FLW Sarasota

Site Admin Joined: Mar 07, 2008 Posts: 1636

FLW Sarasota, May 16 & 17
Day 1 Press Release

Team East Coast Sports leads Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event in Sarasota

16.May.2008

SARASOTA, Fla. – Team East Coast Sports, captained by Randall Edens of Hampstead, N.C., caught a kingfish weighing 35 pounds, 1 ounce Friday to lead day one of the $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event in Sarasota, where the nation’s top king mackerel teams are competing for a top award of as much as $100,000 cash.

Sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s made for pleasant fishing Friday, and a morning chop on the ocean settled down, leaving smooth water for anglers. Captain Edens and his crew – George Edens, Jeremy Newton and Chris Gaddy – caught his weigh fish five minutes after arriving at their spot after a 150-mile run. Edens said the fish was the first of three fish caught by the team and it was boated at approximately 10:30 a.m. All of the fish came on blue runner, mullet and ribbonfish fished on flat lines, top lines and downrigger lines.

“It was a very eventful day,” said Edens, whose team is fishing in their third year of Kingfish Tour competition. “About 90 miles into our run we broke a trim tab. I mean it was hanging on by the hydraulic hoses. So we had to stop and we got down in the water and took the trim tab off so it wouldn’t beat the boat up. You don’t realize how much you use your trim tabs until you have trouble with them.

“We got to our spot, some bait busted and we stopped on the bait and tried to throw our baits right in the middle of them,” Edens added. “We hadn’t even got set and he was on.”

Rounding out the top five teams are Loose Lucy captained by Mike Kaminsky of Charleston, S.C. (28 pounds, 8 ounces); Hocus Pocus captained by John Hardie of Jacksonville, Fla. (27 pounds, 13 ounces); Buck Wild captained by Clint Higdon of Pensacola, Fla. (27 pounds, 8 ounces); and Team Kellogg’s captained by Bryan Edwards of Little River, S.C. (27 pounds, 6 ounces).

When the scales finally closed, 37 teams had landed kingfish weighing more than 788 pounds.
FLW Kingfish Tour qualifying tournaments are three-day events.

To read the entire press release click HERE.

Day 2 Article to Follow
Day 2 Board
1. HARD WAY - 40.15
2. LOGANS RUN - 40.14
3. MY THREE SONS - 39.09
4. FISH FEVER II - 38.07
5. EAST COAST SPORTS - 35.01
6. REBECCA ANN - 34.15
7. DOUBLE J - 34.11
8. LOOSE LUCY - 31.14
9. MELLOW YELLOW - 31.12

Site Admin Joined: Mar 07, 2008 Posts: 1636

Day 2 Press Release from FLW Outdoors

Team Hard Way leads Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event in Sarasota

BackNBlack wins Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series stop

17.May.2008

SARASOTA, Fla. – Team Hard Way captained by Todd Corker of Jupiter, Fla., caught a kingfish weighing 40 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to capture the lead in the $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event in Sarasota, where the nation’s top king mackerel teams are competing for a top award of as much as $100,000 cash.

Winds of 10-15 knots made for rough sailing early this morning, but the seas calmed and anglers enjoyed temperatures in the low 80s. Captain Corker and his crew reported fast and furious action on blue runners on the surface.

“We ran for 3 ½ hours,” said Team Hard Way crew member Jaison Fisher. “We put our baits in the water, and within two seconds of the baits hitting the water we had our first bite. We ended up breaking that line off. We put another bait in the water and two seconds later that line went off. We put another bait in the water and two seconds later that line went off. That’s two on. I decided to put a bait in the water, and we had three on at one time. And that was in five minutes.

“Probably 10 minutes later we put a 40-pounder in the boat, fished for 10 more minutes and then came home,” Fisher added. “We didn’t want to overfish that spot.”

Rounding out the top five teams are Logan’s Run captained by D. Logan of Belleville, N.C. (40-14); My Three Sons captained by Terry Grantham of Florence, S.C. (39-9); Fish Fever 2/Strike Zone Melbourne captained by Edward Mecchella of St. Simons Island, Ga. (38-07); and day-one leader East Coast Sports captained by Randall Edens of Hampstead, N.C. (35-1).

When the scales finally closed, 31 teams had landed kingfish weighing more than 768 pounds.

Team BackNBlack, headed by Edmund Smith of Powder Springs, Ga., caught a kingfish weighing 19 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series event being held in conjunction with the Sarasota FLW Kingfish Tour event. Smith earned $2,000 for the win.

To read the entire Press Release, click HERE.

Site Admin Joined: Mar 07, 2008 Posts: 1636

Day 3 - FINAL RESULTS

SARASOTA, Fla. – Team Fish Fever 2/Strike Zone Melbourne captained by Ed Mecchella of St. Simons Island, Ga., caught a kingfish weighing 40 pounds, 5 ounces Sunday to win $45,500 in the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event in Sarasota with a two-day total of two king mackerel weighing 78-12.

Captain Mecchella and his crew – Shawn Mecchella of Melbourne, Fla., and Marc Pinkus of Hilton Head, S.C. – reported catching 20 or more fish during the last day of competition. All of the fish came on large blue runners and spanish mackerel. Team Fish Fever 2/Strike Zone Melbourne caught a 38-pound, 7-ounce kingfish on Day 2 to qualify for the final round of five teams in fourth place.

“It was a great day,” said Mecchella, who is fishing in his second year of Kingfish Tour competition. “We made a run of 180 miles each way hoping the fish would still be there, and we got lucky and the bite was as good as yesterday and we caught a lot of fish.

“I don’t think we ever got more than three lines in the water,” Mecchella added. “It was an incredible day of fishing.”

Rounding out the top five teams were Team Hard Way captained by Todd Corker of Jupiter, Fla. (two kingfish, 69-9, $26,000); Team My Three Sons captained by Terry Grantham of Florence, S.C. (two kingfish, 67-12, $19,500); Team East Coast Sports captained by Randall Edens of Hampstead, N.C. (two kingfish, 55-13, $13,000); and Team Logan’s Run captained by D. Logan of Belleville, N.C. (one kingfish, 40-14, $6,987.50).

To View the Entire Press Release, Click HERE


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