My Three Sons muscles up, wins $100,000 at Sarasota

South Carolina team takes FLW Kingfish Tour opener with 26-pounder

SARASOTA, Fla. – Team My Three Sons overcame a nearly 12-pound deficit in a big comeback effort Saturday to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour season opener at Sarasota.

Despite the gorgeous Florida weather – or maybe because of it – the fishing took a turn for the worse in the final round. Bluebird skies, a wind shift out of the west-northwest, little tides and, mainly, a full moon combined to shut off the king mackerel bite for tournament anglers, a trend that actually started Friday when much fewer fish came across the scales.

But tougher fishing doesn’t mean impossible. In fact, it seemed to level the playing field after Team Relentless opened up an 11-pound lead or more on the rest of the top five finalists coming into the day. As it turned out, three teams each caught a single kingfish in the finals, and none of them was Relentless.

That left a potential $100,000 opening for those three teams, and My Three Sons strode proudly through it.

My Three Sons’ $100,000 mullet

With an opening-round weight of 37 pounds, 10 ounces, Team My Three Sons was behind Relentless by 11 pounds, 15 ounces coming into the finals.

Even though they blanked there Friday, Capt. Terry Grantham aimed his boat for the spot they had fished all week, an area about 50 miles down the coast from Sarasota inside the channel at Boca Grande inlet where many teams had been fishing.

“There used to be a big sulfur plant there,” he said. “There’s a 50-foot ledge with a lot of pilings still there where all kinds of fish congregate – snook, bluefish, Spanish and king mackerel. It comes in and out of the ocean with that tide.”

But the fishing started slowly, not just for My Three Sons but for the rest of the finalists, as well.

“This morning it was really calm. Then around lunchtime the wind did pick up and changed out of the west-northwest,” Grantham said. “It was just really slow with the wind the way it was.”

Still, one king hit the long line around 10 o’clock. The crew had it to the boat quickly, and then they relaxed.

“It was the only bite we had, but it took a lot of pressure off of us,” Grantham said. “After that, the rest of the day goes pretty easy. The camaraderie picks up, and you’re more on your game. Nothing’s ever really easy, but it’s made easier through teamwork and repetition, which is key. That and great live baits are the key.”

Two things about My Three Sons’ bait stood out. One, they caught their fish on a live mullet, which was twist on a week where most teams were using blue runners or ribbonfish. Two, they only had one of them.

“Last night was really the trick,” crewmember Joel Coker said. “We were out until 9 o’clock trying to catch bait, and we caught one mullet. We only had one bite today, and that was it. So that was a $100,000 mullet.”

The king that they caught was the heaviest of the day – 26 pounds even – and set My Three Sons apart from the pack with a final winning aggregate weight of 63-10.

The team based out of Florence, S.C. – which consists of Grantham, Coker, Chris Blanton, Ron Enslen and Kelly Sisk – won $40,000 for first place plus a $30,000 Hydra-Sports contingency bonus and a $30,000 Yamaha contingency. It was their first – and biggest – victory.

“I know I’ve got the best team in the world,” Grantham said. “They work hard for me. We talk and communicate, and they do a great job. I was hoping (a win) was going to come soon, but I didn’t know it would be this soon. It’s a great feeling.”

Hooligan goes the distance for second

Coming in with the second-biggest king of the day was Team Hooligan, captained by Joe Winslow of Sunset Beach, N.C. They landed a 22-pound fish that gave them a total of 59-11 for the tournament. They cleared $26,000 in winnings and contingencies.

“It was a tough day. The bite wasn’t nearly as aggressive as it was on day one,” Winslow said. “Plus, we made a run that was about a 300-mile roundtrip, so we only had about an hour and 40 minutes to fish.”

Hooligan landed its keeper on a blue runner shortly before noon. Winslow said the area they fished was almost as far as Key West.

“We knew that we needed a good fish. I was suspicious that the bite would shut down today because it was dead calm and there was absolutely no tide,” Winslow said. “You just never know in this sport. My heart really goes out to Relentless. That’s tough, especially after you catch a 50-pounder like that.”

Local Devocean nabs third

Team Devocean, led by Capt. Scott Routh of Sarasota, caught the last of the kings Saturday and also surpassed Relentless to finish third with a total weight of 53 pounds, 6 ounces. They earned $10,000 in winnings.

“We didn’t plan on fishing the (FLW Kingfish) Tour, but we fished the Englewood (Florida) Series event and heard there were openings for this one. We put this team together on Wednesday before the tournament,” Routh said. “So we feel great about it, and now we’ll be going to Fort Pierce (for the next tour event).”

Devocean battled through the tough fishing conditions at the Boca Grande inlet and caught its kingfish on a cigar minnow.

Early leaders blank

Both of the leading teams from the first two days caught no kings Saturday.

Buoyed by its impressive 49-pound, 9-ounce catch Friday, however, day-two leading Team Relentless and Capt. Tony Davenport of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., easily earned fourth place and took home $16,500 in winnings and contingencies.

Team Slip N’ Slide finished fifth by virtue of its day-one leading – and final – weight of 38 pounds, 9 ounces. They earned $14,500 in winnings and contingencies.

“That full moon got us today. It wasn’t cloudy, and the wind was blowing, stirring up the water,” said Slip N’ Slide Capt. Tom Aberle, who hails from Wilmington, N.C. “But I don’t regret a thing. We had a great time, a fantastic week, and I’m proud of what we’ve done.”

Coming up

The next Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour event is scheduled for Fort Pierce, Fla., June 1-3.