Tournament Report: Sneads Ferry King Mackerel Tournament
The 32nd annual Sneads Ferry King Mackerel Tournament was held the weekend of August 18-20, with tournament headquarters hosted out of the Pelagic Hunter Fishing Center in Sneads Ferry, and this year’s was a great turnout, with 149 registered teams vying for their cut of over $115,000 in prize money.
The tournament structure offers plenty of opportunities to win, with a leaderboard based on a team’s single largest king mackerel, as well as TWTs for Two-Fish Aggregate, Small Boat, Single Engine, High Roller, Winner Take All, Dolphin Division, and a NC Leap 50/50.
This year’s event saw a big structural change when the call was made mid-week prior to the weekend to modify the tournament into a two-day, captain’s choice format. Rough conditions looked certain, and in the spirit of allowing more teams to compete, the decision was made and teams declared their one fishing day.
Team Surf & Turf, led by angler Matt Pearce with friend Joe Arant, walked away from the weekend with the top prize for their 49.44 lb. king mackerel.
Matt Pearce and Joe Arant, of Team Surf & Turf, won the 2023 Sneads Ferry KMT with a 49.44 lb. king mackerel that fell for a 3 lb. bluefish on Sunday early afternoon.
The team did some pre-fishing on Saturday and put together what they thought was a solid plan for their captains’ choice of Sunday as the selected fishing day. When the time came, they made the run over to the east side to start their efforts, and what they found was action that was falling well short of what they expected.
Pearce and Arant went hours without the right bite. Under siege from amberjacks, it was quickly late morning, and the team had a tough decision to make—a long run to their back-up spot or stick with the plan. They packed it up and ran the 30 miles to set their live bait spread out in the back-up location.
It didn’t take long before their actions were rewarded. Around 1:30 pm, a rod rigged with a lively 3 lb. bluefish went screaming, and Arant picked up the rod. He made quick work of the hookup and had the king flopped onto the deck in about four minutes. The team had a feeling, looking at the king that now laid at their feet, that they had just won the tournament.
Team Nature’s Own, comprised of Snead Ferry anglers Parrish Sasser and Douglas and Mary Sholar, finished second overall in the tournament with their single king weight of 46.97 lbs.
Sasser, with years of tournament experience, decided to try something a little different this year. Since he was fishing with friends from down the road, they chose to also fish the tournament within their own neighborhood (off Topsail Island) and not run north with the rest of the crowd. The bite kicked off almost right away for the team, with their first strike coming at about 7:30 am. The team watched as the large king skyed on a short bait, landed, and then swung around to grab the long line and start its blistering run.
With new tournament angler Mary Sholar taking over on the helm, the team boated their first, and largest king, by 7:50 am. They spent the day trying to best the large fish that sat in the ice box, landing three total but none better than the first.
Team Second Chanze, with Morehead City anglers John Lewis and Chris Cocklen, earned third place with their 43.78 lb. king that held the top leaderboard spot after Saturday.
Since the weather off all week, the team knew anglers didn’t have a chance to pre-fish for the event, and with that in mind, the team chose to fish Saturday and target the kings that hadn’t seen any pressure in recent days.
Parrish Sasser and Mary and Douglas Sholar, of Team Second Chanze, came in third place in the 2023 Sneads Ferry KMT. They found their 43.78 lb. king on the east side of Cape Lookout.
Like many others, they chose to make the run over to the east side of Cape Lookout, where many big kings are caught every year, before deploying their live shad spread.
The first strike came almost right away, and the 31 lb. fish was enough to shake off the nerves. Around 11:00 am, the furthest line went off again, and Chris jumped on the rod to land the 43 lb. king that ended up solidifying a spot on the final leaderboard.
The Snead Ferry King Mackerel Tournament is a part of the Southern Kingfish Association’s group of events, and this year held a TWT that benefitted the North Carolina Law Enforcement Assistance Program, a group offering support to our state’s law enforcement officers, first responders, staff, and their families.
To see the complete leaderboard and find out more about next year’s tournament, go to SFKMT.com or visit the Facebook page Sneads Ferry Rotary KMT.
