Team Carolina Skiff : Naples Kingfish Classic
Posted on Apr 28, 2008

March 28-30, 2008 - Naples,FL
Team Carolina Skiff/Evinrude/Big Bobberz set the cruise control for 65mph headed south on I-75 again on March 27th to try to beat the boys in Naples, Florida. We got up bright and early Friday morning to get the boat in the water and go get some baits. We were rewarded pretty quickly with a bait well full of lively bluerunners so we headed back to the hotel, loaded the baits into the bait pen and got ready for the Captains meeting.

We started Saturday morning with a shotgun start again at 7:00am and set a course straight for T Tower...we had a score to settle there with a big toothy king! After a fifty mile run, we got to our spot a little after 8:00am. Within 15-20 minutes we had a teeny bopper in the box, no where near big enough to write home about, but at least a fish in the box. We sent the lines back out trolling a combination of bluerunners and ribbonfish anywhere from forty feet down on the down rigger to fifty yards behind the boat. Another 15 minutes of trolling and we had one in the box that we THOUGHT was bigger then the fish we weighed in Marco, turns out we probably need new glasses! Both bites came on ribbonfish on the downrigger. Then not too long after that we had another line go off, (bluerunner on top)...bit through the leader! Jesse, having fought the other two, said it didn't feel that big.

Then the bite turned off for a couple of hours but we knew there was a minor feed coming up, so we decided to stay where we were, troll through the feed, then re-stock the livewell from the big bluerunners hanging out there.

Trolling along, doing a little dance, singing a little tune, and all of the sudden the rod goes off again...FINALLY! It ran...and ran...and ran...Lisa and I were clearing the other lines and the deck in preparation for bringing home big Papa. Jesse was on the rod and got her ALMOST to the boat, where we could see her, and off she went again. None of us really said it right then, but WOW!!! What a fish this was! We gave chase, gained some line back, and saw her again...at which time we confirmed what we thought we saw the first time...it was an "OMG that's a big fish!" fish!!! Well this tug of war continued for a VERY long time, Jesse on the rod, sweating, arms tired, and the frustration setting in deeper each run king-zilla made. Come hell or high water, this fish would NOT come closer then 10 feet beyond the end of the gaff! It was almost time to make the run back, we had to get the fish in the boat like NOW, or risk missing weigh in. So we tightened the drag and attempted to horse this bad girl in. She CLEARLY had no intention of going for a boat ride that day, and we lost her! For the last 30 minutes of the fight, the fish stayed about 20 feet off the port stern side, no matter what we did!

So we packed up and headed to weigh in, re-playing the events of the previous two hours over and over in our minds. What a battle! As sad as we were to lose the fish, at some point we had to respect the fish. It is after all a sport and in this battle between us and the fish...the fish won! The fish we had ended up weighing just over 27 pounds...not in the money, but points on the board!

The second day of the tournament we awoke at 4:00am as usual to find a very sick Jr. Bobberz! Jesse is an integral part of the team as we all have our jobs so I was a little upset, but the show had to go on, and it's not like she wanted to be sick. Lisa and I cowgirled up and off we went.

We headed back to T Tower as we knew there were fish there, big ones! The first part of the ride was smooth as glass and I thought we would be there in no time flat with those ETEC's wide open! But, the seas had something different in mind and the last 20 miles of the trip were condiderably more sporty! We finally got there and got ready to get lines out. This is where Team Big Bobberz series of unfortunate events began to unravel. I opened the door to the step down console and discovered it to be full of water!!! Oh yeah, gotta turn the bilge pump on! I pulled Lisa's high dollar Italian leather purse from the depths and saw her phone doing the death flash and her digital camera still submerged as her purse held water pretty well! "Dang...that stinks, but let's get lines out" I thought to myself.

We got the rigs tied on and I opened the livewell to fetch a bait...there was no water in it and the baits were quivering on the bottom! The drain tube had come out during the ride out. After placing it securely in it's spot the water level rose and some of the baits started swimming, not very well, but moving nonetheless! I watched as a few of them seemed to re-boot and I told Lisa I thought I could get four lines out so we didn't miss the morning feed, then we'd go in to the tower and re-bait. Within minutes we had our first fish in the box, a 19 pounder. Then the wind picked up even more.

As we tried to get lines back in the water, the wind caught the boat and turned it just right to catch one of the lines in the prop! Auughhh!!! This was going to be a long day! I was perched precariously between the starboard and port engines with the port side trimmed all the way up so I could unwrap the line...alot of line, an inch at a time. As I re-adjusted my strange position again, I heard a click, realized what it was, and looked down just in time to see my phone float gently down to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The water was beautiful, deep blue, nice and clear, I could see it for a long time, doing it's death flash. Grrrr! In frustration I snatched the clip off my belt and threw it across the boat! It hit the seat and bounced into the water. Deep breaths...lots of deep breaths...get the line out of the prop and fish. So I went back to my position between the motors and started unwrapping the line again. It started coming more quickly so I was flipping the prop around pretty quickly...too quickly...the edges are alot sharper then they look!

So now I am hovering over the water, dripping blood every second or so, the pogy oil drip still going, what a great chum slick...the only thing that could make this day better is if I fell in and got eaten by a shark! Luckily, that didn't happen, and I got the line out of the prop. I took a short mental health break, put the motor back in the water, and we proceed back to the tower to try for a bigger fish. It just wasn't in our cards today so we headed back in with our little fish and called it a day. Wow! What a day! Too many of those and I will definitely need professional help!

After all was said and done, we ended up 25th in division 11 SKA standings. It was fun, for all the things that went wrong, it was fun.

By: Captain Trina Polkey
Team Carolina Skiff/Evinrude
Team Big Bobberz