Outdoors

Daily fishing report

By DAVID A. BROWN
Published October 30, 2006

A top finish: Capt. Eric Beers and Albert Davis, both of St. Pete Beach, caught a 30.6-pound kingfish to win the $600 top prize in the Randy Keys Kingfish Classic in Tierra Verde. Beers and Davis trolled around the deep hole between Egmont Key and Egmont Channel. They caught the fish in about 30 feet of water over a hard-bottom structure.

The winning ticket: Beers and Davis had difficulty finding live bait and fished with only a meager supply of threadfin herring and jumbo ladyfish. The winning kingfish ate a 20-inch ladyfish.

Nearly a miss: When the big fish hit shortly after noon, Davis handled the rod, and Beers gaffed the king about 20 minutes later. The effort nearly fell apart at the last minute. "We didn't have any trouble with the fish at first," Davis said. "He ran real hard and ripped off about 200 yards of line. But we tried twice to get a gaff in him ... I'm glad we got another shot. A lot of times when you miss the first time, you lose the fish."

Having fished together for five years, Beers and Davis know how to capitalize when opportunity knocks. "That was the only hit we had today, and we made it stick. This is the first tournament we've won."

The two took no chances with what they considered a competitive kingfish, Davis said. "We just wrapped up everything and came in early. The scales opened at 3, but we got there around 1:15. We figured we had a good fish, so we brought him in and waited."

Weather troubles: The event was scheduled for Saturday, but tournament management postponed it a day when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast heavy wind because of a cold front. The sky was clear with lighter wind Sunday, but seas were rough. Waves ran 4 to 6 feet in the morning and subsided to about 3 feet in the afternoon.

Jack Basilaros of St. Petersburg took second with an 18.1-pound kingfish, and Brian Everhart of St. Petersburg finished third with a 12.9-pound kingfish.

David A. Brown covers area fishing tournaments and can be reached at tightlinecomm@aol.com.

[Last modified October 30, 2006, 02:22:51]