Bumpy ride

Coast Guard issues a small-craft advisory for day two, but anglers head on out for that big kingfish bite

MAYPORT, Fla. – As a red sun rose over the Atlantic Ocean, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour competitors braced themselves for a rough day Saturday.

Hurricane Dennis continues to slam the Gulf Coast area, and though the Jacksonville, Fla., region is not in its projected path, the area is still under a flood watch, with up to an inch of rain expected today. The rain, though, is not what concerns competitors – it’s the 18- to 25-mph winds that warranted a small-craft advisory from the Coast Guard.

Nevertheless, members of Raymarine Team said a lot of teams will choose to make a long, 100-mile-plus run today in an attempt to catch the winning kingfish. Yesterday’s fishing was so tough that only 66 out of 104 teams weighed in a fish. Therefore, today’s final round calls for a risky gamble for many competitors.

“I think today they’re going to go a lot farther,” said Shane Turner of Raymarine Team. “It was supposed to be rough yesterday, and it wasn’t. The barometric pressure’s falling, and that makes them active.”

Fellow team member Glen Andrews concurred. “Any sudden change in barometric pressure tends to turn the fish on,” Andrews said. “You’ll have a major feed, and you might have the fish biting up top.”

Andrews said he wasn’t completely sure whether the kingfish would bite on an incoming or fall tide, though he said a falling tide would probably be more conducive to a big bite.

“I think the best bite’s going to be in the afternoon,” he said. “It’s going to be a back-breaking day and a lot of hard work.”

Raymarine caught 14 pounds, 1 ounce yesterday to land in 29th and will brave the weather today to try to top the 40-pound, 10-ouncer brought in yesterday by Talkin’ Trash. Because of the rough weather, tournament director Dan Grimes said he’d open the scales around 1:30 p.m. today so anglers can weigh in their catches and get off the choppy water.

Today’s winning team is guaranteed $40,000 cash, with up to $60,000 in Genmar and Yamaha incentives if contingency guidelines are met. The winner is determined by the heaviest kingfish caught over the tournament’s two days.

Saturday’s conditions:

Sunrise: 6:31 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 82 degrees

Expected high temperature: 86 degrees

Wind: E at 18 mph

Maximum humidity: 81 percent

Day’s outlook: windy with showers and thunderstorms likely