Kwazar gets it done
‘Small’ chance becomes a big win for local favorite Kennedy
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Marcus Kennedy and his Team Kwazar caught half of what they caught on Friday but won all the marbles Saturday at the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship in Orange Beach, Ala.
Hailing from Mobile, Ala., Kennedy and his teammates Max Williams of Milton, Fla., and Mike Ward and Todd Kercher, both of Mobile, ran approximately 65 miles southwest of Orange Beach and caught a 25-pound, 6-ounce kingfish over an area of rocky bottom in 180 feet of water. A day earlier and just a mile away, Kennedy and crew nabbed a 51-pound, 11-ounce smoker that set the stage for their 77-pound, 1-ounce winning total. For their efforts, Team Kwazar won $30,000 plus a $20,000 Yamaha bonus.
A guru of Northern Gulf fishing, Kennedy knew the productive area well from other recreational pursuits. “This was a place that we usually bottom fish, and we’ll occasionally catch a big king off the bottom, so this is a good time of year to go get them.”
Team Kwazar caught 11 kingfish and a white marlin during the final round of competition. However, Kennedy said he did not believe his Saturday effort would be sufficient to seal the win.
“I thought we had a very small chance (at winning),” he admitted. “I said, `If we weigh in a fish, we’ll have a small chance. If we weigh in a 30-pound fish, we’ll have a decent chance.’ I felt like we needed a fish in the mid-30s to have a very good chance, so I wasn’t very excited about (today’s fish) until I got here and everyone’s fish bags (looked light) like mine. Fortunately, we got a big one yesterday and went out today and got a big enough one.”
Entering the final round in first place, Team Kwazar repeated their pattern of slow-trolling live blue runners and dead ribbonfish. Their two biggest fish hit blue runners on downriggers set at about 60 feet. As with day one, Kennedy fought the team’s biggest fish on Saturday, and Williams handled the gaffing.
Inclement weather caused the cancellation of Thursday’s scheduled start, so teams competed Friday to qualify for Saturday’s top-five finale. While some teams struggled with the shortened schedule, Kennedy said he relied on his local knowledge to overcome the loss of a qualifying day.
“It didn’t affect me any; I just went out and did the same thing I was doing,” he said. “It just saved me $600 in gas and another day of butt-whipping.”
With seas growing as high as 8 feet, long runs on Saturday were unpleasant at best. Nevertheless, Williams said Team Kwazar was committed to doing what they needed to do for the win. “Catching a big kingfish is a lot of luck, but you have to be in the right spot, and we felt that the place we were fishing was the right spot.
“We had our game plan ahead of time, and we figured where we could run, and we were able to go to all the spots we wanted to go to. It was very rough, but we fished hard.”
Old School stays close, takes second
Scott Jennings of Port Royal, S.C., entered the final round in fourth place, but at the close of business on Saturday, his Team Old School had advanced two slots to finish second with 69 pounds, 7 ounces. They increased their day-one weight of 38-4 with a 31-3, Saturday’s heaviest kingfish.
Scott’s father, Richard Jennings, said a day-one problem actually worked out well, as the team located a hot drilling rig 22 miles south of Orange Beach that they might not have bothered to check had they been able to make a long run.
“Yesterday, we went out and had a problem with one engine,” he said. “We decided we’d gone far enough, so we pulled in there by this rig and caught our big fish yesterday. Today, we went right back to the same spot. Today, it was planned.”
Team Old School’s second-day fish hit a live blue runner on a downrigger in 87 feet of water around 11 a.m. The elder Jennings fought the fish and Danny Williams gaffed. “We caught him early, so we kept on fishing, hoping we’d catch a bigger one.”
Richard Jennings said that harsh sea conditions forced his team to reduce their trolling spread to three lines – two downriggers and one flat line.
Sake slips to third
After entering the final round in second place with 41-9, Team Sake, captained by Neil Nix of Okeechobee, Fla., posted a 25-pound, 10-ounce effort in the final round to finish in third place with 67-3.
Team Sake fished southwest of Orange Beach and caught their king on a live blue runner. Team member Eric Kindell, also of Okeechobee, said the weather was actually worse than that of day one.
“It was really choppy, so you couldn’t run the troughs,” he said. “Neil runs hard no matter what the conditions, so it was a rough ride.”
Rest of the best
Team Square & Level/Reel Wild, captained by Frank Eldridge of Waycross, Ga., paired their day-one score of 40-14 with a 25-15 for a fourth-place total of 66-13. Team Catch 22, led by Kevin Arnold of Houston, remained in fifth place with 51-6.