Winning the Old Salt King of the Beach is a serious goal, and when achieved – a well earned accomplishment, for tournament anglers every year.
It can also be a little intimidating to some. Particularly those who, even if they have fished other King Mackerel tournaments, have never competed at the KING. A great many Kingfish tournaments are seemingly designed to favor anglers with deeper pockets, fishing in larger boats, powered by multiple engines. This can dissuade many first time tournament anglers, those who fish from smaller single engine vessels.
The King is different. Better than 25% of the 52 Old Salt King of the Beach tournaments, to date, have been won (1st Place Overall Division) by anglers fishing on boats of less that 25 ft. in length and powered by a single engine. To paraphrase Captain Lynn Zirkle from his recent Kingfish seminar, “Kingfish don’t care what kind of boat you drive or how many motors you run.” There setup for the King makes this statement all the more true.
From the earliest days, the King has been designed to provide as level a playing field as possible. Here’s a few of the big reasons anyone might win.
- Even with our huge payouts, the King has the lowest entry fees of any significant Kingfish tournament As low as $195 to enter with a top prize of $50,000. That’s a pretty impressive ROI opportunity.
- 30 mile tournament boundary – there is no place inside the designated boundaries that you cannot get to with one engine.
- No check out – no shotgun start
In fact, the most recent King, the 2016 Fall King of the Beach, was won by Capt. Kyle Applefield 7 his wife Jenny (Yep – One Engine). The Applefield’s earned better than $70,000 for their efforts! In the Fall of 2013, Capt. Billy Miller, was crowned King of the Beach, again fishing in a single engine vessel. Turns out, the 2nd place winner was fished with a single engine as well).
The King sees its share of seasoned anglers fishing larger multi-engine powered boats. Love ’em, one and all. They win at a rate roughly proportionate to the number of these type vessels entered in the tournament overall. The singles do just as well, heads up. In fact when you look at all of the ways a team can win at the King (not just the overall) single engine teams slightly out perform multi-engine teams. Check out “60 59 More Ways To Win At The King”
Are you fishing in a boat powered by a single engine? Want a shot at $50,000 and the crown? Then get off the fence. The Old salt King of the Beach is your best bet for a Kingfish tournament in the entire United States.
Spring King of the Beach Tournament Page