Hunker and hold

Wicked weather will worsen bite

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. – With unseasonably cold, blustery weather on the docket, the 46 boats fishing the Walmart FLW Kingfish Tour event will be anchoring and chumming instead of running and gunning.

At takeoff this morning, it looked as though the 100-mile runs towards Morehead City, N.C., will be out of the question. Furthermore, the winds will make trolling extremely difficult – if not impossible. Simply put, day one was a major disappointment for most of the field. The only trouble is, day one may have provided anglers the best chance for a sizeable catch.

“Yesterday we ran about 90 miles each way and today we’re going to run about 10,” said veteran Capt. Rick Smith of Team Evinrude. “But the good thing is that you can hide around here with a northeast wind. Where we live in Georgia it is wide open.

“Plus, the leaderboard is not what we thought it was going to be. We were thinking after yesterday it would be 44, 42, 40 and instead its 35, 31, 31.”

With the fishing not expected to improve, look for the top-five cut weight to hover around 31 or 32 pounds.

Logistics

Teams will take off from Seapath Yacht Club located at 330 Causeway Drive in Wrightsville Beach at 7 each morning. The scales will open at 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and will be held at the Seapath Yacht Club. Sunday’s final weigh-in will take place at 4:45 p.m. at the Seapath Yacht Club

The full field will compete Friday and Saturday then be cut to the top five teams for Sunday. Winners are determined based upon the heaviest kingfish from Friday or Saturday plus the heaviest kingfish from Sunday.

Every team that receives weight credit in a tournament earns points that determine final standings. The top 50 teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the championship.

Saturday’s conditions

Sunrise: 7:20 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 60 degrees

Expected high temperature: 60 degrees

Seas: 7-8 feet

Wind: NE at 15 mph

Maximum humidity: 80 percent

Day’s outlook: rain