Kingfish Connection: Congratulations on the second place finish at the SKA National Championships in Ft. Pierce.

Going into Ft. Pierce how did your team prepare? Did you prefish? Ideally, how much time would you like to have to dedicate to prefishing for an event away from your home waters? Did you catch your bait, or buy it?

Scott Routh: Thank you very much. None of us could get away from work early for this event. We did not arrive in Ft. Pierce until about 2 P.M. on Thursday, so we did not have time to prefish. We did buy bait from Lee's Livebait.

I typically like to prefish and catch bait for at least a day or two before an event.

Coming into this tournament were you more interested in coming out of it with a great finish or was your goal to have fun?

We went for the fun of it and of course the boat race.

Wylie Nagler, of Yellowfin Yachts, and Joe Winslow, of team Hooligan, fished with you for this event, putting three very accomplished anglers on one boat. Was there any conflict regarding who was in charge? Did it take you all a little bit of time to get used to who would fill each role on the team?

What was the deciding factor on where to fish on the first day?

Wylie and I started tournament fishing together back in 2000 when he started Yellowfin Yachts. We fished together for a couple of years before I got my own boat. When it comes to running a boat in rough seas he is very good at it.

Joe is obviously a very good fisherman and his past results prove it. It was a pleasure to be able to learn from both of them. We used one of Wylie's boats and he was the driver.

Since we have all fished Ft. pierce at least twice already this year, we felt comfortable with the area and went to some areas that have held fish in the past during the Fall.

Rumor has it that your team was running the new R&D Mercury 325’s. What kind of speed were you getting out of the 36 Yellowfin with these engines? According to some anglers running with you on the first day, your boat was flying. Was it the new engines or the boat driver?

It's Wylies boat and I do not know if they are larger or not. I do know that they have a different clamp bracket and a different air intake system. We were only running about 63 (miles per hour). Wylie has a knack for keeping a boat up to speed in rough conditions.

I can only hope that Mercury has a larger motor coming out soon.

Which area did you decide to fish on the first day? Did everything go to plan?

We decided to run up to the Cape for the first day. Our team decided that we did not want to fish in a huge pack of boats so we wanted to try and get away from the masses. About twenty miles out we had mechanical problems with two of the motors. With a North wind all we could do was fish down sea towards Ft. Pierce. After a couple of hours we finally had a strike. Joe fought it to the boat and we were lucky enough to catch a 29 pounder just South of The Cove in the middle of nowhere. After boating the fish we lost the third motor. Wylie spent about a hour and half hanging over the motors taking parts from one and putting on the other. If he was not on the boat our weekend would have been done right there.

You switched boats on the second day. How did that all work out logistically? Why did you decide to fish a 24 foot Yellowfin bay boat on the second day?

We knew that it would be an all nighter to get the boat fixed so we made a call to the SKA, to make sure we could substitute another boat for Day 2. After they said it was "ok" I called my wife to get my boat ready but the tides were too low to get it off the lift. And it would be impossible to get my boat for a couple hours. So we went to Plan B. Wylie has started producing a 24' bay boat, mainly for the redfish guys. Since it was the only boat on a trailer and ready to go we had a friend (Kevin Barker) bring it to us that evening.

Fishing in less than ideal conditions in the Atlantic had to force you to change your game plan for Day 2. What did you do differently since you were fishing a bay boat?

We had planned to fish South Beach and than the Sebastian Tide Line, so a bay boat would not be such a big deal. We checked out and raced down sea for a couple of miles to fish the South Beach area. After a couple of hours of not catching anything, we made a few phone calls and heard the bite was steady at The Pines, so we ran back inside and up to Sebastian Inlet. When we came out of the inlet it was a head sea for about 12 miles. Being in a bay boat made it interesting but we never got wet or took a beating.

On Day 2 you caught the 45 pound smoker. What did it eat, and at what time did it bite?

When we arrived at the spot there were a handful of boats hooked up already. We fished for a while and watched a number of boats hook up around us. Since we had no downriggers we were hoping that the fish where hitting on top. We watched a nice fish skyrocket behind Southbound's boat. A couple of minutes later we had our first strike. Joe caught it, but it was a low 30 pounder.

As soon as we got the lines back out, the flat line went off. Wylie grabbed the rod and caught the fish in a couple of minutes. He had to put a lot of pressure on the fish because it swam right into the spread of another boat. We yelled at them to reel up their downriggers, but they just stood there and watched us fight the fish. As soon as it hit the deck we measured it at 55 inches long. Wylie wanted to fish, but Joe and I decided that with the way our luck had been the day before we would be better off to take it easy and come in early.

Since you caught your second fish so early, did you hear much chatter regarding other good fish being caught? Which teams concerned you?

We thought we had a chance of winning it all, but we heard that Offshore Warrior had a good fish too. Of course we were concerned about any boat that had a 30 pounder from the first day.

What are your thoughts on a rotating SKA National Championships? Do you prefer it to be at a fixed location (Biloxi) or rotate between three venues?

Everybody likes catching the big fish in Biloxi. Of course it has the most night life to offer as well. If I remember right the SKA sent out a survey a couple of years ago to vote on the rotation or not. I believe the majority wanted it to be in Biloxi, permanently. If it had not been for Hurricane Katrina, last year, we would have fished there for the championship. I believe if a city or business wants to offer the SKA money to come to their town, than they should be considered first.

I would like it to rotate every other year, though. I am sure when it is held in Florida that some teams cannot or will not make the long trip down. That being said if its in North Carolina the same can be said about some teams coming from Florida. I do wish, though, that it was somehow held in the Summer. That way the junior anglers could fish it and it would open up the possibilities of having it in different areas besides Ft. Pierce, Morehead City and Biloxi.

What do you think of the aggregate format that the SKA National Championships has adopted? Would you prefer a format similar to what the FLW Pro events have, with the top 5 or so fishing the third day?

Everybody knows that the aggregate format takes the luck out of somebody catching a suicidal kingfish. On the other hand we all know that a lot more fish are taken in this format. I do like the format of the FLW with the big fish format for two days and the aggregate as a third.

Joe Winslow, who fished with you, stated in a previous interview that he would like to see several things in the sport change for the better. What would you like to see change in the sport of kingfishing?

Somehow I would like to see a way of not killing as many fish. I know we are not putting a dent into the fish stock compared to the commercial guys but I do not see us growing as a TV sport with a kill tournament.

Since you have been involved in the sport do you see the sport as getting better or worse?

I started fishing tournaments in 2000. Back then all we wanted to do was get qualified to fish the Nationals, because of the large payout that came with it. Now all I want is to fish a tournament that has "black and white" rules that are enforced the way they are written with a decent payout.

With the FLW coming into the sport they have given all of us fisherman more choices on where we can fish. They are a very professional group and have raised the bar in our sport. Hopefully if the rumors are true with new ownership in the SKA it will allow them to grow also and hopefully raise the bar again. I am optimistic that the sport will be getting better.

What are your plans for next season? Will you fish either Pro tour?

At this point I have not decided which series I am fishing. I will not be fishing both tours. FLW makes it easy for me considering that the first tournament is at home. With the rumors flying about new ownership for the SKA, I guess it is a wait and see situation there.