Pompano Beach — Shock Wave made all the right moves Saturday to win its second consecutive offshore tournament.
Chuck Fischer’s team caught four kingfish, two blackfin tunas and a cobia weighing a total of 133.05 pounds to win the Mercury/SeaVee Pompano Beach Saltwater Slam. Ron Mitchell’s Bandit was second with four kingfish totaling 129.56, including the biggest fish of the tournament, a 53.95-pounder. Seapremacy was third with four kings and a tuna weighing 126.78, followed by Kimbuktu at 124.79 and Wet Hooker at 117.13.
None of the 132 boats that competed won the KDW Jackpot, which was worth $71,455 to the team that caught an eligible kingfish, dolphin and wahoo. Mike Steele’s Cheese & Crackers had a 15.25-pound wahoo and an 11.38 kingfish, but could not catch a dolphin weighing at least 10 pounds. The jackpot rolls over to the Saltwater Showdown on Aug. 7, when it will likely be worth $80,000.
Shock Wave won $15,710 for its victory, which followed last Saturday’s triumph in the Ladies Annual Fish-Off, when Shock Wave caught four kings, two tunas and a cobia totaling 176.5 just south of Lake Worth Inlet.
“We’re retired,” joked Billy Burke after the weigh-in at Hillsboro Inlet Park ended. “This is the best. We put so much work into this.”
Fischer, Burke, Randy Mollema, Francis Santos and Keith Kidwell, who are all members of Sportfishermen of Broward, went to the same spot that produced during the Ladies Fish-Off and did not catch a fish, so they moved south toward Lake Worth Pier.
“As soon as we moved to Lake Worth, we caught four kings right off the bat,” said Fischer, of Pompano Beach.
When that bite slowed, Shock Wave moved closer to the pier, where it caught tunas of 21.65 and 22.5 and a 13.35 cobia to secure the victory.
Port St. Lucie’s Mitchell, the leading angler on the SKA tournament trail, slow-trolled blue runners 100 yards behind his boat in 100 feet off Jupiter Inlet. That produced kings of 31.39, 18.9 and 25.32.
“Everyone wanted to go in to the beach,” Mitchell said, “but I said ‘let’s stay for another 15 minutes because there’s a 50-pounder out here.’ ”
Fifteen minutes later, the 53.95-pounder slammed a blue runner and almost spooled the 20-pound outfit. Mitchell landed the fish in about 30 minutes. Bandit won $25,790, which included $10,530 for the Bluewater Challenge for the biggest fish.
Results
Male angler: 1. Thomas Sandstrom, Wet Hooker, 104.2 2. Billy Burke, Shock Wave, 103.55
Female angler: 1. Kelly Schulz, Triple Threat, 51.16 2. Pam Kalil, Spiced Rum II, 46.49
Junior angler: 1. Christopher Fishman, Makin Time, 63.46 2. Taylor Floyrio, Banyan Bay, 51.15 3. Thomas Ellis, Reel Service, 39.38
Kingfish: Bandit, 53.95; Tuna: Wet Hooker, 35.14; Cobia: Alli Cat, 45.84; Wahoo: Cheese & Crackers, 15.25; Dolphin: Shameless, 18.9.
