Jensen Beach, Florida - Kelley Clements, Tracy Shaw, Michael Mosley, Ellis Phillips, and Rusty Rogers came to Jensen Beach with the best intentions. “We came to fish the Pro’s but decided to fish the Langford tournament as well,” said Clements who was fishing his new 38 foot, triple Verado powered, Fountain. “I told my crew that we were going to catch a 50 today,” and his message came to fruition on the second day of the Pro event and the one day Francis Langford tournament. 
“We were fishing at the Zoo, (an area south of Jensen Beach and where most of the fish were caught), said Clements. “ It was early, around eight, when she hit a blue runner way, way back. Michael fought the fish for about twenty five minutes after nearly dumping the reel. She went down and was really hard to get up.”

 The team said that this was the biggest king they had ever caught. Ellis added in, “I’ve been fishing events for twenty years and never had a fish anywhere close to this one.” He ended up with top senior angler honors also.

Kelly was later heard talking on the phone, “We did well! Now we fish for the rest of the year for free and still have money left over.”
Team Kabooka
The team picked up first place money totaling $10,000 plus plus some prizes, then much more for also winning the Yamaha pro Tour event. He was also quick to point out that without the help of his sponsors he may not have even been there. They are Southern Alarm / Brinks Authorized Home Security Authorized Dealer, AT&T’s Real Yellow Pages, and Gordon’s Storage.

This was the biggest king mackerel caught so far this year!

 John Norcliffe is no stranger to the winner’s circle but had never caught a king mackerel as big as the one he and Susan Jackson caught on Saturday in this event. “We went south to Lake Worth,” John told me after bringing the Kabooka, a Yamaha powered Baja, to the dock. “Fishing was slow so we moved north to Jupiter. It was getting close to the end of the fishing day and we were just south of the Loran Tower. A representative of the FishOn Bait Company had given me a few ribbonfish and guess what, that’s what she hit. We had her down complete with a pink shirt, and it took us just ten minutes to get her to the boat and we picked up and came right in.”

At the scale Bobby Flocken, the SKA’s official weigh master, bellowed out, 53.54. The Kabooka had caught the second place fish this weekend and had a great experience as well. This was the second of four kings in the 50’s caught this weekend. Susan jackson became the events top lady angler.

Mark Maus and his team won third place in that class with a 53.41. She came on day two.

“We started fishing off the Breakers in Palm Beach on Friday and ended up scaling a 35,” said  Maus who fishes a Mercury powered Yellowfin named for his sponsor Team Simrad. “We had a 50 plus on and nearly to the boat before she broke off.  So, as we were also fishing the Langford event on Saturday, the team knew we needed a bigger fish so we went back to the Breakers. The water clarity had improved, there was no wind or current, so we knew we had to move.”

The team of Maus, Sean Edmund, Dowling Granberry, and Jeff Worn, moved and set up in 60 to 80 feet of water and stayed all day off Juno. “I really thought this was the place and at ten o’clock we were rewarded with our 53,” said Maus and went on to tell me that “others came to the area, fished for a spell, then moved on. I really believe that the right thing to do was to stay in one place,” Maus added. “It worked for us as we were fighting fish all day.”

Team SimradRounding out the four kings in the 50’s was William Jr. and Bill Poertner fishing the Yamaha powered Class of 23 Pathfinder named Imagine That. It was also the biggest king this team has ever placed on a scale. “We were flying the kite just north of the Palm Beach Inlet when just after one o’clock,” said Bill, after watching the digital readout settle on 52.37. “She hit a goggle eye  about one thirty. It was surprising that she came to William’s waiting gaff after a short fifteen minutes.”

They finished fourth place plus picked up first place money in the Class of 23.

It’s ironic that so many 50’s were caught this weekend however you must remember that another two were also caught in the Pro event and whose Captains chose to concentrate only on the Pro Division. (six altogether)  On top of that, sixteen were caught and scaled in the forty pound range. All from ninety-seven boats. If you do the math, this tournament will go down in the SKA history books as one of the best fishing events of all time!

Snake Dancer rounded out the top five in the Langford Memorial event with a 49.42. “I had some people out a couple of days before the event and we caught a fifty-eight pound king,” said George Mitchell the captain of the team. “We knew basically where the fish should have been.

Mitchell and George Wells fished off Jupiter Inlet. “We went to our honey hole but that didn’t work,” he elaborated.  We saw Joey Toups and Mark Maus in the area so we put out the baits. Fishing in ninety feet of water, the team were covered up with jacks when one reel started screaming. “I cut the jack off and went to work getting whatever was on to the boat,” added Mitchell, “At noon she came over the gunwale. We knew she was a good fish but not as big as the one we caught earlier in the week.”

George fishes for Yamaha Outboards and Contender Boats. George conducted the saltwater fishing school at Lindsey Marine the Thursday night before the event for the Frances Langford Memorial Tournament. He is regarded as one of the top multi-specie fisherman in the country.

Conrad Lau and Dell Williamson are sharing the Captain’s roll this year on the Koolau, a Mercury powered Fountain. Rocky Cusack is the third member of this highly experienced team. Together they caught a 45.32 to pick up sixth place honors. Amazing isn’t it? A 45 would win 95 % of all the tournaments that make up the SKA’s Mercury Tournament Trail but not this one.

While Conrad indicated he would have liked to have had a bigger fish, he was satisfied. “Consistency is what we strive for,” he said. “A 49.85 in Key West Murray Marine event and now a 45.32 here. that’s consistency.”Team Imagine That

By SKA standards there is no doubt this is one of the most consistent teams in the country!

It should also be noted that four boats from the Yamaha Pro Tour fishing this event earned money while six locals picked up six places. Pretty impressive!

Seventh place fell to Dan Daniels, J.C. Harrison, and Pete Black, fishing the Yamaha powered Pathfinder, Pitboss. They also earned second place in the Class of 23. The team scaled a nice 43.60, a great way to start the season!

Next came Bill Wummer’s Spiced Rum III capturing eighth with a 43.50. With Bill was Bobby Wummer, Freddie Joseph, Howard and Matt Tuman, and Kevin Umphrey.

From Fourchon, Louisiana came Joey Toups, Jon Stevens, and Panky Christen to earn ninth with a 43.20. They fished the Yamaha powered Contender, Kajun Sportsman.

Blondie rounded out the top ten and gave the tournament the top junior angler, Austin Schatz. They scaled a 42.95. On board the Yamaha powered Yellowfin was James McNab Jr., Jeff Daniels, Tim Dunegan, and Wade Hammond. They scaled a 42.95.

The difference between seventh and tenth place was just .65.

Adam Lambeth was the Mercury Scholarship winner. He fishes the Sundanced Kid and scaled a 26.58.

A special thank you to Jim Scharfschwerdt and his family for producing such a great event!!