FLW Kingfish Series - North Carolina
Atlantic Beach (Sept. 16-16, 2006)
ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. — Team East Coast Sports, headed by Captain Randall Edens of Hampstead, N.C., caught a kingfish weighing 42 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series North Carolina Division event in Atlantic Beach.
Teaming with his father, George Edens of Surf City, N.C., the top captain fished off Cape Lookout and targeted ledges in 80 feet of water. “It’s an area that’s known for producing good fish, and we finished seventh in another tournament at the same spot last week,” Randall Edens said. “The water clarity was good. There was a decent amount of bait, but when we found the bait, we found the fish.”
The father-son duo struck early with a double header. A 22-pounder ate a live pogy on the shotgun line, and the winning fish followed by grabbing a double pogy rig on the medium flat line.
“The smaller fish hit, and when I pulled that rod out of the holder, the big fish hit,” Randall Edens said. “I had two rods in my hands, and my dad was cranking up the downriggers. I was telling him to hurry because I was losing line quick.”
The younger Edens fought the big fish to the boat, and his dad gaffed it around 9:30 a.m. “We felt like we had a good chance (at winning), but you never know. There are a lot of good people out there fishing.”
The captain said that competing as a two-man team is a doable challenge that requires time management. “You have to be prepared. You can’t be doing things on the water that you should do on the dock. You have to have all your tackle made and your gear in tip-top shape. It gets a little hectic now and then, but we’ve been fishing together nine years, so we make do.”
Rounding out the top five teams were Wild Ride Fishing Team, captained by Randy Griffin Jr. of Hampstead, N.C. (40 pounds, 12 ounces, $5,221 plus $3,915 Yamaha bonus and $3,915 Wellcraft bonus); Team Gain, captained by Joe Buie of Welcome, N.C. (38 pounds, 3 ounces, $3,480 plus $2,610 Yamaha bonus and $2,610 Wellcraft bonus); Team Bear Cat, captained by Barrington Page of Swansboro, N.C. (34 pounds, 15 ounces, $2,610 plus $1,958 Yamaha bonus); and Team Wrench Head, captained by Kevin Lawson of Ramseur, N.C. (30 pounds, 7 ounces, $1,740 plus $1,305 Wellcraft bonus).
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 Atlantic Beach event was the final 2006 regular-season tournament.
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.
