Tight performance for Loose Lucy

Charleston team scores first FLW win at Kingfish Tour Championship

BILOXI, Miss. – He might have been second-guessing himself all day, but when the dust settled, Mike Kaminsky came up with the right answer as he and his Loose Lucy team won the Walmart FLW Kingfish Tour Championship.

Joined by his wife, Susan, David Van Lent, James Stecki and Gary Stecki, Kaminsky fished a drilling rig about 40 miles south of Alabama’s Mobile Bay in 60 feet of water. The team caught about 10 kings with Kaminsky reeling their largest into range of Van Lent’s gaff in the last 15 minutes of their fishing time.

The win – Loose Lucy’s first in FLW competition – was anchored by a massive 57-pound, 10-ounce king that led day one. Their top fish in the final round weighed 27-6, less than half of their previous effort, but still enough to deliver the winning total of 85 pounds with a 2-pound, 6-ounce margin over second place.

Day two of the event was cancelled when a harsh cold front blew through the area and brought high winds and hazardous sea conditions. The last day of competition saw bright, clear skies and decreasing winds. However, the northwesterly blow still packed a good punch and offshore wave heights of 5 to 7 feet kept the team from reaching their desired spot near the Mississippi River Delta in 200 feet of water.

“We struggled today with small fish,” Kaminsky said. “We were panicking all day. We didn’t go where we wanted to go because we were really concerned about the weather.

“There were thousands of fish on that rig. We had caught some in the 30-pound range during prefishing, but they were all gone – the cold front pushed them out. We stuck it out and got one good enough to win.”

Kaminsky said he had no such confidence during his entire day on the water: “Once we committed to staying inshore, we had to do it. We hit about 15 different spots, just looking for fish. I was wondering if we should have gone offshore all day long. At one point, I almost just went anyway, but my crew talked me out of it. I’m glad they did because we won, but I think we would have done well out there too.”

Considering that teams had to check in by 2:30 p.m., Van Lent said the day’s conditions made it too risky to gamble with precious time: “The seas were supposed to lay down later in the day, but what if they didn’t? We could have made it out (to our deep spot) in three hours, but it would have taken us four hours to get back.”

Kaminsky said that winning FLW’s final kingfish event will be especially memorable: “It feels great. We’ve been trying for four years to get here. It’s good to do it in the last one because this was our last shot.”

Sake secures second

Down by 13 pounds, 11 ounces after day one, Team Sake’s Neal Nix and Eric Kindell, both of Okeechobee, Fla., grabbed the early lead and held off three other teams. Catching the day’s largest kingfish – 38 pounds, 11 ounces – the two-man team rose three spots and placed second with a total of 82-10.

The only team to venture offshore, Sake fished over a patch of hard bottom 75 miles southeast of Biloxi. Nix said pounding through rough sea was worth it for him.

“I like fishing deep, especially when the weather goes bad because the deeper water is more stable.”

Nix and Kindell stayed busy with 12 kingfish.

“We couldn’t even keep two baits in the water. We’d throw one out this way, and it gets hit. We’d throw another bait out while (the first fish) is running, and it gets hit. We actually ran out of bait today.”

Before he started fishing, Nix invested a few minutes confirming his ability to get back in time for the weigh-ins.

“When I first got (to my spot), I turned around and ran back into the sea to make sure I could at least run 25 mph coming back.”

K Sea Lake stays in third

The North Carolina team K Sea Lake, captained by Danny Carter of Morehead City, entered day three in third place with a 45-pound, 10-ounce kingfish. They added a 24-pounder in the final round and finished in the same position with 69-10.

“It was supposed to lay down, but we weren’t too sure. We made the safe decision and stayed inshore instead of running offshore because we didn’t know if we’d be able to get back.”

K Sea Lake’s day-three fish hit a flat-lined bluefish around 9:15 a.m. Mitch Yates fought the fish and Chad Barnes gaffed it.

Rest of the best

Slipping from second to fourth, Team BP fished 20 miles south of Dauphin Island, Ala., and caught an 18-pound, 15-ounce kingfish that, along with a 49-7 on day one, yielded a tournament total of 68-6. Jot Owens handled the rod duties and Captain Mike Edwards gaffed the fish.

Team Coppertone, captained by Jay Robertson of Pawleys Island, S.C., fished 20 miles south of Dauphin Island, Ala., and added a 17-pound fish to their first-round weight of 44-1 for a fifth-place finish with 61-1.