Tournament Report: Kingfish Cup Championship
The weather forecast for the 2022 Kingfish Cup Championship wasn’t looking too great. With unstable conditions set to deteriorate as the weekend wore on, the call had to be made to run the event on the best possible day. Turning the two-day event with a one fish weigh-in each day to a single day weigh-in with a two-fish aggregate on Friday was the best way to complete the series without delay, and with over 200k dollars and the title of Kingfish Cup Champion on the line, the teams were looking forward to running the event in the safest and smartest way possible.
The 29 teams invited to the championship event qualified based on their results in a four-event series that included the Jolly Mon, Fall Brawl, Got ‘Em On, and Rumble. There was also one final chance for anglers to get into the event by placing in the Kingfish Cup Wildcard event held on the Wednesday before the Kingfish Cup Championship.
Ocean Isle Fishing Center served as the weigh-in station and tournament headquarters.
Friday morning came and anglers were met with 15-20 knot NE winds with seas running about 3-6’. Word had gotten out about a location with a run of about 45 miles from the tournament start. Within an hour and a half, lines were in the water as teams worked together over an area of good rock structure in the (roughly) 50’ depth range just off Frying Pan Shoals. In all, it seemed about 2/3 of the qualified teams fished in this same 1/4-1/2 square mile area.
The eventual winner was Team OIFC, an all-family team consisting of Captain Brant McMullan, Co-Captain Amy McMullan, Caroline McMullan, Brayden McMullen, and friends Abel Yuriek and Gavin Niven. The team found a few quality fish (close to the 30 lb. range) during the 9:00-12:00 hours that had them happy about their start, but the afternoon bite brought more confidence in the day’s success as angler Gavin Niven landed a 32.7 lb. fish around 12:30 pm.
Brant McMullan, Amy McMullan, Caroline McMullan, Brayden McMullan, Abel Yuricek, and Gavin Niven weighed a 32 and a 37 lb. king mackerel to win first place in the 2022 Kingfish Cup Championship with a 70 lb., two-fish aggregate. They took home over $105,000 for their win.
An hour later, they were thinking about running back when the team’s largest fish of the event starting ripping line. In about 15 minutes, thanks to 17-year-old angler Caroline McMullan, they swung the 37 lb. fish into the boat. Two hours later, the team pulled in to weigh-in to seal the win.
Team Fin Addict, consisting of Scott Whitaker, Rex Whitaker, David Whittaker, Drake Adams, Phil Elam, and Rick Lowe, weighed in a two-fish aggregate of 67.7 lbs. to take second place. This included a 39.40 lb. king that was the largest of the event.
Their day started off similar to many others, with a bumpy ride 41 miles out of Shallotte Inlet in 3-5’+ seas to set up with the fleet off Frying Pan Shoals. Being one of the smaller boats of the event, they arrived to see about 18 other boats already setting up. The Tower was off in the distance when they ran their first live bait, a mullet, out and shortly after boated a small 8 lb. king.
After that first fish, the bite really slowed down for them. They broke off a bunch of amberjacks before finally landing a 28.35 lb. king on a live menhaden that had them looking for one more quality fish to weigh.
Fin-Addict, comprised of Scott Whitaker, Drake Adams, Rex Whitaker, David Whitaker, Phil Elam, and Rick Lowe, weighed a 28 and a 39 lb. king mackerel (the event’s largest king) to win second place in the 2022 Kingfish Cup Championship with a 67 lb., two-fish aggregate. They took home over $76,000 for their second place finish.
By 12:30, with the bite since slowed again, the team was discussing a move over to the Horseshoe in search of one more. Getting close to departure time, the rod with the long line rigged with a naked pogie started dumping and was picked up by angler Drake Adams. At this same time, another hookup added to the commotion.
As dad (Rex) and son (David) helped sort out the rods, the team chose to cut off what they guessed was another amberjack on and go chase after the bigger fish that continued ripping line off the reel. Shortly after, Rick Lowe sunk the gaff and swung the tournament-high 39.40 lb. king into the boat.
Coming in third with a total weight of 62.85 lbs. was Team Sea P.A. made up of Matt Ritch, his dad Ken Ritch, and Jack Donaghue. The team found success making the run to the same area off Frying Pan Shoals. Team Sea P.A. caught a total of five kings on the day, in addition to many more amberjacks than they wanted.
A 24 lb. king was the first quality fish the team had for weigh in. Shortly after, with angler Jack Donaghue on the rod, a large 38.20 lb. king mackerel was landed with the help of Matt on the gaff and Ken running the wheel. The large king also locked in the prize for second heaviest overall fish.
The Kingfish Cup Series just completed their 5th season, and anglers are already looking forward to the events starting next year. With some events reaching participations of 200+ teams, these are high-quality tournaments with a great group of anglers. Visit KingfishCup.com to find the full leaderboard, as well as details about future events.
