FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Team M&M’s/Wild Ride captained by Randy Griffin, of Hampstead, N.C., caught a kingfish weighing 39 pounds, 9 ounces Sunday to win $100,000 in the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event presented by Evinrude in Fort Pierce with a two day total of two king mackerel weighing 82-11. The top prize included $30,000 bonuses from Wellcraft and Yamaha.
Running a 32-foot Wellcraft center console with twin 300-hp Yamaha outboards Griffin fished with his wife Shayna and Richard Williams and Ronnie Miller, both of Wilmington, N.C. The team reached the final round on the strength of their 46-pound, 2-ounce second day fish. They caught a 31-pounder on day one.
With a light, southwest wind yielding calm seas near shore, Griffin hugged the beach. Running to a spot north of Sebastian Inlet, he trolled baits in 15-18 feet of water approximately 50 yards from the sand.
“We had caught fish right on the beach all week because the baitfish schools were in there,” Griffin said. “We were finding blue runners, greenbacks, false albacore and menhaden in the (shallow water), so we figured that would be the way to go.”
Around 11 a.m., the winning kingfish hit a dead ribbonfish on a downrigger set three feet off the bottom. Miller fought the fish for about 30 minutes and Griffin gaffed it.
“The fish made a slow run in front of the boat and then ran up on the beach and stayed in about five feet of water for a few minutes,” the captain said. “Then the fish headed offshore and never looked back.
“When we first saw the fish, we didn’t think it was really big because of the angle we had. But then it rolled up and it looked huge. I stuck the fish; we got it in the boat, did a couple of high-fives and just fished around the area for the rest of the day.”
Considering the number of huge kingfish that hit the scales during Friday and Saturday’s qualifying rounds, the winners made no assumptions about how they might place in the final standings.
“We were pretty happy with our fish – it was respectable,” Griffin said. “I didn’t think we were going to win. I didn’t think the fish was big enough. (Several) teams weighed fish over 40 pounds on the first two days, so we figured we’d need a 40 to win.”
The winners caught five additional kingfish including a 30-pounder Sunday. They released their other kings alive. Griffin attributes his team’s success to a persistent and methodical approach.
“It takes a lot of patience to fish on the beach,” Griffin said. “You don’t go out and catch 20 fish. When you fish on the beach, you get one or two shots at big fish and if everything works in your favor, you have the chance for something really good to happen.”
Rounding out the top five teams were Team Miss Micki 2 captained by Ricky Rowland, of Fuquay Varina, N.C. (two kingfish, 80 pounds, 14 ounces, $14,620 plus a $9,000 Wellcraft bonus and a $9,000 Yamaha bonus); Team BP/Talkin Trash captained by Mike Edwards, of Wilmington, N.C. (two kingfish, 69 pounds, 9 ounces, $8,600 plus a $5,250 Hydra-Sports bonus and a $5,250 Yamaha bonus); Team Bounty/Slip-N-Slide captained by Tom Aberle, of Wilmington, N.C. (two kingfish, 63 pounds, 1 ounce, $6,880 plus a $4,250 Hydra-Sports bonus and a $4,250 Yamaha bonus); and Team House-Autry captained by Ronald Sutton, of Carolina Beach, N.C. (two kingfish, 58 pounds, 12 ounces, $6,020 plus a $3,750 Hydra-Sports bonus and a $3,750 Yamaha bonus).
FLW Kingfish Tour qualifying tournaments are three-day events. The entire field competed Friday and Saturday, and the top five teams based on the heaviest kingfish from either day competed Sunday.
Coverage of the Fort Pierce tournament hosted by the Treasure Coast Sports Commission will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States September 9 as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program. “FLW Outdoors” airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast internationally to 429 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 service members stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
The $1.7 million Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour consists of four regular-season events. After four events are complete, the top 50 teams will compete in the three-day, no-entry-fee $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship presented by BP in Biloxi, Miss., Nov. 2-4. The winning team at the championship will take home as much as $150,000.
The FLW Kingfish Tour will stop in Beaufort, SC., August 17-19 for its third regular-season event, presented by Yamaha Motors. The tour’s last qualifying event, presented by Raymarine, will be held in Atlantic Beach, NC, September 28-30.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Walmart.com.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.