SARASOTA, Fla. – Team Fish Fever 2/Strike Zone Melbourne captained by Ed Mecchella of St. Simons Island, Ga., caught a kingfish weighing 40 pounds, 5 ounces Sunday to win $45,500 in the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event in Sarasota with a two-day total of two king mackerel weighing 78-12.
Captain Mecchella and his crew – Shawn Mecchella of Melbourne, Fla., and Marc Pinkus of Hilton Head, S.C. – reported catching 20 or more fish during the last day of competition. All of the fish came on large blue runners and spanish mackerel. Team Fish Fever 2/Strike Zone Melbourne caught a 38-pound, 7-ounce kingfish on Day 2 to qualify for the final round of five teams in fourth place.
“It was a great day,” said Mecchella, who is fishing in his second year of Kingfish Tour competition. “We made a run of 180 miles each way hoping the fish would still be there, and we got lucky and the bite was as good as yesterday and we caught a lot of fish.
“I don’t think we ever got more than three lines in the water,” Mecchella added. “It was an incredible day of fishing.”
Rounding out the top five teams were Team Hard Way captained by Todd Corker of Jupiter, Fla. (two kingfish, 69-9, $26,000); Team My Three Sons captained by Terry Grantham of Florence, S.C. (two kingfish, 67-12, $19,500); Team East Coast Sports captained by Randall Edens of Hampstead, N.C. (two kingfish, 55-13, $13,000); and Team Logan’s Run captained by D. Logan of Belleville, N.C. (one kingfish, 40-14, $6,987.50).
Anglers encountered wind and rough seas, but Mecchella found a way to adjust.
“The weather didn’t cooperate with us, but we kept on going and it worked out fine for us,” Mecchella said.
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 Sarasota tournament hosted by the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureauwill be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States July 27 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 servicemembers 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. 14-16. The winning team at the championship will take home as much as $150,000.
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.
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.
Awards are based on a full field of 125 boats in every tournament.