SARASOTA, Fla. – Team Hard Way captained by Todd Corker of Jupiter, Fla., caught a kingfish weighing 40 pounds, 15 ounces Saturday to capture the lead in the $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event in Sarasota, where the nation’s top king mackerel teams are competing for a top award of as much as $100,000 cash.
Winds of 10-15 knots made for rough sailing early this morning, but the seas calmed and anglers enjoyed temperatures in the low 80s. Captain Corker and his crew reported fast and furious action on blue runners on the surface.
“We ran for 3 1/2 hours,” said Team Hard Way crew member Jaison Fisher. “We put our baits in the water, and within two seconds of the baits hitting the water we had our first bite. We ended up breaking that line off. We put another bait in the water and two seconds later that line went off. We put another bait in the water and two seconds later that line went off. That’s two on. I decided to put a bait in the water, and we had three on at one time. And that was in five minutes.
“Probably 10 minutes later we put a 40-pounder in the boat, fished for 10 more minutes and then came home,” Fisher added. “We didn’t want to overfish that spot.”
Rounding out the top five teams are Logan’s Run captained by D. Logan of Belleville, N.C. (40-14); My Three Sons captained by Terry Grantham of Florence, S.C. (39-9); Fish Fever 2/Strike Zone Melbourne captained by Edward Mecchella of St. Simons Island, Ga. (38-07); and day-one leader East Coast Sports captained by Randall Edens of Hampstead, N.C. (35-1).
When the scales finally closed, 31 teams had landed kingfish weighing more than 768 pounds.
Team BackNBlack, headed by Edmund Smith of Powder Springs, Ga., caught a kingfish weighing 19 pounds, 12 ounces Saturday to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series event being held in conjunction with the Sarasota FLW Kingfish Tour event. Smith earned $2,000 for the win.
FLW Kingfish Tour qualifying tournaments are three-day events. The entire field competes Friday and Saturday, and the top five teams compete Sunday. The winning team is determined based on the heaviest kingfish from Friday or Saturday plus the heaviest kingfish from Sunday. Teams will take off from the Hyatt Regency on Sarasota Bay located at 1000 Boulevard of the Arts in Sarasota at 6:30 Sunday morning. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 13140 S. Tamiami Trail in Osprey, Fla., beginning at 5 p.m. The takeoff and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
FLW Kingfish Series qualifying tournaments are one-day events. Each team is allowed to weigh in one kingfish, and the winning team is determined by the heaviest fish.
Coverage of the Sarasota tournament hosted by the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureauwill be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States as part of the “FLW Outdoors” television program airing July 27. “FLW Outdoors” is also broadcast in Canada on WFN (World Fishing Network) and to more than 429 million households in the United Kingdom, Europe, Russia, Australia, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East through a distribution agreement with Matchroom Sport, making it the most widely distributed fishing program in the world. The program airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time in most markets. Check local listings for times in your area.
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 in Biloxi, Miss., Nov. 14-16. The winning team at the championship will take home as much as $150,000.
The Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series consists of six regular-season events, four of which are held in conjunction with FLW Kingfish Tour stops. The top five teams from each tournament and the top 20 teams (who are not already qualified) from the year-end points standings will advance to the two-day championship. Teams finishing the season ranked in the top 20 will also receive priority entry into the 2009 FLW Kingfish Tour. The winning team at the FLW Kingfish Series Championship will take home as much as $15,000.
Tournament pros aren’t the only ones winning big this season. With the introduction of FLW Fantasy Fishing™, FLW Outdoors® offers anyone the opportunity to enter for their chance to land the catch of a lifetime with the opportunity to win $7.3 million in cash and prizes. Players can become a virtual pro angler by signing up for Player’s Advantage, providing them with exclusive insider information that could guide them to a $100,000 victory at every Wal-Mart FLW Tour® stop and the Forrest Wood Cup. Player’s Advantage will give them an edge over the competition and increase their shot for a $1 million cash grand prize that will be awarded to the FLW Fantasy Fishing cumulative points winner. Those who visit FantasyFishing.com today can sign up for Player’s Advantage and FLW Outdoors will include a $15 Wal-Mart gift card.
The FLW Kingfish Tour will stop in Venice, La., Aug. 15-17 for its second regular-season event, followed by an event Sept. 12-14 at Orange Beach, Ala. The tour’s last qualifying event will be held in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., Oct. 17-19.
The next FLW Kingfish Series event will be held June 28 in Ft. Pierce, Fla.
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world. In 2008 alone the organization is offering more than 90,000 anglers the chance to win over $40 million through 230 tournaments in 10 circuits targeting bass, walleye, redfish, kingfish and striped bass. FLW Outdoors is also taking fishing mainstream with the largest cash awards in the history of fantasy sports, $7.3 million.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
FLW Kingfish Tour awards are based on full fields of 100 boats in qualifying events, and FLW Kingfish Series awards are based on full fields of 50 boats in qualifying events.