Kingfish Connection:  Did you decide to prefish much before hand for this tournament?

Ralph Olivett:  No, we did not prefish before this tournament.  I am lucky enough to fish with a great team that has a great grasp of the local fishery.  We really relied on our local knowledge and worked a lot with local captains.  The Jacksonville area has so many great local captains that are willing to share information, working with them is a wonderful thing! 
Another wonderful thing was having the support of the Jacksonville Business Journal.  It really has been great to work with such a professional group over the past 5 years.  They make a lot of this happen for us.  

What were you looking for?

As I said before we relied on our local knowledge and history.  We fished in over 100 feet of water.  The water temperature was a perfect 77.7 degrees!

How was the strike?

We knew it was a great fish when it ate, it just smoked out line.  It ate a goggle eye on top at around 1 P.M.  We typically run the same exact spread, no matter where we fish.  We fish two deep shotgun baits, one being a goggle eye and one being a ribbonfish.  We then have to flat lines and two downrigger baits.  We always fish both goggle eyes and ribbonfish.   

Back to the fish, after about a 20 minute fight, we stuck the fish.  This was our third fish of the day.  We knew it was a good fish, so we decided to make some cocktails and head in to the scales.  We never thought we were a shoe in to win, but we knew we had a shot and it would be tight.  It was incredibly tight; the difference between our fish and the second place team was the weight of a tampon. 

How does this win compare to other outings fishing?

There is nothing more gratifying then this.  I am fortunate enough to fish with a great team that has a lot of camaraderie.  My philosophy has always been, if you can’t have fun with the guys you are fishing with, you might as well stay home and let your wife yell at you.  It’s really great to fish with these guys and also have the support of great companies like the Jacksonville Business Journal, Mercury, and Hydra-Sports. 

FINAL RESULTS:

1. Tuna Tails - Ralph Olivett - 45.40
2. Team Bad Habit - Kenneth Elwood - 45.38
3. Daytona Performance Marine - David McGaha - 41.86
4. Reel Warrior - Lyle Rose - 40.28
5. Get Wet II - Sonny Elliott - 39.56
6. Final Strike - Clyde Keen - 39.10
7. AT&T Real Yellow Pages - Kenny Crawford - 38.40
8. Down Pat - Pat Purgason - 36.14
9. Clean Sweep - Jim Wormhoudt - 35.76
10. Gator Done - Tony Brown - 35.26