FLW Kingfish Series - Gulf Coast
Cocodrie (June 10-10, 2006)
COCODRIE, La. — Team Snafu, headed by Captain Stephen Barfoot of Satsuma, Ala., caught a kingfish weighing 50 pounds, 4 ounces to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Gulf Coast Division event in Cocodrie, La., and $21,000 cash.
Joined by Spencer Johnson of Creola, Ala., and Kevin Butler of Satsuma, Ala., Barfoot slow-trolled around drilling platforms in the South Timbalier Block about 40 miles south of Cocodrie. The winning fish ate a live blue runner in 135 feet.
Clean water and obvious predatory activity told Barfoot he was in the right place. “Bait was everywhere and it was jittery and jumpy. We knew something was chasing them around pretty hard so we hung in there all day in that spot. We fished five rigs in that block – all within a mile of one another.”
Team Snafu caught five other kingfish, including a 35-pounder. Barfoot said he and his crew knew they needed a larger king to win but with time running out, they agreed on a cut-off point.
“We had to be in by 5 p.m. and we drew the line of when we had to go,” Barfoot said. “That blue runner was the last bait of the day. When we (deployed) that bait, we knew it was all or nothing.
“We knew the big fish was (in that area) but we just didn’t know if he’d eat. Fortunately, he ate, we put him in the boat and we made it back with 10 minutes to spare.”
Rounding out the top five teams were Team Fishmiester captained by Dean Spatholt of Calabash, N.C. (50 pounds, 1 ounce, $2,700); Team Obsessed Koonass captained by Glenn Plaisance of Raceland, La. (48 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,800); Team Last One captained by Son Nguyen of Cocodrie, La. (47 pounds, 15 ounces, $1,350); Team Crawgator, captained by Bill Butler of Venice, La. (45 pounds, 11 ounces, $900).
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 Gulf Coast Division event will be held July 22 in Galveston, Texas.
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 Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners’ Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 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.
