MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – Team Sea Bandit headed by Dennis Starke of Pine Bluff, N.C. made a move from third place after the preliminary rounds of the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship, held November 9 to 11, to catch the second largest king of the final day and secure the championship win and a check for $150,000.Starke and teammate Jay Higgins of Mullins, S.C, led the Carolina fishermen who filled four of the five slots for the final day. They fished about 32 miles northeast of Charleston Inlet in a spot jokingly named the “No-So-Secret-Hole.” This is a live bottom area in 70 feet of water that certainly was not a secret to the fishermen in this tournament. About 14 of the 50 boat field fished the area on Thursday, followed by 44 boats on Friday and all 5 finalists on Saturday.
Fishing on Starke’s Yamaha-powered Hydra-Sports center console, the prize money included $75,000 from the tournament and a pair of $37,500 bonuses from Hydra-Sports and Yamaha. Starke and Higgins landed a 43 pound, 15 ounce king on Friday to secure a spot in Saturday’s final and added a 38 pound, 2 ounce king on Saturday for an 82 pound, 1 ounce total and the win.
Team Sea Bandit began the final day on a bad note when they discovered a batter charger powering thier baitwell had malfunctioned during the night.
“Only five blue runners survived and they weren’t looking too good,” Starke said. “One of our competitors, Bobby Schoenfeld and Team Lured Away gave us about 8 baits this morning. We thanked them at least 100 times today.”
Starke and Higgins caught their final-round fish on a blue runner around 10:30 A.M. Saturday. Higgins complemented Team Lured Away for sharing their bait and said it was a high probability their big fish was caught on one of the baits Team Lured Away had given them.
Team Raymarine, led by John Parks of Jacksonville, N.C., also exhibited strong consistency. As stated above, Team Raymarine are the 2005 FLW Kingfish Champions and finished in second place in this year’s championship. Returning from their 2005 championship team were Parks, Willie Humphrey of Richlands, N.C. and Robert Daugherty of Swansboro, N.C. Charlie Neal, of Morehead City, N.C., is a new team member for the 2006 season.
I feel very proud of our team for making it this far. We really showed what we can do,” said John Parks. Team Raymarine received $50,000 ($25,000 tournament and $12,500 each from Wellcraft and Yamaha) for their second place total of 78 pounds, 1 ounce.
Team Lured Away, led by Bobby Schoenfeld of Conroe Texas, was the only team without Carolina ties in the top five. They began the final day in fifth place and caught the largest fish of the final day (38 pounds, 7 ounces) to settle into third place with a total of 77 pounds, 7 ounces. Team Lure Away collected $17,500 for third place.
The team who began the final day in first and second places had the roughest time of the final’s participants. Team Sea Rat, captained by Mitch Yates of Winston-Salem, N.C., couldn’t find the big fish they needed to go with their 50 pounder from Friday and had to settle for a 16 pound fish and fourth place. Team Sea Rat caught the largest king of the tournament on Friday and won $19,000 ($12,500 plus $6,250 Yamaha bonus) for their two-fish aggregate weight of 66 pounds.
Rounding out the top five was the Wild Ride Fishing Team captained by Randy Griffin Jr. of Hampstead, N.C. Team Wild Ride added an 18 pound king to their 45 pounder from Friday for a total of 63 pounds and a check for $20,000 ($10,000 plus $5,000 Wellcraft bonus and $5,000 Yamaha bonus).
For more information on the FLW Kingfish Tour, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Be the first to comment