FLW Kingfish Series - East Florida
Fernandina Beach (May 20-20, 2006)
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — Team Double Down, headed by Capt. Brett Taylor of Fellsmere, Fla., caught a kingfish weighing 42 pounds, 6 ounces to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series East Florida Division event in Fernandina Beach, Fla., and $12,000 cash.
Joined by Ciro Perrone of Vero Beach, Fla., Lyle Rose of Callahan, Fla., and Julis Harris of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., Taylor worked the southeast corner of the Elton Bottom located in 120 feet, approximately 44 miles east of Jacksonville. When the winning kingfish hit a live blue runner on a long flat line, Rose handled the rod work and Perrone gaffed the fish. With six dolphin, five small kingfish, and the tournament winner onboard, Taylor decided to head in and avoid the 3- to 5-foot seas.
“When we put that fish in the bag, we headed home,” Taylor said. “We felt real confident with that fish. We figured there was no sense getting greedy so we said ‘We’ll take what we get.’”
Taylor said heavy chumming was the key to his success. He dripped menhaden oil and packed 10 blocks of ground menhaden chum into a ¾-inch mesh net hung from his stern.
“Once I come into an area I marry it,” he said. “It’s either going to happen or it isn’t. I’m a firm believer in putting that scent in the water.”
Rounding out the top five teams were Team Young Guns captained by Harvey Way Jr. of Bunnell, Fla. (40 pounds, 12 ounces, $7,650); Team Salty Dawg Marine captained by Clayton Kirkmeyer of Jacksonville Beach, Fla. (38 pounds, 14 ounces, $5,100); Team Reef Chief captained by Stephen Neill of Ft. Pierce, Fla. (36 pounds, 10 ounces, $2,678); Team Bellsouth Real Yellow Pages captained by Kenny Crawford of Fernandina Beach, Fla. (34 pounds, 8 ounces, $1,020).
FLW Kingfish Series qualifying tournaments are one-day events. The field competes Saturday, and the winning team is determined based on the heaviest kingfish. The next FLW Kingfish Series Florida – East Coast Division event will be held July 29 in New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
The FLW Kingfish Series consists of five divisions – East Florida, West Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina-Georgia and Gulf Coast. Each division is comprised of three events with a $100,000 purse for each event. The top 100 teams – 20 from each division after three qualifying events – will qualify for the three-day, no-entry-fee $300,000 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship to be held in Orange Beach, Ala., Oct. 26-28. The championship winner will take home as much as $75,000.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series, as well as the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour and Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $36.9 million through 241 events in 2006.
For more information on FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as title sponsor of the FLW Tour in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information on Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com.
