BEAUFORT, S.C. – Given the size, speed and range of kingfish boats these days, FLW Kingfish Tour anglers are equipped to run hundreds of miles along the Atlantic Ocean in search of their kingfish quarry.
But of the 84 boats that launched at the third Kingfish Tour event of 2006 out of South Carolina’s Beaufort River this morning, at least a few are hoping to score big kings by staying close and maximizing fishing time.
“Based on a few of the recent tournaments along the Georgia-South Carolina
coast, it looks like the kings have finally moved in and started running the beaches,” said Captain Frank Strickland of Team Rebecca Ann. “All year we’ve had to go offshore to catch fish, but now they’ve come in close, so hopefully we won’t have to run as far in this event.”
Other teams have reported a sudden influx of good bait – big pogies – near shore, which will help Kingfish Tour anglers over the next few days.
“The pogies are in, we’ve seen a lot of Spanish mackerel coming in, and the kings are not far behind,” Strickland said.
Last week’s one-day FLW Kingfish Series event out of Charleston, S.C., required a kingfish weighing 36 pounds, 11 ounces to claim the winner’s purse. Reports from that event confirmed good catches coming from near shore instead of offshore.
“When you can get good bait fast and you don’t have to run far, it makes for some good fishing,” Strickland said. “There will likely be a lot of fish caught in this event. An upper-30s fish will probably get a team in the top five, and then it could take another 35- to 40-pounder to win on Saturday.”
All teams will fish this event for two days, and each team is allowed to weigh one kingfish per day. The minimum length limit is 30 inches. The top five teams that record the biggest catches over Thursday and Friday will advance to Saturday’s final round. On Saturday, each team’s biggest kingfish will be added to their qualifying weight to determine the winner.
The winner of this event can win up to $100,000 if certain contingencies are met. And every team that records a catch will earn points toward the year-end Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship to be held in Mount Pleasant, S.C., Nov. 9-11.
Teams will take off from Downtown Marina of Beaufort located at 1006 Bay St. in Beaufort at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The daily weigh-ins will also be held at Downtown Marina on Thursday and Friday, and the scales will open at 4 p.m. each day.
Saturday’s final day weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located 350 Robert Smalls Parkway beginning at 4 p.m.
Thursday’s conditions
Sunrise: 6:43 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 74 degrees
Expected high temperature: 93 degrees
Seas: 2-3 feet
Wind: WSW at 5 to 10 mph
Day’s outlook: 60 percent chance of storms