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TREASURE ISLAND - Few people would call king mackerel tournament fishing a spectator sport. But there is something to be said about hanging around a dock waiting for the big ones to come in.
Sure, you might see a couple of 40-pounders weighed in at this weekend's Suncoast Kingfish Classic at Gators on the Pass. But when I said "big ones," I wasn't talking about fish. I was talking about boats.
Tournament fishing has become a big business.
Many of the "pro" anglers who travel the Southern Kingfish Association Tour compete in boats that cost more than many homes.
It is not uncommon to see a $180,000, 36-foot boat with triple 225 horsepower engines pull up to the dock at one of these events where the prize money seldom equals the investment.
The SKA still has a special division for the "small" boats, 23 feet and under. But where the state-of-the-art craft used to be a 31-foot center console with twin 250s, the new boat of choice (for those who can afford it) is 5 feet longer.
"People want bigger and better," said Bill Geiger, whose St. Petersburg boat dealership, Central Marine, sells Contender, one of the SKA's most popular brands. "Today's tournament fishermen are willing to run long distances, wide open, to find fish. It takes a tough boat to handle the rough water."
For those unfamiliar with boats, the "center console" is a no-frills watercraft. It has lots of open space (for 360-degree fish-fighting ability) and few creature comforts.
There's no cabin, no bathroom, no bunk, no sink, no stove and very little shade. But center consoles - so named because the steering platform is in the center of the boat - have speed, range and stability.
The Contender 31-foot Open Fish, the Homestead-based company's most popular model for serious anglers, comes equipped with a raised livewell, a walk-through transom and several lined fish boxes. With a 240-gallon fuel capacity and twin 250s, a 31 Open can run 100 miles out to the Middle Grounds in a couple of hours, fish for half a day, and still make it back in time for the weigh in.
A review of the SKA's 2003 tour guide showed that of the top 68 teams, 18 fished out of Contenders, most of which probably had a price tag of $125,000 or more.
Donzi, a boat manufactured just over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Sarasota, was equally popular. Eighteen pro teams ran Donzies, which have proven themselves not only in tournaments, but also on the offshore powerboat racing circuit.
Fountain, a boat designed and built by the larger-than-life offshore racing legend Reggie Fountain, ranked second behind Contender and Donzi with 11 teams competing at the national level.
Bringing up the rear were Hydra Sports, Palmetto, Revenge and Yellowfin, which many consider to be among the finest center-console fishing boats in production today.
"People are traveling farther and farther to catch fish," said Wylie Nagler, who builds 23-, 31- and 36-foot Yellowfins in Sarasota.
Nagler, who started off as a powerboat racer, said the challenge for boat builders is to find that delicate balance between speed and economy.
"We took a lot of what we learned on the race course and applied it to our fishing boats," he said. "I think that is what makes them so popular."
Nagler, like Central Marine's Geiger, said the trend seems to be toward bigger boats. "For us, the 36-footer has been our biggest seller," he said. "We just delivered one that cost more than $240,000."
But that is not to say big boats mean you will catch big fish.
"We had a guy enter our last kingfish tournament who fished out of a kayak," said Jon Willis, executive director for Treasure Island Charities, the organization hosting this weekend's Suncoast Kingfish Classic. "We have people fish out of all sorts of boats."
Many local tournament anglers still talk about the guy who entered a tournament in a small aluminum boat called My Prozac.
The man didn't win, but he did weigh in two fish.
You see, it pays to have an imagination. When the big ones come in, it costs nothing to look, wonder and dream.