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 SKA Professional Kingfish Tour Competition Angling Team

 July 1st, 2009

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'You never know what's coming for you' -- read a new Chum Slick from Captain Jeff

     The 2009 SKA Professional Kingfish Tour season has - thus far - been a continuing string of disappointments for a lackluster FishDancer Angling Team.  Not since we began competing along the Pro Tour as the 73rd ranked team have we been in a worse competitive position after 3 events- 49th place overall and 'THE' FishDancer's chase for 2009 LAOY has been effectively ended.  Nancy is ranked 6th overall in the LAOY category but with 6 fish weighed and a mere 116.55 points the team's 19.43 pound 6 fish average will not do much to move us up in any of the standings. We had BIG plans for the Port Fourchon event and had some BIG fish just none when they counted.

    We had made plans to work with the Reel Won team - Bob and Sue Woithe - and in advance of the event - as the 'girls' made plans for meals and accommodations - the guys made plans for fishing.  The plans that Sue and Nancy made included all of the necessary ingredients to have a week's worth of tasty and healthy meals - and while Team FishDancer fished like jokers during the tournament at least both teams dined like royalty during the week. 

We feasted dockside on loin of pork, chicken, tortellini with sauce, beef roast and salads thanks to the mini-fridge we brought and the propane grill Bob and Sue brought.  This abundance all washed down by some good bloody mary's, 12 year old scotch or in Nan's case Smirnoff Ice.  Prefishing with The Reel Won was a hoot and before we got chased by a huge thunderstorm...all four of us were all pleased to catch and release a 50 pound king fish. We know the weight of this fish as we brought her into the boat and put her on a scale.   Unfortunately Bob incurred an injury and so team Reel Won had to leave early to get Bob tended to.  All is well with Bob and he is on the mend.

     Our original fishing plan was to fish far to the West but the water conditions of the delta were dictating the terms to all of the teams.   The rain and runoff from the Mississippi River coupled with the loop current of the Gulf and had created dirty water to the west for more than 100 miles as well as mucking up the waters within 50 miles of the inlet.  One day we ran 50+ miles due south and found Hydrilla floating -- YIKES!!!!!!!  But we had time to work through this and see if we could locate some decent fish -- and we did, just not on tournament days. We seemingly ran all over creation and during the event fished many many rigs to include the Ship Shoals, South Timbalier rigs and a few other unnamed rigs.  We caught at least 2 fish OVER 50 pounds, many over 40 and too many 30s yet during the tournament we could only scale the 2 smallest fish we have ever weighed in at the Port Fouchon event.

Just to rub salt in our wounds, at a rig where the water was perfect and we had released a 50+ a few days back and on the last line out on the 2nd day of the tournament we got a huge strike!!!  This was the kind we had been looking for all day and the day before that - the reel screamed as more than 300 yards of line peeled off.  Time was now factor as it was near 3:30pm and the end of line was at 5:00pm and we were almost 70 miles from the inlet.  Nancy took the helm and I got on the rod and we chased this fish down with the thought that our efforts would be rewarded with a 50+ kingfish for the 2nd day.  After a short struggle we got the fish doing circles, another good sign of the right quarry and the circles were large a sure sign of a big fish.  Through the water down about 40 feet we saw the silver flash of the fish and were heartened that it could be a big king.  I worked the rod as hard as I dared - given the time and the circumstances - so as not to pull the hooks.  Up came the fish .....  Nancy readied the gaff and we both had pictures of a 50+ in our minds when we realized the fish had stripes.  Boo Hoo it was not a king mackerel...it was about a 60 pound Wahoo....YIKES.

So we released the fish and made the long run back to the scales and made it with 4 minutes to spare.....all to weigh in a 24 pound king.  We also caught snapper, wahoo, jacks, sharks and a variety of HUGE blue runners and little tunny (false albacore) but no tournament grade kingfish for us during this event....so we limped home and began to think about the next SKA Pro Event at Golden Isles, GA at the end of July....stay tuned, it has to get better from here?  Doesn't it???????

>>))))))">

Luciano Pavarotti sings (translated into English) with the usual editorial license from Captain Jeff

To fish! …  While gripped by frenzy,
I no longer know what I'm saying or doing!
And yet … you must … force yourself!
Bah, are you a man?  No, you're a clown!

Put on your costume and powder your face.
The audience pays and wants to laugh.
And when other teams catch 50s and you dinks 
laugh, Pagliaccio … laugh FishDancer... and everyone will applaud!

Turn into jest your anguish and your sorrow,
into a smile change your sobs and your grief.
Laugh, clown, laugh at your broken performance,
laugh at the 50 pound king fish, which poisons your heart!

I have not been looking forward to writing and posting the FishDancer Jensen Beach report. In fact I have been avoiding it. Experience along the tournament trail always helps any angling team -- it helps to keep everything in perspective.  But this week seems to be the exception that proves the rule.  For many seasons when asked about what fishing on the SKA Pro Tour is like,  I have responded that fishing the SKA pro tour was like joining the circus - packing up and fishing from one city to the next.  During this city to city circuit, sometimes you had the chance to play ring master and other times you were assigned the role of the clowns and only the fish gods could predict which role you will play.  Well in Jensen Beach Nancy and I demonstrated this perfectly by wearing oversized shoes, sporting red noses and smoking exploding cigars. All that was missing was Team FishDancer arriving at the tournament site in a tiny car filled with people. We played the clowns of the Jensen Beach event. In the midst of one of the strongest weigh ins in SKA history all 'THE' FishDancer and I could muster was a 10 and a 12 pound fish.  YIKES.  Like the heart sick Pagliaccio that Pavarotti sings about...my heart is poisoned (and not by Mercury) by the thoughts of continued unrequited action from big king mackerel......YIKES!!!!

The clowns were in attendance and laughing but the fish gods were not happy.  Neither "THE" FishDancer or Captain Jeff was pleased.  The only contented beings exiting this event, other than the majority of SKA teams who scaled great fish (congratulations one and all) -- were the king fish themselves.  I can personally attest that neither Nan or myself did any damage to the fish stock during this event. Due to our poor performance Team FishDancer has dropped into 48th place and Nancy is now seriously handicapped in the Lady Angler of the Year chase. 

We worked our plan....pre-fishing to the North and ruling out some areas we really wanted to test.  The waters to the South were where the bite would be ..... at least we figured out that much.  On day one we headed to Lake Worth inlet and fished the morning south....by the wall and Breakers.  We were in sight of one team when they gaffed a good fish (it turned out to be a 50+) and had received some reports of 30s and 40s being caught in the same area.  We went fishless.  Deciding to move around 11am to the Juno area we caught and released many kings......2 sails, amberjack, sharks and a few other fish but the largest king turned out to be just over 10 pounds.  After coming back with our tails between our legs we re-rigged cleaned up and prepared the boat and tackle for day two. We decided to head a bit further South to Boynton Beach.  The first line out got struck and we boated a small fish.....this would be the fish we would weigh -- a 12 pounder! After fishing for a bit we determined the current was not there and with no winds to speak of we headed back into the pack at Juno.  We fished hard and caught many fish just nothing over 12......although 40s and 50s came from this area, there were more than 120 boats soaking baits in this area.  We tried everything up, down, short, long, skirts, beads, naked, runners, goggle eyes, ribbon fish, kite, trolling, drifting, slow and fast, light line and heavy.....nothing bigger than 12. We did have a mid 20s on and ready to gaff but the fish was claimed by a shark right at the boat -- this is the first fish we have ever lost in this manner to a shark or cuda.  YIKES.  In the end this event now represents the height of futility for Team FishDancer -- I would have rather been skunked than to have caught 2 tiny fish in such a strong bite.  I have to admit that I do not ever feel comfortable and dialed in fishin this area -- there is something I fundamentally do not understand about it. We have never done well at this event but we have never ever in our 150 events had a more frustrating 2 days of fishing.  I am both humbled and embarrassed with the results and with my confidence shaken to its roots will begin preparations for the third leg in Port Fourhon, LA....stay tuned.......

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Laugh Clown Laugh....

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Team FishDancer 2009 SKA Professional Standings

116.55 points - 49th place overall - Lady Angler 6th place  

              Fish 1 - 10.16                   Fish 2 - 31.72                 Fish 3 -10.34               Fish 4 -12.17

                                            Fish 5 - 28.01                     Fish 6 - 24.15                    Fish 7 - tbd  

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The Chum Slick

Editorial Comment by Captain Jeff

'You Never Know What's Coming For You'

Recently 'THE' FishDancer and I were watching the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".  This movie is a screen adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story of the same name and is a story about a man who is born OLD and lives his life in reverse, getting ever younger with each passing year. As part of the movie there is thread woven throughout when someone says "You never know what is coming for you".  Recent events in the world like the situation in Iran, the US Government's actions in a variety of areas to reduce our freedoms as well as the passing of Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson in a single week are proof of the wisdom and accuracy of that idiom.  No one really knows what is coming for them but all is not lost. There is also a positive side of this fateful saying, simply meaning that you never know what good things are coming for you as much as you don't know what bad things might be coming for you. Too many times we all only focus upon the negative.

Lets say for example all you have is a small 18' boat with a single 90hp motor -- what would your chances be of competing in any SKA event? You live out of state and have no idea of the current water situation, if bait is near the beach and/or if there are fish within your reach.  Your speed, range and ability to safely navigate in bad weather would be issues and many of today's computer anglers might decry the 'unlevel' playing field they have been faced with.  Many would not even consider entering any SKA event under these circumstances.  Not our fishing friend Bob Johnson, Captain of Traveler.  Bob - a teacher in NC in real life, has been facing these odds since 1993 and has faithfully and successfully fished one of the toughest SKA divisions - Division 5 - and has qualified for the Big Dance, even finishing 4th in the 23' and under division at the National Championships.  Recently Bob fished the 'OLD FASHIONED' way, put in, checked out, caught pogies and put out the baits and was rewarded for his efforts with a 48.64 pound fish and the Victory at the Nassau County Sportfish Association's KMT held out of Fernandina Beach Marina.  Way to go Team Traveler, we could not be more proud of your accomplishment!!!

Following three lackluster SKA Pro events, Team FishDancer is turning our thoughts to the positive......remember "YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT IS COMING FOR YOU --- it could be a 73 pounder!

'Captain Jeff '

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This high energy husband and wife team joined the SKA Professional Kingfish Tour after qualifying by finishing 8th in SKA Division IV in 2002.  In 2002 they won the Kingfish Division of the Offshore Blitz, won 1st place Lady Angler in the Two Way KMT, 2nd place Lady Angler and 9th overall at the Halfmoon KMT. Team FishDancer won the final leg of the SKA Pro Tour in Louisiana in 2003 by landing a 61.1 pound fish, the 2nd largest of the season and the largest weighed by a Lady Angler.  Team FishDancer has had 17 top ten day one performances on the SKA Pro Tour and seven top ten finishes; including  2 top Lady Angler wins; Golden Isles leg of the SKA Pro tour in 2007  and the Jacksonville leg of the SKA Pro Tour in 2005.   So far in 2008 the team has finished in 18th place overall in the Junior Angler Jacksonville King Mackerel Tournament and in 8th place at the SKA PRO tour stop in Brunswick, Georgia.   In 2007 the team has finished 4th overall at the Brunswick, Georgia SKA Pro Tour and earned 5th place in the 2007 ASWSC  20th Anniversary Sailfish Tournament, in Palm Beach, Florida. The team performed well in 2006 with 4 in the money finishes, including the 2 National Championships, 17th in the Rumble in the Jungle,  a 7th place finish in the 2006 Little River stop on the SKA Pro Tour and finished 6th overall in the 2005 SKA Pro tour event in Jacksonville. Nancy and Jeff, one of the top performing husband and wife competitive angling teams in the nation, finished 14th overall for the SKA Pro season with Nancy earning 3rd place Lady Angler. Nancy and Jeff  earned The team has completed the SKA Professional kingfish grand slam weighing in fish in the 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 pound classes, holds the SKA big fish (61.1)  for Port Fourchon, LA and has finished in the money 26 times in its SKA career.  Nancy is considered one of the top Lady Anglers in the nation and Jeff has received the prestigious SKA Director's award for his 'unselfish contributions to our sport"'

Nancy@FishDancer.net or Jeff@FishDancer.net

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