First Place Winners

Overall Division and King of the Beach

Team Exiting The Net | 46.10 lbs.

 Youth Division

Nathan Hall | Team Rambunctious | 23.76 lbs.

Ladies Division

Christine Hancock | Team Crap Happens | 29.48 lbs.

Spanish Division

Team Stale Fish | 5.66 lbs.

Single Engine Division

Team Pay To Play | 34.50 lbs.

All photos courtesy of Old Salt member John Osborne. See all of John’s 2012 Spring King of the Beach photos

The King of the Beach tournament is something our team has looked forward to for the past several years. This past fall was no different. We came up with a strategy a couple days before the tournament to stay close to the beach because the weather conditions looked a little rough. Friday before the tourney was our day to catch bait and we had a little trouble because conditions were very rough for our 24 ft center console, but were successful in finding an area near where we wanted to fish that was holding bait.

It's GREAT To Be The King!

Saturday we set off on a mission to execute our plan and headed to the mouth of Tampa Bay. We went to the spot where we found the bait and it didn’t take too long for us to get the ones we were looking for, and then immediately headed to where we wanted to fish, which wasn’t far. Wind and tide were against each other and it was still pretty rough, but actually made for a nice drift for slow trolling live baits. We then put out two rather large baits and started playing the waiting game. Maybe an hour went by and we got our one and only strike and immediately knew it was a big fish. The team instantly jumped to action. Bill took the helm and quickly started motoring toward the fish which at this time had almost spooled 300 yards of line off of my reel. I literally could see the knot on the spool. Brian had already cleaned up all of the gear off the deck and reeled in the other bait so it didn’t get in the way. Zeus stood patiently with the gaff knowing that it was going to be a while before this fish was boatside.

The fight went on for 30-45 minutes and at some point my reel started making this horrible grinding noise. Once I got the fish close enough to where we could see it I heard someone on the boat yell “that’s a 50 pounder”. One swipe of the gaff and two of us pulling this beast in the boat I knew when it hit the deck that we had just won the King of the Beach!

Team:  Capt. Matt Morrison, Bill Russell, Zeus Castro, Brian Sanchez

By CAPT. BILL MILLER

Ashley's 42 Pounder

Kingfish tournament preparation requires planning and strategy. One of the questions to consider is do you pre fish? If the answer is yes, what do you do if you catch a monster the day before the tournament? Can you release the fish and then count on it to bite again the next day?

If you don’t think a big fish bites twice, do you bring it in to show off at the dock? Some consider it bad karma to kill a big kingfish the day before the tournament. Opinions vary, and I have no definitive answer. I can, however, tell you a pre-fishing story that happened a couple of years ago to Capt. Billy Miller and me.

It was the day before a Fall King of the Beach, and Billy and I had recruited my wife Debbie and his then-girlfriend (now fiancée) Ashley, to go with us and catch bait for the tournament.

Typical of a fall kingfish tournament, the wind was blowing hard out of the north and when we got to Pass-A-Grille Pass, muddy water had made bait impossible to catch. Scrambling, we moved inside to look for mullet. With me driving and Billy throwing, we scraped up two mullet, a big bluefish and a couple of pinfish. The bait mission was floundering and our crew was getting bored.

Billy and I reminded the ladies that fishing plans often change, so we headed out to the Egmont Channel in hopes of finding reasonable conditions. Ashley had never caught a kingfish, so we were hoping for a decent school – something in the 15- to 20-pound range – to salvage our day. Well, let’s just say, we more than salvaged the day.

Five minutes after we set the baits, Ashley hooked a big king. I got a pretty good look at the fish and estimated it at close to 50 pounds.

Flash back to that earlier question. It’s the day before a big tournament – do we keep the fish? Considering Ashley’s quest for her first king – and this one was a beauty – we decided to gaff the fish. We were all entered in a month-long kingfish tournament at Maximo Marina, so the decision was made.

As soon as the big king came close, Billy hit it with a gaff. He called for backup and I sank a second gaff in and brought the fish over the side. After whooping and hollering we decided to go in and weigh the monster. On the scale at Maximo, it weighed 43 pounds! Not bad for your first kingfish. (We have since reminded Ashley that this is not the norm.)

OK, so Ashley wins the Maximo tournament and about $250. Had we caught that fish the next day, we all know the rewards and untold satisfaction of winning the King of the Beach.

So do you keep a big one the day before the tournament and risk bad karma? That’s a case-by-case judgment call and normally, I’d say no. This time, Ashley’s smile made for an easy “yes.”

Oh by the way, we never had a bite the next day during the tournament. Still, I recall that being one our favorite kingfish tournament memories.

For weekly fishing reports, hot tips, catch photos and lots of angling resources, visit www.billmiller.com. For fishing charters in the Tampa Bay area, call (813) 363-9927.

This time we are doing it a little different. Instead of doing the traditional Spring and Fall heaviest duo of Kings we are doing the heaviest duo of King/Spanish instead. So, your Kingfish and your Spanish combined weight will add up to $1000! What? Huh?? YEP, that’s right, $1000! Snappers Sea Grill, located in St. Pete Beach, has sponsored the prize of $1000!

So, In true OLD SALT style we have to mix it up a bit…..
We (thanks to Capt. Joe Maisano) have decided to make it a little more interesting …. we are going to double the weight of the Spanish!

So the equation will look like this:   Kingfish + (Spanish x2) = $1000  

Snapper’s Sea Grill has graciously offered to sponsor this prize not only in the SPRING but also in the FALL! So, everyone give a great big shout out to them and stop in and say “HI” to Dan or Doug Casey.

To REGISTER for the event or more event details ….. CLICK HERE>>>>>

Gator’s on the Pass

SEMINAR: KINGFISHING
Presented by: Capt. Kevin Wissing of Catch on Charters

PRE-Register: King of the Beach

Save $10 and get entered to win a set of 4 custom rods from Dogfish Tackle.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO and COMPLETE BIO on Capt. Kevin Wissing ….>>>>

RAFFLE TO FOLLOW MEETING

Dea, you will be sadly missed.

Memorial Information

Check out the video here …>>>>

Winners:
1st place – Chris Snyder   4.70lb    Gag Grouper
2nd place – Barbara Jusich   3.36   Hogfish
3rd place – Barbara Bosser    2.74lb  Gag Grouper
Most fish – Matthew Clemans – 26 total
Smallest Fish – Sky Snyder .12lbs.

We also had an AMAZING speaker: Capt. Scott Moore.  He gave a some great tips and was a very informative and entertaining speaker. Thank you very much for coming up from Sarasota to talk to us.  Next monthly meeting is April 10th and we will be gearing up for the KING of the BEACH. See everyone then.

We still have some spots available if you want to sell your stuff…. email Jill:  info@oldsaltfishing.org or Call 727-422-6420

Click here to go to the event page for all the details. >>>

Don’t forget we will need all the volunteers we can get. It takes a lot of hands to pull off the largest Kingfish party on the West Coast!!