Greater Wilmington KMT 2004
The Greater Wilmington Hydra-Sports King Mackerel Tournament was held this past weekend, with June 24 as the registration day and June 25 and 26 as the two fishing days. On Friday, the SW winds were 10 mph with 2 to 4′ seas, and there were 108 fish weighed in. On Saturday, the seas were 6 to 8′ with 20 mph SW winds. There were only 23 fish weighed in on the second day, but one of them was the tournament winner.
“Smooth Transition” aka Team Vector Marine, won this year’s event with a 44.42 lb. king. The angler was Chris Jones, the Service Manager of Vector Marine. He was fishing with Jim Jones (his dad), Lindsay Shuford, and Tommy Salter on a 33′ Vector Series Hydra Sport with twin Yamaha 300’s.
They found the winning fish at the Dredge Wreck. They were drift fishing the area and caught three fish in a row. The last of the three fish was the 44.42 lb. winner. It was caught on a pogey with a purple and blue duster set way back off of the boat. The king put up a 40-minute fight before being brought in.
Their productive Saturday was in stark contrast to Friday. On Friday, “Team Vector Marine” didn’t weigh in a fish. They had made the long run to “The Jungle” off of Myrtle Beach and were about 9 miles north of the boundary. They only found a few dolphin on the first day of fishing.
Saturday was definitely their day. Chris Jones said of the win, “I couldn’t have done it without my dad.” The winning fish was worth $42,815.
Second place went to Don Wright, of Myrtle Beach, and the boat “Hammer Down.” They were the leaders after Friday’s fishing with a 34.44 lb. king. They were awarded $16,899 for second place fish. “Hammer Down” was also the top finisher for both the USAA and the SKA divisions.
Michael Sellers, out of Bolivia, took third place. He was fishing on “Squeeze Play” and brought in a 32.64 lb. king on Friday. Third place paid $7,128.
Fourth though sixth place went to local boats, and all of the fish were brought to the scales on Friday. Jonathan Spencer and “King Casket,” a boat out of Wilmington, took fourth with a 32.08 lb. king. “Slip N Slide,” also out of Wilmington, took fifth. Angler Tom Aberle brought in the fifth place 31.66 lb. king. Sixth place went to a Carolina Beach boat. Charles Smith and the “Got-Tu” hooked the 31.54 lb. king.
The winner of the 23′ and Under Division went to the “Playin Hooky.” Angler Thomas Kenneth Hemphil, out of Shallotte, won the division with a 31.16 lb. king weighed in on Saturday.
As for USAA finishers, their Lady Angler award in the Greater Wilmington went to Holly Sellers fishing on “Squeeze Play.” The USAA Senior Anger was won by John McBride on the “Slip-N-Slide.” Mike Nelson took first place in the USAA Junior Angler. He brought in a 25.12 lb. king while fishing on “Quiz Biz.”
There were 218 boats in this year’s event, the fifth year of the event. Last year the tournament was a one-day fishing event and attracted 244 boats. Some of the proceeds of the Greater Wilmington Hydra Sports King Mackerel Tournament go to the Take A Kid Fishing program. The Take A Kid Fishing program will be taking a group of underprivileged kids fishing on a couple of head boats some time in July.
