Team Pro Marine adds King of the Beach title to their list of fishing accomplishments

When the sun rose on Nov. 9, anglers fishing the fall King of the Beach fishing tournament were dealt a windy hand.

“It was really, really ugly out there,” described angler Rick Cook of team Pro Marine. “There was a front sitting right on top of us (Saturday). We were planning on heading well offshore because we don’t like to fish inshore with other boats. We got about four miles offshore of Sarasota and it was just brutal.”

With the sun slowly starting to creep over the beaches, Captain Jim Naset asked the team of Cook, Kevin Hannon and Brian Brandano what they wanted to do. The options were to keep running offshore and get the “crud beat out of them with very little fishing time,” or change game plans to fish in Tampa Bay.

They wisely chose the calmer waters of Tampa Bay.

The team started slow trolling big live baits about halfway between Egmont Key and the Skyway Fishing Piers.

“We started fishing early without any bites,” Cook recalled. “We knew the major feeding solunar period was to come and just stayed patient with the game plan.”

The boredom soon broke when the drag of their Shimano Trinidad sang a sweet tune.

“Around 9:30 a screamer hit a blue runner. It did what every big fish does and started running toward the Skyway. Then it turned back and headed for the Gulf after going under the boat. We almost had to put the boat on plane to keep up.”

Brandano did his best on the custom Bull Bay rod to stay tight with the speedy fish. About 10 minutes into the fight, the fish had exhausted itself after the two long runs. Hannon stuck a gaff into the now visible big kingfish and swung it into the boat, sending a surge of adrenaline through the team.

“We knew it was a big fish but didn’t really think it would be a winner at that point,” Cook said. “We thought there would be a bigger offshore fish coming in, so we did what we always do and kept on fishing. The odds of catching another one that size were low, but didn’t want to see another boat get a bigger fish from underneath us.”

After fishing until almost 3 p.m. without another bite, team Pro Marine headed for the scales to see where they stood. Their hand scale had the kingfish somewhere between 40 and 41 pounds.

As they waited in line, a few places in front of them was team Salt Rock Grill.

“40.26-pounds!” was announced to the crowd, as Salt Rock Grill took the lead.

“It’s going to be close,” Cook told Naset.

Both teams looked on anxiously.

“40.67-pounds!” Pro Marine was now in the hot seat.

For five more hours the teammates watched fish after fish hit the scales. None would top their weight. They would officially be crowned Kings of the Beach for the fall of 2019, a first for the long-time teammates.

“This was the last big check mark for us,” Cook said. “We’ve only missed a couple of these tournaments as a team in 20-plus years. As a team this is the big one.”

For their victory in the overall division they took home a check for $94,578.

Next up the team will compete in the “Dogfish 25” kingfish tournament Nov. 23. The tournament features a very unique format, and the kingfish closest to 25 pounds will win $10,000. It also features a 25-mile boundary. More information on that can be found at anglerarmory.com/dogfish-25/.