FLW Kingfish Series - West Florida
Englewood (April 1-1, 2006)
ENGLEWOOD, Fla. – Team :08 Seconds, comprising brothers Joel Zalud of Venice, Fla., and John Zalud Jr. of Sarasota, Fla., caught a kingfish weighing 43 pounds, 8 ounces to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Florida-West Coast Division event in Englewood and $12,000 cash.
The winners caught their kingfish inside Boca Grande Pass, right over the world-famous tarpon hole. Local knowledge of pass dynamics hastened the brothers to a last-minute decision that paid big dividends.
“I knew things were perfect for Boca Grande Pass,” Joel Zalud said. “Water clarity, incoming tide – it was all just right. So I borrowed a boat and entered the tournament at the captains meeting.
“We have a reputation for pulling big fish out of that pass. But it came down to patience and persistence because you don’t get many strikes in there, but the ones you get are usually the ones you want.”
Fishing with 8-foot rods and conventional reels spooled with 20-pound line, the anglers rigged live mullet on 4/0 nose hooks with two stinger segments trailing No. 4 trebles. They used 8 feet of 40-pound fluorocarbon leader and No. 5 wire leader.
With an incoming tide running about 3 knots, Joel Zalud said he used the water to his advantage. “I like a real hard incoming tide,” he said. “I point my nose into the current, but I don’t drift with it. I’m in gear the whole time. I look for the cleanest water I can find and fish tide lines and current rips. I let my baits basically just hang out there.”
Rounding out the top five teams were Team SeaCraft captained by Harvison Hunt of Clearwater, Fla. (37 pounds, 10 ounces, $2,821); Team Marina Mike.com captained by Brian Gorman of Estero, Fla (33 pounds, $4,700); Team Birddog-Kingfish Coffin captained by Eric Clayton of Sarasota, Fla. (32 pounds, 6 ounces, $1,410); Team Triple Tail captained by Jesse Miller of Cape Coral, Fla. (29 pounds, $1,645).
The tournament fleet fished in warm, sunny conditions with light winds and moderate seas. The quality of kingfish weighed signals the start of a strong spring run on Florida’s Central Gulf Coast.
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 – West Coast Division event will be held April 29 in Tierra Verde.
The FLW Kingfish Series consists of five divisions: Florida – East Coast, Florida – West Coast, North Carolina, South Carolina/Georgia and Gulf Coast. Each division is comprised of three events with a $100,000 purse for each event, based on a full field. 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, 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.
