SARASOTA, Fla. – The big day has finally arrived. Shortly after 6:30 a.m., the top-five team finalists competing in the FLW Kingfish Tour departed the marina for the last time and headed straight into the heart of Florida’s Gulf Coast in search of tournament glory and the top prize of $65,000.
After two grueling days of competition, finalists still have plenty of work ahead of them as most teams are secure enough with the current weather conditions to embark on extremely long runs during today’s finals.
“We’re going to drive until we have half a tank of gas and then pitch the baits out,” said Josh Denton, a member of first-place qualifiers Team Hard Way. “We have seven spots in a row and we’re definitely going back to the place we caught those fish yesterday. We’re probably going to wind up making a 120-mile one-way run.”
However, the competition will be fierce for Team Hard Way. With weights bunched closely together, each of the five teams in the finals has a legitimate shot at the title.
“Fish Fever 2 and Logan’s Run are going to be making long runs toward Key West,” said Denton. “They’re probably going to run 180 miles each way and we can’t make it that far. If those teams get on fish, they’re gong to be coming back with 40-pounders. And that’s what you’re going to need today to win this.”
With the competition so close, fifth-place qualifiers East Coast Sports believes it is perfectly positioned to make a run at today’s title as well.
“It’s tight,” said Capt. Randall Edens. “Only 5 pounds separates the first- and fifth-place teams, so that’s good for us.”
Unlike Team Hard Way and My Three Sons, East Coast Sports hasn’t had much experience fishing under the pressure of a high-stakes final day of competition.
“We’ve been close to making the finals a bunch of times, but this is the first time we’ve qualified for the finals and made it into the top five,” said Edens. “It’s pretty exciting.”
East Coast Sports, which led the competition after day one, said they’re going to be making a long run as well. However, that being said, the team was still debating strategies right up until the last minute.
“We’re going to go at least 100 miles but we don’t know exactly where we’re going,” said Edens. “It’s going to depend on the wind.”
Currently, Team Hard Way leads all competitors with a catch of 40 pounds, 15 ounces.
One for the record books
With three top-10 finishes, including an FLW Kingfish Tour tournament title at Beaufort, S.C. in 2006, Team Hard Way is one of two teams that can make FLW Outdoors history today.
“Nobody has ever won two regular season Kingfish Tour events before,” said Denton. “And we hope to be the first.”
My Three Sons, the only other team in the finals with a chance at two Kingfish Tour wins, already boasts the 2006 Kingfish Tour title at Sarasota.
The competition
Teams are allowed to weigh in one kingfish during the finals as long as it meets the minimum 30-inch requirements. That kingfish will be added to the team’s opening-round qualifying weight. The team that ultimately records the heaviest two-fish catch over the course of the three-day event will win the title.
In addition to lucrative cash awards, FLW Kingfish Tour finalists are vying for valuable points that could translate into a berth into the no-entry-fee $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship in Biloxi, Miss., Nov. 14-16. There, teams will have a shot at winning as much as $150,000.
The FLW Kingfish Tour will hold its final weigh-in and awards presentation at the Wal-Mart store located 13140 South Tamiami Trail in Osprey, Fla., starting at 5 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
Sunday’s conditions:
Sunrise: 6:40 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 78 degrees
Expected high temperature: 85 degrees
Water temperature: 76-80 degrees
Tides (at Sarasota, Fla.): low 5:47 a.m., high 11:14 p.m.
Wind: SW at 10-20 mph
Maximum humidity: 71 percent
Day’s outlook: Partly cloudy with chance of stray thunderstorms