of making the leaderboard.
Team Strictly Business, made up of Oak Island anglers Jeff Crouch with son Brandon Crouch and Chris Eckard, were awarded third place for their 38.95 lb. fish.
Team Strictly Business is an experienced team of anglers that fish together for about 12 tournaments a year. Their approach is to always pre-fish and have a solid foundation of ideas on areas that will produce for them. This also means being flexible and able to switch gears based on what is actually dished out on the water.
They started locally off Oak Island, fishing a couple of areas that had produced for them prior, but conditions didn’t really look like what they needed to compete in the event.
In an event with 500+ boats, secrets are held tight, but it is only a matter of time before secrets get out. The word was Topsail was producing some quality fish, and the team made the call to scrap their first plan and run north.
They got off Topsail and hooked up quickly, just to lose their first fish. The team stayed confident, and within an hour, Chris had another king hooked up. A live bait on the long line was the ticket, with this king hitting just off the beach in 35’ of water. They gaffed the fish, and upon getting its measurements (52” length and 22” girth), they estimated the weight at 38 lbs. and ran to weigh-in to get the official 38.95 weight that put them on the leaderboard.
To see the complete leaderboard and find out more about next year’s tournament, go to USOpenKMT.com or visit their Facebook page at U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament.
