Articles

Kingfish hunters Dan and Rhonda Abshire like to do things in threes. For one thing, aboard their Pro-Line 34, RXCape, they fish the Gulf and south Atlantic as a team of three, along with Dan's father, Dan Sr. For another, their boat has a brace of three 225-hp Mercury outboards out back. And in 1999 they took home triple honors on the Southern Kingfish Association (SKA) tournament circuit: Winner of the invitational KingMaster 100 for Dan, Top Overall Lady Angler Award for Rhonda and the SKA National Championship for Team RXCape.

You could say three is the Abshire's lucky number. The only thing that slowed them down slightly in the 2000 season was Rhonda's pregnancy but the catch that time, at 9 lbs. 11.5 oz. was Daniel III, "triple Dan" or "Trip" for short. Nevertheless, Trip's father walked away from the KingMaster 100 in Biloxi last May with $50,000 in prize money, courtesy of a Mississippi state record king mackerel that weighed in at 64.5 pounds. And since she couldn't fish while pregnant, Rhonda landed the co-host slot on the new SKA cable TV show "Kingmasters," airing on The Outdoor Channel.

Tournament fishing for king mackerel - kingfish, slabs, smokers, hogs - is growing by leaps and bounds and the Abshires, longtime BoatU.S. members from Gulf Breeze, FL, are in the thick of it.

"We sort of stumbled onto king mackerel fishing after we got married and it turned out to be the best thing we've ever done," reports Rhonda. "Now we fish 12 to 18 tournaments a year. Not only does it keep us on the go but it's brought us closer together, too."

What would you expect from a couple who went amberjack fishing on their first date? An angler "for as long as I can remember," Rhonda got hooked by her mother who took the family lake and beach fishing around the Florida Panhandle at every opportunity.
As an adult she met Dan, a pharmacist, when he filled a prescription for her that led to "dates" where the bait was as big as the fish she had been catching before. Deep sea fishing got in her blood real fast and kingfish competition was a natural.

"It's not like other kinds of tournament fishing where you go one on one with the fish," says Rhonda. "You do this as a team and it's very family oriented. There are prizes for women and juniors and there's an under 23-foot class for entry level anglers with separate prizes. Everybody's included."

Spirited Teams
Teams of two to six people per boat fish the main event in SKA competition, a series of tournaments in 10 geographical divisions from North Carolina to Texas. Teams get a shot at boat, motor and trailer prizes, not to mention up to $10,000 in cash and individual awards.

Anglers in each division earn points, one per pound, with only one fish per boat qualifying each day for the sake of conservation. Earn enough points and you qualify for the SKA National Championship where up to 200 teams compete for over $300,000 in boat and motor, equipment and cash prizes split up among 40 places.

"It's like the bass fishing circuit, only the pond's a whole lot bigger and it can get lots rougher; the fish are on steroids and the toys are a lot more expensive," says Dan. "It takes plenty of dedication and knowledge to be successful, but it's our joy."

It's the joy of a lot of other people, too, apparently. Kingfish tournament fishing has gotten so big so fast that manufacturers like Pro-Line/Donzi, Contender and Wellcraft are building boats specifically for the sport and outboard makers Mercury Marine and Yamaha are targeting this market with major tournament sponsorships. SKA, now entering its 11th season, is approaching 10,000 members and like a smoker king going airborne after nailing a top water bait, the sport is "skying" in the southeast.

The Need for Speed
Overheard at a Florida boat show: "Now, this boat will do 40 mph which is all you need for offshore fishing - unless of course, you're a king mackerel fisherman."

If that potential customer had his heart set on kings, the dealer had nothing that could keep up. Kingfish contenders want speed and range - RXCape, for example, will top 60 mph and carries 350 gallons of fuel to do it longer and farther.

"That's the name of the game," says Sam White, editor of Angler, the SKA member magazine. "You need the speed to get you there first, give you more time with lines in the water and get you back to weigh-in fast."

That seems a strange dichotomy. Go as fast as you can to arrive where you want to be going as slow as you can go - trolling at about two mph - only to hammer it again, back to the scales. But many tournaments have been won or lost by mere minutes.

White says SKA was started in 1990 to create a saltwater version of the B.A.S.S. tournaments where local events give fishermen a shot at qualifying for a national competition to see who's the best of the best. Mackerel was the fish of choice because they were abundant - more so now, thanks to conservation efforts by the Coastal Conservation Associations and the Recreational Fishing Alliance - they are found close inshore and they are fairly easy to catch.

"The draw is the big cash prizes, of course, but it's evolved into more than that; it's really a family participation sport," White says. "This is real finesse fishing which is why it appeals to women and kids," he adds. "You use light tackle, stand-up rods with 20-lb. test line. After you hook up, you let the fish run - and a real smoker can strip off 200 yards of line in seconds. After that you're playing the fish while the captain works the boat to him. You don't need brute strength for that kind of fishing."

SKA will sanction over 50 tournaments this year. Anyone can fish them but only SKA members qualify for the National. About 7,000 anglers are active competitors but to become serious contenders, they have to be serious anglers like the Abshires, White says.

Mad Macks
The best mackerel fishing water is what Rhonda calls "king green."

"You don't want it too clear, then they get real finicky," says Rhonda, who does about 85% of the fish catching aboard RXCape. "They can see hooks hanging out from the baitfish in clear water and they'll spook easily if they can see the bait isn't swimming just right."

To be successful you have to "match the hatch," Rhonda adds, borrowing an old stream fly fishing term. "King mackerel are not stupid. You have to match the size and color of your hooks and leader to the bait."

Although live bait is preferred, dead ribbonfish, also called silver eels, will make any mackerel lick his lips, but they're rigged dead for a reason.

"Ribbonfish have lots of sharp teeth; this is an eel with a shark's mouth," says Rhonda. "They're ugly but kings love 'em."
Dead or alive, the bait should be fresh and most serious king hunters usually catch their own each morning of the two-day tournaments. On the Atlantic, its porgies taken near the beach with a cast net and stowed in the baitwell. In the Gulf, it's small fish caught by jigging, particularly around the legs of the oil rigs. A lot of small fish will do the job - Spanish mackerel, bluefish - but the preferred bait is the blue runner, also called a hardtail. A two- or three-pounder rigged so it swims just right "is a beautiful thing," according to Rhonda.

Even more beautiful is the reaction when a king learns this isn't lunch.

"It's a great fight," she says. "Sometimes they'll 'sky ' on your bait. They'll come up from underneath, hit the bait and jump 20 feet out of the water. Then you're on and the fish will start running straight out, just smoking the line off the reel."

That's when the crew clears the other lines from the downriggers. Rhonda goes up in the bow and Dan chases down the fish with the boat.

"I can tell now if it's small fish or a big one," Rhonda reports. "We always say you can feel his shoulders as he's trying to spit that hook and you know you've got a real keeper."

The Abshires are looking forward to a busy season since SKA added 15 new tournaments for 2001. And what about that other "keeper," Trip?

"Oh, he'll go to every tournament with us," says Rhonda. "He'll probably grow up to be a computer guy but I'll keep hammering on him, 'It's the fishing, honey, it's the fishing."

- By Ryck Lydecker