Atlantic Beach KMT
Carolina Beach's "Zebra" Fishing Team took first place in the Atlantic Beach Saltwater Classic with this 47.98 lb. king mackerel. The mega-king fell for a double pogy rig just off the beach at North Topsail and earned the anglers over $32,000.
Besting the first day’s leading fish by over 10 lbs., David Tedder and the “Zebra” Fishing Team, out of Carolina Beach, hauled a 47.98 lb. king mackerel to the scales on Saturday, September 19, to take home first place and nearly $32,000 in the Blue Water Promotions Atlantic Beach Saltwater Classic.
After slow fishing on Friday on the east side of Lookout Shoals, the “Zebra” anglers decided they needed to change their game plan.
“We really just wanted to weigh in a points fish to help us get to SKA Nationals,” Tedder explained, “and we knew there were some fish around the Beaufort sea buoy.”
With Tedder and Jeff Smith, Brian Shore, and David Godbold aboard the crew’s 36’ Yamaha-powered Contender, the “Zebra” boated several teenage king mackerel around the sea buoy before deciding to head south in search of a larger fish.
“Some of our friends on the ‘Simply Storage’ had caught a 30 pounder off Topsail on Friday,” Tedder continued, “so we hauled it to Topsail. We weren’t quite where we were going when we saw some spanish on top and then some bait on the scope, so we put them out.”
Trolling between New River Inlet and Seaview Pier in around 27’ of water, the anglers soon hooked a 16 lb. king, and then had a big strike on a double pogy rig behind the propwash around 10:00.
Shore grabbed the rod as a big fish made the reel sing, and the anglers soon gave chase after clearing the rest of their spread.
“That fish burned it off on top to start with,” Tedder said, “and we had to chase him.”
The anglers caught up to their fish after several runs, but it went deep and began the typical slow circling battle of a large king.
“That last 10 minutes he just went around and around,” the winning captain said.
Shore worked the fish to the surface around 30 minutes after it bit. The anglers saw that it was indeed a very large king mackerel, and Smith sunk a gaff into the fish when it came in range.
“We didn’t have any scales on the boat, but we definitely got excited,” Tedder reported. “We’ve been at least three tournaments without a king mackerel, but we just kept on trucking, and I guess it paid off.”
With the monster king in the boat around 10:30, the anglers celebrated for a moment, then made the call to run towards Atlantic Beach to be closer to the scales when they opened at 2:00.
“We just took it easy and enjoyed it after that,” Tedder said. “We put out a couple rigs and fished the shipping channel until 2:00.”
At the scales that afternoon, a number of teams showed up with quality kings in the 30’s, but the “Zebra” anglers were the only ones to crack the 40 lb. mark in the event.
The crew would like to thank Zebra Environmental and Industrial Services of High Point, NC, for their sponsorship.
Flirting with the 40 lb. mark, Ron Dorsey’s “King’s Ransom” fishing team, from Atlantic Beach, scaled a 39.31 lb. king to take second place. Dorsey fished with his longtime team of sons Ron, Jr. and Jon Dorsey and Matt Gravitt aboard the crew’s 30’ Wellcraft Scarab, and like the winners, their big fish come around 10:30 Saturday morning off North Topsail.
“We were about 3/4 of a mile off the Seaview Fishing Pier,” Dorsey explained. “We fished down that way on Friday, too. We found a little 7’ ledge in 38’ of water there, and we worked that hole over.”
A fresh ribbonfish 8’ deep on the downrigger just behind the propwash proved too tempting for their big fish to resist, and following the formula that’s led the team to cash plenty of tournament checks over the last 20 years, Gravitt took the rod.
“He did a good, long first run,” Dorsey said, “then came right back at the boat like kings do. He made a second long run and came back, and that’s when we spotted him and saw it was a big king.”
After the fish came back at the boat another time, it dove and began a death spiral. When Gravitt finally worked the king to the surface, Ron Dorsey, Jr. sank the steel and hauled the big mackerel aboard.
“We knew the leading fish from Friday was 37,” Dorsey reported, “and we called that fish at somewhere between 35-40, so we headed back to the Beaufort shipping channel to be closer to the scales in case anything went wrong with one of the motors.”
After whiling away the time until the scales opened at 2:00, the anglers found out that their fish was towards the upper end of their guesses and bested the Day 1 leader by over a pound.
The 37.61 lb. king that led the pack after the first day ended up earning third place for Wilson, NC’s “Amanda Gail” crew of David Lucas, Thomas Evans, and Bill Walston.
Fishing on a 25’ C Hawk, the team didn’t have to wait long after the tournament began for their big fish.
Trolling east of Lookout Shoals at the 30 Minute Rock, the “Amanda Gail” anglers got a solid strike around 7:45 Friday morning on a naked pogy on top. Evans took the rod as the fish ran deep at first.
“It went down, then came up and made a long run,” Lucas explained. Choppy seas, however, made it tough for the anglers to keep up with the big king.
“It was 4-6’ or so, kind of rough,” Lucas continued. “We tried hard to stay on top of him, but it was tough.”
The combination of chasing the fish with the boat and Evans’ pressure on the rod eventually tired the king, and when the angler worked it within range, Lucas reached out and gaffed it.”
The “Amanda Gail” crew continued fishing the 30 Minute Rock for the remainder of the day, but caught only teenager kings.
Lucas wished to express his gratitude to Evinrude, OMOTO Reels, Calusa Nets, Amsoil, Ocean Waves sunglasses, and Mideast Appraisal for their roles in the team’s success.
A 36.45 lb. king earned fourth place in the Atlantic Beach event for William Littleton and the “Unbelievable,” and John Porterfield’s “Reel World” crew finished out the top 5 with a 35.41 lb. smoker.
