BEAUFORT, S.C. – Team Hard Way, captained by C. Todd Korker out of Jupiter, Fla., got a big surprise Wednesday morning when a large fish mauled their prop-wash Spanish mackerel at about 10:30.
“At first we thought it was a shark because of the way it was fighting,” recalled crew member Joshua Denton. “Every time we’d get the fish up towards the surface, we couldn’t quite see what it was in that stained water, and then it would dig down deep for another run. It just didn’t fight like a king.”
After 15 minutes of struggling and second-guessing what had eaten their live offering, a 44-pound, 15-ounce kingfish finally surfaced, putting Team Hard Way firmly in the lead of the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event after day one.
“Once we got it in the boat, we realized the fish had been foul-hooked,” Denton revealed, “which is why it fought so weird the whole time.”
The team captured the fish 29 miles from the Port Royal inlet, about eight miles off the beach.
Given nearly a 7-pound lead, it’s probably a safe bet that Team Hard Way has already punched their ticket to Saturday’s final round with their day-one catch.
Team Salty Dog second
Team Salty Dog, captained by Jeff Osborne out of St. Augustine, Fla., holds onto the
second-place position with a kingfish weighing 38 pounds, 3 ounces.
During their commute to their first spot this morning, the team noticed a group of seagulls working the surface about 30 miles out.
“A bunch of Spanish mackerel were schooling on minnows,” David Osborne said. “Anytime you see the Spanish (mackerel) schooled up like that, there’s a good chance a group of kings are around feasting on them. In fact, sometimes we’ll even catch a Spanish and use it for bait.”
The team stopped and began deep-trolling the area with downriggers, setting their lines for about 60 feet over about 70 feet of water.
“That one hit a ribbonfish,” Osborne confirmed. “It was only our second king of the day.”
Team Cat Daddy third
2005 Fort Pierce FLW Kingfish Tour winners, Team Cat Daddy, captained by Danny Mathis out of Gonzales, La., hold down third place with a kingfish weighing 36 pounds, 8 ounces.
Cat Daddy scored big early in the morning when they dropped their first lines 25 miles out in about 85 feet of water and got their first strike at about 8 a.m.
“It hit a ribbonfish on the long line,” said crew member Gary Slaughter. “The battle lasted about 10 minutes; we had perfect execution getting it in the boat, and it was over.”
Good luck finally finds Wild Ride
Team Wild Ride, captained by Randy Griffin Jr. out of Hampstead, N.C., has had 
one wild ride of bad luck this week.
Bad things started with personal belongings being stolen from their motel room early this week. Then on Tuesday, the team got their vehicle stuck trying to remove their boat from a ramp at low tide.
And just when things couldn’t get any worse, one of their motors began acting up at takeoff this morning.
It was at this point the team decided to just cut their losses and fish close to the mouth of the Beaufort River to avoid taking any more chances.
And with one kingfish strike, the team’s luck suddenly changed for the better when they boated a 34-pound, 11-ounce kingfish for fourth place.
“We were only about nine miles out, trying to make the best of our situation,” Captain Griffin said. “We saw some bait on the depth finder and decided it was as good of a place as any to start. Suddenly, out of nowhere, this big kingfish annihilated a double-pogy rig in the prop wash. I guess it was just time for our luck to change for the better.”
Griffin is worried that his weight will not hold him in the top five tomorrow, so he is planning to make a long run to Brunswick, Ga., tomorrow.
“The motor techs here have taken great care of us, and we’ll be back under full power tomorrow,” he said. “I really believe to stay in (the top five) we’re going to need an upper-30s fish, so in the morning we’re going where some like that live.”
Team Kellogg’s in fifth
Team Kellogg’s, captained by Bryan Edwards of Little River, S.C., is in fifth place with a kingfish weighing in at 33 pounds, 7 ounces.
All 84 teams will resume competition Friday at 6:30 a.m. out of Downtown Marina in Beaufort.
Many speculate that after teams network tonight and word gets out about where the better fish are being caught, several more upper-30-pound fish will likely cross the stage tomorrow, putting anything under the 35-pound mark in jeopardy.