Hannon’s Cannon fires opening salvo, leads at Sarasota

40 pounds the mark to reach

SARASOTA, Fla. – On a tougher fishing day for many on the Gulf of Mexico, Team Pro Marine USA.com/Hannon’s Cannon managed to hook into a near-40-pound kingfish Friday and took the lead to open the 2007 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour at Sarasota.

While the fishing was tough in terms of the number of smaller fish that came in today, the weather was gorgeous, with bluebird Florida skies, calm winds and temperatures in the 80s.

Hannons’ Cannon capitalized on the balmy conditions when they caught a 39-pound, 10-ounce king under the high sun about 11 o’clock, taking an almost-2-pound lead over second-place Team Koolau.

“It was just some hard bottom to the south,” Capt. Kevin Hannon said. “We had a number from a few weeks ago, so we went back down there, found some bait and fished around that bait.”

That number was GPS coordinates. Hannon and crew came upon the spot a couple weeks ago, and decided they would make the hundred-mile run back down again Friday. The calm conditions played into their favor Friday for the run, but things could get dicey as the weekend wears on.

“That’s all going to depend on the weather,” said Hannon, a local angler from Seminole, Fla., “but I’d like to go back down there.”

Hannon said they caught their fish on a big blue runner in 80 feet of water about 30 miles offshore. The fish hit the long, shotgun line, but it didn’t take more than 10 minutes to land with it Hannon on the reel, crewmembers Steve Riley on the gaff and Rick Cook at the wheel.

“It cooperated, yeah. One time with the gaff and we were good,” Hannon said.

The leaders also caught four other kings Friday, including three more in the 30-pound-plus range.

Koolau second

Team Koolau, captained by Conrad Lau of Neptune Beach, Fla., grabbed second place with a fish weighing 37 pounds, 11 ounces.

Strategix third

Aided by his good-luck charm, 4-year-old son Austin, Capt. Tom Biddix of Melbourne, Fla., and Team Strategix earned third place with a kingfish weighing 37 pound, 11 ounces.

“We were actually done by 11 o’clock. We didn’t think that we’d catch anything bigger, so we came in,” Biddix said. “We could have stayed and fished until 6 o’clock trying to catch a bigger one and tiring everybody out, but based on what we were hearing on the radio from people on the beach down at Boca Grande, they weren’t catching anything. So we decided to come in, clean the boat and get ready for tomorrow. I’m not sure there are many boats that stayed out only as long as we did, but with a 4-year-old we have a different curfew.”

While he may have shortened their fishing time, Biddix gave most of the credit to his son for their big fish Friday. They caught it on a blue runner in 48 feet of water fishing a spot “about 17 miles” from the launch point in Sarasota, Biddix said. When the crew noted that the “hot period” between 9 and 11 a.m. was coming up, young Austin blew the boat horn twice and the big king blew up on a short line immediately afterwards.

“He got to see the blues come skying out of the water. That’s when he blew the horn,” Biddix said of his son. “We knew we had a decent fish because it hit the line and just skied.”

Strategix also caught two more fish in the 30-pound-plus range.

Logan’s run fourth, furtive

Team Logan’s Run and Capt. David Logan of Belville, N.C., took fourth place with a 36-pound, 15-ounce kingfish Friday.

Logan offered little in the way of description about their day of fishing, saying only, “We’ll tell you tomorrow.”

House-Autry fifth

Capt. Ronald Sutton of Carolina, Beach, N.C., and Team House-Autry rounded out the top five teams with a king weighing 36 pounds, 2 ounces.

“Oh yeah, we tore them up today. We caught 10 fish, and there’s still a bigger one in there,” Sutton said. “They started out small and just kept getting bigger and bigger.”

House-Autry ran 110 miles and caught their keeper on a down-rigged blue runner in 40 feet of water.

Opening round continues Saturday

The second half of opening-round competition in the FLW Kingfish Tour at Sarasota begins Saturday as the full field of boats takes off from the Hyatt Sarasota marina at 6:30 a.m. Eastern time. Teams are fishing for heaviest fish over the first two days to determine the top five to advance to Saturday’s finals.