Team Kat’s Rival wins Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series event in Fort Pierce - Major League Fishing

Team Kat’s Rival wins Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series event in Fort Pierce

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Team Kat’s Rival, headed by Frank Langdon of Boca Raton, Fla., won the May 12 Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series East Florida Division event in Fort Pierce.
May 12, 2007 • MLF • Archives

FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Team Kat’s Rival, headed by Frank Langdon of Boca Raton, Fla., caught a kingfish weighing 46 pounds, 14 ounces Saturday to win the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series East Florida Division event in Fort Pierce and $21,000 cash. The top prize included a $9,000 bonus from Evinrude.

Langdon, along with his wife Katrina fished over a rocky ledge 10 miles east of Fort Pierce Inlet. “We fished a couple of other spots and never got a strike,” the top captain said. “So we moved to this area, found some clean water and just stayed there until we got a bite.”

The winning kingfish hit a 24-inch ribbonfish on a downrigger around 12:30. Katrina Langdon handled the rod for an intense 30-minute battle.

“My wife couldn’t believe the fish ran that far,” Frank Langdon said. “It ran off about 300 yards of line. My wife said `This must be a big fish.’ I told her `Just hold on until it stops running.'”

Competing in their first FLW Kingfish Series event, the Langdons capitalized on their lone opportunity. “We hadn’t had a strike all day,” the captain said. “When we got that fish in, we said `Wow, that’s a big fish!’ We fished there another hour and a half and never had another strike. You just have to have a little luck with you for these kingfish. We got lucky – we only got one bite and that was it.”

Rounding out the top five teams were Team Gatorfan captained by Dave Albritton, of Port St. Lucie, Fla. (43 pounds, 2 ounces, $3,000 plus $2,250 Yamaha bonus); Team Let’s Roll captained by Gary Faircloth, of Fort Pierce, Fla. (41 pounds, 9 ounces, $2,000); Team Sweet T captained by Tom Whittingslow, of Neptune Beach, Fla. (40 pounds, 5 ounces, $1,500) and Team Native Premonition captained by Leon Wilcox, of Loxahatchee, Fla. (30 pounds, 11 ounces, $1,000).

Austin Ewing, of Neptune Beach, Fla., placed fourth with a 40-pound, 5-ounce kingfish as a member of Team Sweet T to earn the tournament’s award for the highest finishing competitor under 16 years old.

The award for highest finishing woman went to Katrina Langdon, of Boca Raton, Fla., who placed first with a 46-pound, 14-ounce kingfish as a member of Team Kat’s Rival.

FLW Kingfish Series qualifying tournaments are one-day events. Each team is allowed to weigh in one kingfish, and the winning team is determined by the heaviest fish. The next FLW Kingfish Series East Florida Division event will be held June 2 in Fernandina Beach, Fla.

The FLW Kingfish Series consists of five divisions – East Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina/Georgia, Gulf and Upper Gulf. Each division is comprised of three events with a $100,000 purse for each event. The top three teams from each tournament and the top 16 teams (who are not already qualified) from each division after all qualifiers are complete will advance to the three-day, $275,000 no-entry-fee Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series Championship in Orange Beach, Ala., Oct. 4-6, which will be featured in a one-hour episode of “FLW Outdoors” broadcast to 80 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) households in the United States and more than 429 million households in Europe, Asia and Africa. The points champion from each division will also advance directly to the $500,000 no-entry-fee Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship in Biloxi, Miss., Nov. 2-4, where they will compete against top FLW Kingfish Tour teams for a top award of $150,000.

Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Ranger Owners Tournament Championship Series, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses of nearly $43 million through 241 events in 2007.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world’s leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Walmart.com.

For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, browse FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.