“We were south of the Elton Bottom area fishing in a hundred feet of water,” explained Randy from Waycross, Georgia. “We were 85 miles from the scale. We knew that we could get back at a reasonable time so we kept fishing and came in at 3:45. We caught her on a bought blue runner on the surface.”

Randy will cherish this win as much as his win in the Brunswick tournament where he scaled a 49.9.

“That fish helped us a lot in the Division 4 chase. We are now in seventh place,” he added.

Team Empire / Reel Dawg was lacking in the points chase and needed their second place 30.20. “We pre-fished an area on Friday that seemed to be holding fish,” said team Captain Steve Greer Jr. “We only got two bites all day but a 30 pounder was worth it.”

Greer told us that the fish ate a blue runner on the surface, was caught by Dawson Covington, their junior angler, and at the end of the event its top junior angler.

“We were lucky to get the fish,” Greer added. “As she came over the side a large tiger shark circled under where the fish was.” Greer went on to inform us that the fish was in the boat at noon.

The Yamaha powered Contender team was right, they were not in the standings after Sapelo, but with that one fish, are now in thirteenth overall.  These are real smart fishermen!

Right behind Team Empire came Donald Barlow’s Wahka Wahka II team. Literally right behind, by just eight one-hundredths (.08) of a pound! Donald, Rick, and Cadie Barlow, Evans Williams, and Corey Bessent fished the Honda powered ProLine at the Elton Bottom.

“We were 70 miles from the tournament site, fishing the deeper side looking for the right water temperature,” explained Donald. “She ate a blue runner on the surface at two o’clock. Evans did the honors and Corey got her in the boat.” It wasn’t without incident. “The king hooked up almost at the same time a dolphin (mahi) hit. She got wrapped around the downrigger then got tangled in the dolphins line, but thanks to good teamwork we got it sorted out,” Donald added.

Cadie Barlow earned second place SKA Junior Angler.

The Sapelo winner, Gameday, picked up fourth with a 29.84. The Rodeffers, Ryan, David, W.D., and junior angler Cody Davis also were 70 miles from the scales. “We’ve really had good luck with Lee’s Live Baits so we loaded up again and we caught our king on one of his blue runners,” said Ryan. “It was an early fish. We had it in the boat before ten.”

Cody was third place SKA Junior Angler and won the $500 Mercury Scholarship award. The team fishes a Mercury powered Yellowfin.

Steve Taylor’s Taylor Made, a Yamaha powered Grady White, fished Gray’s Reef, scaled a 27.41, and finished fifth.

Steve, who carries founding SKA member number 70, fishes with S.D. Harrison. “We went to Gray’s to catch bait, but because of the weather, stayed in the same area all day. The king ate a pogy on the top line fished way back,” Steve reported.

The Taylor Made team now sits in third place in the Division Four standings. C'mon Steve, we know you can win this Division!

Sixth place went to Ashley and Missy Thompson’s Yamaha powered ProKat, Katastrophic. Their 26.84 earned Missy Top Lady Angler honors. They now sit in second place in the Division.

The top Class of 23 team went to Ryan Rogers on the Reel Habit, a Mercury powered Sea Fox. Ryan scaled a nice 22.72, which was actually the eighth biggest king this weekend.

Second and third place in the Class of 23 was almost a tie. Scott Harding’s Big Fishin team weighed a 19.88. Jason Owens fished the Shellin Out and weighed a 19.87. Talk about close! Wonder if both of these teams used fish bags?

Seventh place went to Jim and Royce McBride on the Rocky Top with a 23.85 while Blur Ribbon’s Michael Woolard and Walt Rogers collected eighth place with a 22.07.

Tommy Hunt’s Big Nasty moved to fourth overall in the standings thanks to their 20.67 king, which earned them tenth.

Once again, the Two Way Fishing Club came through and gave Georgia fisher people another great event. On behalf of them we thank you and all you do for our sport and passion.