Team Eren’s Addiction Too wins Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series event in Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Team Eren’s Addiction Too, headed by Jack Bracewell of Summerville, S.C., caught a kingfish weighing 36 pounds, 11 ounces to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series South Carolina-Georgia Division event in Charleston. The top prize of $21,000 included a $9,000 Yamaha bonus.

Teaming with his wife Eren, Bracewell fished over live bottom in 60 feet of water about 50 miles southeast of Charleston. The big kingfish hit a double menhaden rig on a flat line set 75 feet. Several years of competing as a 2-person team kept the couple on top of their game at the moment of truth.

“We’ve been fishing together so long that everything runs smoothly,” Jack Bracewell said. “When Eren caught the winning fish, we had a double-header on. Eren had a rod in her hand and I had a rod in my hand and luckily all the other lines were cleared. I just reeled in my fish while she kept pressure on hers until I was ready to gaff it.”

The winning captain said that recent competition and extensive practice had helped him determine a reliable pattern that he could replicate on tournament day. “We have been doing a lot of fishing here the past few weeks,” Jack said. “We knew where the fish were coming from and where the congregations of fish were. We were fishing for numbers of fish, not just one single fish. We probably caught close to 20 kingfish today.”

Going into the tournament with a full baitwell boosted the team’s confidence. “We had a good selection of bait,” Bracewell said. “We were fishing with bluefish, menhaden, blue runners and (dead) ribbonfish. We were set up for a very good kingfish bite today.”

Rounding out the top five teams were Team House Autry captained by Ronald Sutton of Carolina Beach, N.C. (34 pounds, 4 ounces, $4,679 plus $3,510 Hydra-Sports bonus and $3,510 Yamaha bonus); Team In 2 Deep captained by Kevin Oneal of Charleston, S.C. (34 pounds, 2 ounces, $3,120 plus $2,340 Yamaha bonus); Team Hammer Time captained by Randy Howell of Waycross, Ga. (31 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,950 plus $1,755 Yamaha bonus); and Team Big Bad Wolf captained by Stacy Wester of Wilmington, N.C. (31 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,950).

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 event will be held August 19 at Southport, N.C.

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.