Kingfish Connection: Looking back at your Hall of Fame career in king mackerel fishing, what tournament stands out in your mind?
Joe Bruce: It is really hard to single out one tournament, but if I had to it would have to be the Golden Isles event in ’92. On that first afternoon at about 1:00 we ran down to Fernandina Beach to fish the tide line. I was fishing with my good fishing partner, Buddy Hutchenson. He is a great guy and an absolutely fantastic fisherman. We hooked up on a fish and we fought it for about 20 minutes. We knew that it was a good fish, but weren’t sure how good it was. When it finally came up and darted under the bow of the boat, Buddy saw how big it really was. Buddy went back to the wheel and he shouted, “That’s a tarpon!” I replied that, “No Buddy, it’s not, it’s the biggest king mackerel I have ever seen in my life.” When we finally gaffed it the fish turned out to be a 53 pound king mackerel, which was a true monster before the Gulf fishery was explored more.
That 53 (pound king mackerel) was the anchor for us to win Angler of the Year that year. That fish really set the stage for it.
Back when you won the Angler of the Year in 1992, how many tournaments did you fish?
There were 25 tournaments a year and 6 divisions total. You had five of them up and down the East coast, Hatteras down to Florida, and then over in the Panhandle you had another division that went down to the Tampa area. So, back to your question, out of the 25 total tournaments we fished 24 of them that year. From Hatteras down, we fished almost all of them. Let me tell you, I put 18,000 miles on my Chevy Suburban that year alone. I get tired later just thinking about that.
Over time, how has the sport of king mackerel fishing changed, besides the number of events that make up the SKA Professional Tour?
The first couple years you had that full schedule that I mentioned earlier. Then we saw that it was far too expensive for teams to commit to such a taxing schedule. So the decision was made to cut the number of events down to 10. The one thing that has never changed was the 7 fish aggregate. The SKA, and many of the anglers, think that the 7 fish aggregate is the best way to compete. The 10 tournament schedule worked out for a while, but again the decision was made to cut it down even further. The SKA then cut the 10 tournaments down to the current schedule of 5 professional events. We all felt that it was more realistic for teams to compete in 5 tournaments with the economy and increases in the cost to compete.
I think that the hundred boats we get each year are about the maximum to expect with how difficult the schedule is to work into people’s lives. While some people can commit to the time it takes, they don’t have the funds. Others may have the opposite problem. So finding more than about 100 boats will be tough.
I think that we currently have a very good balance. When we first started out, everyone knew everyone. We would go somewhere and everyone would tie their boats up and have a cookout. That’s just the way it was. It used to be more of a social group, but now we are spread out more and are able to attract more new comers. I still think that we have a great group of courteous people.
Do you know how the SKA was originally formed?
I do and fortunately I was there. Back then you had a bunch of individual tournaments up and down the East Coast. John Jones was a contractor and avid fisherman who lived in Brunswick, Georgia. John had this idea for some time to form an organization that would bring many of these lone tournaments together. John got together with Jack Holmes, who had a promotional and marketing company in South Florida at that time. Jack ran the Bacardi billfish series in the Bahamas back then. Jack had the contacts in the marine business already and took the job to be John’s partner. So, Jack went out to get sponsors and prizes, while John acted as the front man for the organization. John went and talked to various tournament directors and tried to convince them that coming together under an umbrella, like the SKA, would benefit them greatly. And looking back now, it worked out very well. In 1991 and 1992 that is how it was set up. In late 1992 a third partner came in named Jim Armstrong. Jim and Jack, subsequently bought John Jones out and Jack took over the day to day operations of the organization. That is what the very early stages of the SKA looked like.
Who is the founding father of king mackerel fishing, in your opinion?
That’s tough. I think I have to go all the way back to 1976 and Arthur Smith. He and his son Clay came up with the idea to first bring in sponsors. They had companies like Delco batteries, Stren fishing line, and a bunch of others. They were really the first to bring a bunch of people together and market the event on a large scale.
They then, in 1983, went to Palm Beach and started the Arthur Smith King, Dolphin, and Wahoo series. And they brought in incredible talent. I fished the first one in my Hydra-Sports and finished in fourth place in the aggregate. But he would bring in big talent. I remember one year he had Johnny Cash and Jimmy Dean. But anyways, they really got it started and made an event out of these fishing tournaments.
Before we move on, I also need to mention that at this same time period the Greater Jacksonville tournament was founded. That tournament did a great job of generating a lot of interest for the sport.
Did you ever think the SKA would grow to what it is today?
Wow, let me tell you something. If you could have been up in Brunswick, back in 1991 for that first award ceremony to see Clayton Kirby win the Angler of the Year, you will see how far we have come. That ceremony was cold, dark and not too impressive. But it is really a testament to how far we have come.
How has the SKA as an organization changed over time?
The SKA has grown into the premier saltwater fishing sanctioning body and they have set the bench mark for a universally used code of conduct.
The SKA has also acted as a major research and development grounds for all aspects of the marine industry. If you go back and think about, a 31 Fountain was an absolute monster boat and it was the cream of the crop back then. Nobody would have ever thought of triple or quad engined boats back then. The products have just become hundreds of times better. I think that the feedback that these companies get from these anglers is incredibly valuable. There simply is not a better testing ground then the slop that king mackerel anglers fish in. I really believe that if it wasn’t for the SKA, many of the improvements in equipment would not have happened so quickly. I don’t think that the demand would be there already. I think the SKA really accelerated the demand, and as a result, the quality of equipment.
What policy decision changed kingfishing the most?
Probably the establishment of the 23 and under division. That allowed a lot of really fine king mackerel fishermen, with limited budgets, to get involved. And in many cases it became their family’s recreation. It really gave them the confidence that they could compete. So I think that that was a great decision.
Looking back, which person do you think does not get enough credit for the development of the SKA?
I really don’t think it was one person, I think it was all the dedicated fishermen and their families. They enter the tournaments, fish them no matter the weather and just continue to fish year after year because they love the competition. They are responsible for the SKA’s growth.
I would also like to add that Jack Holmes has a very thankless job and gets a lot of criticism. I have known Jack ever since this thing started and there have been a number of occasions when we have disagreed to the point where we would just hang up the phone. But there was never one of those times that I thought that Jack Holmes didn’t have the welfare of the fishermen and the SKA at heart.
Deona Holmes is also tremendous. She is a walking encyclopedia of the SKA. If you watch them work there, nobody works harder than they do to prepare for a tournament. They do an excellent job, and we get a full bang for our buck with Jack and Deona.
Do you think that kingfishing will continue to grow?
Yes, I think we can grow. There are certainly some very significant economic challenges. I think we are probably going to have to look at having fewer tournaments. We probably need to try and have a better prize structure for those events. But I don’t think that prizes are the whole deal. I think we need to keep them as fishermen friendly as possible, in regards to location and convenience. We are going to have to maximize those sponsorship dollars.
Do you think we are going in the right direction with this sport?
Yeah, I do think we are. There are just a lot of economic challenges right now. But I think the marine industry realizes that the SKA is a very valuable partner. I think over time our recognition with them has grown tremendously. I think we need to continue with that. And I think that will translate in better events.
What aspect would you like to see changed if it were up to you?
Change and progress are not always synonymous. We are about to start our 17th year and I think at this point we have a pretty good product. I think continuing to refine it is more in order then more wide spread changes. I think it goes back to continually rising costs. We need to adjust that to make it more convenient and affordable. I know the SKA is looking at this hard.
If everything worked out perfectly, what would you like to accomplish this year?
I would like to win the National Championships. It probably won’t happen in my boat. I fish the local events in my boat, but I fish with Paul (Massey) on the SKA Pro. We have had a little success. And as long as he can put up with my senior moments, I will continue to fish with him.
That would be great though, to win that.
I think there are only two people who have won the SKA Angler of the Year and the Nationals. One was Ed Mechella and the other was Rick Smith. So, that would be great.
