The tropical disturbance that had been brewing all week in the Bahamas finally moved and sent some wind and seas toward the South Carolina Coast, but the Beaufort Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series tournament went on as scheduled and the Reel Justice, captained by Ralph Justice of Pawleys Island, S.C., found a 37 pound, 13 ounce king to top the 90 boat field and collect $21,000.
Even through the day before, competitors had pre-fished in near perfect conditions. The seas and wind had been virtually non-existing and the competitors, many visiting Beaufort for the first time, had been able to search far and wide for a concentration of large king mackerel.
However, when the boats entered the ocean at Port Royal Sound on June 24 a different set of sea conditions awaited them. The wind was breezing to about 15 knots from the east and sloppy choppy seas up to four feet made the going a bit tough. While they slowed down considerably, boats fanned out as they headed to favorite locations within the 75 mile tournament perimeter.
Capt. Justice and the Reel Justice crew ran east to a section of live bottom in 60 feet of water, approximately 20 miles offshore of Edisto Beach, S.C. The Reel Justice crew consisted of Capt. Justice, his sons Brian and Andrew, and Christopher Campbell. They had located this spot in a previous tournament and returned hoping to find the favorable conditions they found that Saturday.
“We had fished the spot a year or two ago and we thought there might be a good fish there,” Capt. Justice said. “We had an east wind and that blew in some pretty water. Also, there were a lot of baitfish suspended in the water and some birds working, so we thought it looked like a good area.”
Not much happened for the winners until after lunch. The wind dropped out a little and the seas began to taper off and then about 2:00 P.M. the fish began to bite. At about 2:20 P.M. the winning fish helped itself to a slow-trolled live pogey and the excitement began.
Brian Justice fought the fish and had it to the boat in about 20 minutes. Once it saw the boat, it got another burst of energy. Before his brother Andrew could gaff it, it circled the boat several times.
“We got nervous when we saw the size of the fish,” Capt. Justice said. “We use small hooks, so you can’t put a lot of pressure on the fish and horse it in. He took us around the boat several times.”
Finally Andrew Justice got a shot with the gaff and hoisted the big king into the boat. They didn’t know they had the tournament winner, but the radio chatter had been slow all day and they felt they had one of the top fish. After stowing their fishing gear and icing down the king, they headed for the scales to see what it would weigh.
The next three fish were only separated by 2 ounces and 17 ounces covered the spread from second to fifth places. Second place went to Erin’s Addiction Too, with Capt. Jack Bracewell of Summerville, S.C.. Their king weighed 32 pounds, 9 ounces.
There was a tie for third place at 32 pounds, 7 ounces. Team Berkley/Tideline, with Capt. Dieter Cardwell of Winston-Salem, N.C. and Team Keller-Williams Realty, with Capt. Lee Gray of Beaufort, S.C. shared that spot. Under Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series rules, when teams tie for a position the prize money for the two positions is added together and each team receives half of the money and the points for the higher position.
Fifth place went to another local boat, Team Gotta Go, with Capt. David Hahn of Bluffton, S.C.. Their fish weighed in at 31 pounds, 8 ounces.
The easterly wind bothered many of the boats in the field and barely half (48 of 90) of the field brought fish to the scales. An old fishing saying is, “When the wind is in the east the fishing is the least,” and it held true for many during this tournament. Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series tournaments are 1-day events, so there was not a second chance at redemption.
The next tournament in the SC/GA Division of the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series will be held August 5th in Charleston, S.C. Each division consists of 3 tournaments with a maximum field of 100 boats and a prize package of $100,000 each. The top-20 teams in each division will be invited to a no-entry-fee championship tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama on October 26-28.
For more information of the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series visit www.flwoutdoors.com.
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