2007 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship
Biloxi, Miss.
Finals, Sunday
Sweet victory … On the strength of a 36-pound, 7-ounce catch in the final round of competition, Team Hooligan walked away with the prestigious 2007 Kingfish Tour Championship title. And not surprisingly, the team couldn’t have been happier. “How do you describe what I’m feeling right now?” asked Team Hooligan Capt. Joe Winslow. “This is just awesome. It was a tough week for everybody. The irony for us is that we caught three fish today, and that’s two more than we caught all week.” To be sure, it wasn’t an easy ride to the finals for the Hooligan crew. Yesterday their boat struck an underwater piling that could have easily ended the tournament for the team right there and then. But as luck would have it, the boat only sustained one very minor scrape. “That seems to be our M.O. We always seem to invent the most complicated way to do things. Hitting the piling was just one of those things you have to deal with.” As it turned out, the finals wasn’t a cakewalk either. “We knew we couldn’t go back to our same spot because it was too rough,” said Winslow. “So we made a decision to commit to a new area. But the big problem we had this morning was that our bait was three days old. We knew that we had to catch some fresh bait. Finally, we managed to do that. And as soon as we changed our bait, we found the fish.” Not only did they find the fish, but their total tournament catch of 84 pounds, 6 ounces was good enough for victory – as well as their second FLW Kingfish Tour title in two years. “Like I said, it’s just an awesome feeling.” For their efforts, Team Hooligan took home $112,500 in winnings.
Team M&M’s comes up short … After leading the 2007 Kingfish Tour Championship for the first two days, Team M&M’s seemed on the verge of their first championship title. However, it was not to be. “We had a big fish on, but it came unbuttoned,” said Team M&M’s Capt. Randy Griffin Jr. “But it’s been a great tournament, a great atmosphere, and (Winslow) is a really good friend of mine. I’ve said all along, if we’re going to lose, I’d like to lose to (Team Hooligan).” While Team M&M’s didn’t take home the title, they did accomplish a rather amazing feat – qualifying for the Kingfish Tour Championship final round in back-to-back years. “Last year, we entered the finals in second place and fell to fifth,” said Griffin. “This year, we entered in first and dropped to second. But I’ll tell you what, you’ll never see somebody so happy to take home second place again. We thought we’re going to finish in fourth because our fish (26 pounds, 7 ounces) was so small.” In the end, Team M&M’s took home $41,500 in prize money.
Big fish run out for Team Collins … In the end, Team Collins never quite found the fish they were looking for. As a result, the team dropped from second place to third with a total catch of 74 pounds. “It was really rough going out,” said Team Collins crew member Mike Muhlbauer. “We went to a spot where we heard there were big fish, and we wound up catching a bunch of little ones. So we decided to go to a new area, and we made a relatively long run to get there. When we got there, the water temperature was perfect, but we wound up catching a bunch of 20-pound fish. We never could get that 35-pounder we needed.”
Hard work doesn’t pan out … Although they gave it their best effort, Team Pro Marine USA.com could only muster a fourth-place finish in today’s competition with a total tournament catch of 70 pounds, 2 ounces. “We caught a lot of small fish, but we just couldn’t put the big one in the boat,” said team Capt. Kevin Hannon. “We hit like five different (oil) rigs today, and we caught our biggest fish (27 pounds, 6 ounces) on the second rig. But that’s the biggest fish we could get today. But I definitely want to congratulate (Winslow). He’s a great fisherman.”
Reelin’ at the finish line … For Team Reelin, the difference in today’s weather conditions were just enough to derail their quest for victory. “It was tough out there,” said Team Reelin Capt. Marc Pincus. “We went back to the place we caught our big fish yesterday, but the conditions were different. The class of fish and the size of fish we’re catching yesterday just weren’t there today. And with the short fishing day, it was tough to make up ground.” However, Pincus said the team was proud of their accomplishments. “We had a great event,” said Pincus. “This is our third top-five of the year, so how can you complain? We don’t have the funding that some of the other teams do, and our boat is 10 years old. I guarantee you that nobody in the finals had a slower boat than us. So we really feel good about what we’ve accomplished. As a team, we just try to go out there and enjoy the experience, enjoy the moment. For us, this is just great.”
Quick numbers:
5: Total number of teams qualifying for the finals of the 2007 FLW Kingfish Tour Championship.
129-12: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of kingfish caught during the final day of competition.
112.5: Total prize money, in thousands, won by first-place Team Hooligan during the 2007 Kingfish Tour Championship.
51-10: Total weight, in pounds and ounces, of the largest kingfish caught during the first two days of the 2007 Kingfish Tour Championship.
1: Number of new teams that caught a kingfish over 28 pounds during the finals.