Kingfish Connection: There always seems to be a small list of teams in the Class of 23 division that do well. You’re team is always one of those teams. Why do you think that some teams are able to stay at the top, like yours?

Chip Nifong: I think if there is a common denominator for any successful kingfish team, it would have to be preparation. We work very hard throughout the season (as well as the offseason) getting ready for every event we fish. That includes tying rigs, cleaning and maintaining all of our tackle, maintaining the boat, motors and trailer so that we know everything will be in good working order come tournament day. We also spend countless hours online utilizing sites such as KC.com, Hilton’s, NOAA and various other fishing and weather related sites. We spend a lot of time on the phone as well, networking with other teams to help locate bait or where the latest bite came from. And when schedules allow it, we try to get out on the water whenever possible. Then we will pool this information together; try to decipher it and translate all of it in order to pick out the spot(s) we feel most confident will be holding tournament quality fish. We have all fished together for years so come tournament time we work very well together. We are willing to go anywhere we have to to catch the fish and don’t let the weather dictate our fishing location. We are always willing to try a new tactic or location. And most of all, it helps to be lucky. I can’t count the times that we have been beside a boat that caught a top 5 fish. The teams that put forth this kind of time and effort are the ones you will regularly see on the leader boards.

How did your team initially get together?

Brian, Wes and I are fraternity brothers and had fished on another team together for several years and until we decided to go out on our own. I had bought a 21’ Sea Pro in the spring of ’02 and we tried our luck in one or two tournaments that year with limited success. In ’03 we were fishing the King of the Cape tournament out of Southport, and we had the first place fish get bitten in half! That kind of got the fire started. In ’04 we won the Class of 23 division in the Jolly Mon the year they had 340 boats with a 35 lb. king. That’s when we became addicted to the sport of tournament king mackerel fishing. We added my cousin Morgan from Miami this year after he moved to NC. He is a veteran on the Sailfish Tour schedule and has fished SKA events in Miami. My wife, Ashley normally fishes with us but we are expecting another Junior Angler in October so she took this year off.

What has been your proudest accomplishment as a team?

Winning both Division 9 and Division 12 last year is the first thing that comes to mind, but I would also have to say just being able fish with my family and friends and having so many great sponsors that allow us the opportunity to pursue a hobby we all really enjoy.

Does your team rely on networking when fishing? Or do you get most of your information from prefishing?

Networking is an essential tool for us primarily because we all have full time jobs and are unable to be out on the water as much as we would like. It’s important though; to have people you can rely on while networking so you don’t end up chasing a bite that happened two weeks ago. As far as pre-fishing goes, we do it from time to time, but a lot of our time on the water will be spent locating and staying on top of the bait schools so that we don’t have to waste a lot of time looking on a tournament morning. When we do pre-fish we are not just looking for the fish but for areas that are holding bait and have good color and temperature.

Generally, is your strategy to run a long ways or sit on a closer spot and soak your baits for a longer duration?

We will run to an area that we have the most confidence in, and we will normally stay there and wait out the bite. With our old boat we didn’t have range or speed so we had to pick our spot carefully because we couldn’t leave and make it anywhere else. Now with our Contender, we could do lots of running but we seem to do better by having confidence in our spot and fish it from lines in until you have to leave. We have found that if the conditions look good and you stick it out, the bite will come.

Up in North Carolina during the later summer months, what is your bread and butter bait?

All year pogies are our bait. Later in the year, as the water temps begin to drop, we start using ribbonfish, mullet or blue fish depending on the availability of pogies. We also hand catch all of our ribbonfish and we rarely use penned bait.

Can you describe the rig (leader) that you primarily use in North Carolina for king mackerel?

The leader consists of 18”-20” of #4 single strand, coffee color wire to a 50 lb stainless barrel swivel. A #6 Eagle Claw laser sharp treble for the nose hook, 6” of #5 wire to another #6 treble. This is our standard rig; if we run a skirt it is Mylar and colored to match the water color.

There has been a lot of talk about the Class of 23 and whether it should be revamped. What are your thoughts on the division?

We fished years on a slow 21’ single engine boat with limited range that would beat your teeth out and competed fine with the stretch 23’s. Most of the boats in the 23 class range from 20-26 feet which is not a large size range however in the open class its 26-38 feet which is double the size range. Now we have a 23T Contender and it is a great smooth ride with more range, speed and storage however we still fish the same spots we just don’t get up as early, are more comfortable and don’t have gear strapped all over the boat. The boat doesn’t catch the fish the team does. I thought the class was fine when we were in a smaller boat and still believe that.

What would you like to see happen to make the Class of 23 more prominent?

The SKA has done a good job of promoting the Class of 23. One thing I would like to see is contingency money paid out to the class boats. Cash always draws a crowd. Also, A LOT more publicity is needed from media coverage on TV and online articles like this one in order to reach as many people as possible. The Class of 23 should be spotlighted because someone just starting out in this sport can more readily relate. Most of the time he is going to start in a small boat not in a 38’. When the public sees that it doesn’t take the biggest boat to catch fish, place in tournaments and win money then it opens the door to them being able to come out and compete to allow our sport to grow. If you could get the participation it would be great to see some Class of 23 only tournaments like in the past. But I still feel the way to attract more participants is to spotlight the Class of 23.

What is your favorite tournament to fish? Why?

No question, Nationals in Biloxi, because the fish are big and there’s lots to do. Also, at Nationals the Class of 23 guys are fishing completely separate from the open class, we are not fishing for each other’s money.

What can tournaments do to improve participation?

I think we need to get more sponsor involvement. If we have bigger payouts with lower entry fees that would weed out some of these smaller tournaments that start splitting the field with multiple tournaments on the same day. If one tournaments payout were considerably more then most everyone would fish it and the weak one would die off. The US Open here in Southport, NC has been running for 30+ years. It has the lowest entry fees, highest payouts with 350-500 boats every year. It also is not affiliated with SKA or FLW. They have more sponsor money to give and no one would think of putting on another tournament on the same weekend because they could not compete. The numbers speak for themselves, big payouts with more paid places attract more participants.

You have also been quite successful in marketing your team to sponsors. What bit of advice can you offer to other Class of 23 teams looking to become involved with sponsors?

First off we would like to thank our sponsors, Brookelynn Premium Cigars, Contender Boats and Pelagic High Performance Offshore Gear. I believe non-endemic sponsors are the way to go. These sponsors are not as worried about you winning every tournament. They are buying a 23’ billboard and they just want you on the water, on the road or anywhere the public can see their name. Think of products that local coastal residents use, make a one page resume; include a team profile and a list of accomplishments and a picture. Then you have to personally sell them on how you can advertise for them. Most companies have an advertising budget that they are going to spend on TV, radio, billboards, yellow pages, etc. Let them know why they would get more results with you. You can reach the customers when they are least expecting it. Most everyone will take a second look at a boat with a nice wrap whether it’s on a trailer or on the water. It is unique and attracts attention.