BEAUFORT, S.C. (August 11, 2006) – Team Hard Way, captained by Todd Korker of Jupiter, Fla. held on to their day-one top spot with a kingfish weighing 44 pounds, 15 ounces to lead day two of the $330,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event presented by Yamaha in Beaufort, where teams are competing for a top award of as much as $100,000 cash.
Korker and teammates Marty Koehler and Jeshua Koehler, both of Hopewell Junction, N.Y., and Josh Denton of Melbourne, Fla. ran their Yamaha-powered 33-foot Hydra-Sports center console approximately 27 miles northeast of Port Royal Inlet Thursday and caught their top fish on a Spanish mackerel in 50 feet of water. They did not fish on Friday.
“We took a bye day, we went out and looked for some bait and took care of some engine issues,” Korker said. “I made the decision to stay home the moment I went out the inlet today. I saw how rough the seas were and I decided there’s no reason to beat the boat up.
“I didn’t think any else was going to catch anything bigger than a 44-15, so I let the guys take a break. We just did some networking and got ready to go for Saturday.”
Korker said he plans to repeat his day-one strategy of fishing around bait schools. With nearly a 7-pound lead, Team Hard Way will start the final day by fishing conservatively and transition into hog-hunt mode once they gaff their first kingfish.
“First things first, we have to get A kingfish in the boat so we don’t get skunked,” Korker said. “Then we’re going to go for a big fish. It’s going to take a 30-pound fish for us to win tomorrow. But it’s always a hat trick out there. Anything can happen.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Team Salty Dog captained by Jeff Osborne of St. Augustine, Fla. (38 pounds, 3 ounces); Team Cat Daddy/LoungAir captained by Danny Mathis of Gonzalez, La. (36 pounds, 8 ounces); Team Castrol/Royal Flush captained by Nick Parrish of Jacksonville, Fla. (35 pounds, 14 ounces); and Team Wild Ride captained by Randy Griffin Jr. of Hampstead, N.C. (34 pounds, 11 ounces).
Teams caught 35 kingfish Friday with a combined weight of 887 pounds, 15 ounces.
FLW Kingfish Tour qualifying tournaments are three-day events. The entire field competes Thursday and Friday and the top five teams compete Saturday. The winning team is determined based on the heaviest kingfish from Thursday or Friday plus the heaviest kingfish from Saturday. Boats will launch from Beaufort’s Downtown Marina Saturday at 6:30 a.m., and the final weigh-in will be held at the Beaufort Wal-Mart located 350 Robert Smalls Parkway beginning at 4 p.m.
The next FLW Kingfish Tour event will be held Sept. 21-23 in Southport, N.C.
The $1.82 million Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour consists of four regular-season events. After four events are complete, the top 50 teams compete in the three-day, no-entry-fee $500,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship to be held in Mount Pleasant, S.C., Nov. 9-11. The championship team will take home as much as $150,000.
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, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the title sponsor of all FLW Outdoors events. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.