Second time’s a charm

Big-fish day reshuffles top five at Beaufort Kingfish Tour

BEAUFORT, S.C. – Most days on the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, it’s good to catch your fish early in the day so you can relax in the afternoon. But for Team Second Mortgage, they’re just as happy to catch it late.

Saturday, day two, was a big day off the South Carolina coast for the kingfish teams. Calmer, warmer conditions prevailed, which helped the anglers immensely. Two teams managed to catch fish over 41 pounds, and three top teams from day one were bumped out of the top five to qualify for Sunday’s finals.

One of the teams doing the bumping was Second Mortgage, captained by Larry McDuffie of Pittsboro, N.C. They hauled in the heaviest fish of the week – a 41-pound, 8-ounce king – and took over first place.

“I didn’t think it was going to weigh that much, but we’ll take it,” McDuffie said.

Indeed, Second Mortgage took it any way they could get it Saturday, including late in the day. Fishing an area called Gray’s Reef about 50 miles south of Beaufort with a small flotilla of fellow competition boats, Second Mortgage had a decent king in the box in the mid-20-pound range by afternoon. Then at roughly 3 o’clock, just an hour before the scales opened, the big one hit a blue runner on the top line.

“We were watching everybody else catching fish all day. Finally, that big girl hit and we put her in the boat,” McDuffie said. “It just goes to show that you’ve got to keep fishing it until the last minute.”

Second Mortgage wasn’t the only team to capitalize on Gray’s Reef Saturday, which was teeming with Spanish mackerel baitfish and birds. The day’s other 41-pounder came from Team Relentless, which also endured the rough ride to get out to the fruitful spot.

“We took a little beating getting out there, but it paid off. (The crewmembers) aren’t fussing so much right now,” McDuffie laughed. “Relentless fished right beside us all day, so maybe we’ll find five boats out there tomorrow.”

Relentless reconfigures rig, takes second

Team Relentless, captained by Tony Davenport of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., caught their kingfish early, around 11:30, and weighed it in for a second-place weight of 41 pounds, 1 ounce.

Relentless caught their fish on the downrigger with a blue runner.

“It just picked it up and ran with it like it was a small fish,” Davenport said. “But it feels great. We’ve been here before, but we lost it at Sarasota.”

Last year in Florida at the first event of the season, Relentless vaulted to the top on day two but ultimately failed to land a fish in the finals and finished fourth.

“In Sarasota we lost the winning fish (in the finals) because we couldn’t get the rod out of the rod holder on the tower fast enough,” Davenport explained, saying that they have since lowered their top rod holder by three inches and put a step on their bait box for easier access. “I said, `We’re never going to let that happen again.’ I mean, we lost $83,000 because of that, so (the new rig configuration) was a small price to pay.”

M&M’s hangs on for third

Day-one leadersTeam Wild Ride / M&M’s held onto the third qualifying spot thanks to their effort Friday of 39 pounds, 6 ounces.

They didn’t weigh in a fish Saturday.

Blue By U fourth

Captain Welsh Carson of Holden Beach, N.C., and Team Blue By U vaulted into the fourth-place position with a king weighing 38 pounds, 7 ounces Saturday. They caught their fish on a pogy.

“Tomorrow, we’re probably going to fish in the same are again,” crewmember Joseph Villareal said.

Evinrude fifth

Team Evinrude, captained by Rick Smith of Brunswick, Ga., held onto the last qualifying spot for the finals, but they had to work for it. In fourth place on day one with a fish weighing 32 pounds even, they caught another good king on day two, a 35-9, and just held onto fifth place.

“Most all of the fish we caught were in the mid-20s to low-30s, and this was our biggest fish yet,” Smith said. “We’ve got fish in this area that easily top 35 to 38 pounds, so we’re comfortable going back there tomorrow and doing the same thing.”

Final round Sunday

The top five boats will take off at 6:30 a.m. Eastern time Sunday for the final round of competition. The winner – and a potential $100,000 check – will be determined by combined opening-round and final-round weight.

Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 350 Robert Smalls Parkway in Beaufort beginning at 4:30 p.m. The takeoff and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.