Team Seconds 2 Spare, led by Scott Rush, won the Fishing in Paradise tournament in Naples with a 49.08 pound king mackerel. This team braved terrible sea conditions to win this Division 11 event. Team Seconds 2 Spare now leads the Division 11 points race with an 83.58 pound aggregate.

How did you prepare for this event?

We didn’t prefish a whole lot.  We are from around here, so we know a few of the historic places where the kingfish should be this time of year.  We spend a lot of time studying the sea temperature charts from both Roffers and Hilton’s.  We depend a lot on the sea temperatures and try to pick spots that have favorable sea surface temperatures. 

The weather services forecasted 5-7 foot seas on Saturday.  How did the weather affect your strategy?

We played on the fact that it was going to be a steady wind.  The wind was coming from the South and we used that to our advantage.  We fished to the West of Naples  and stayed in the trough the whole time.  Unlike a lot of guys that went South and had to go into the waves, we didn’t have that problem.  It was rough though! 

How did your start the day?

First thing we did was head to a spot near the R tower.  Unfortunately, there was another boat at this spot, but there was a good amount of bait.  Because the weather was so rough the whole week, we were unable to secure enough bait beforehand.  So, we caught some bait and moved on.

We than wanted to head over to a spot due west in about 120 feet of water.  The weather was a bit too rough and we couldn’t make it out there.  With about 10 miles left to go, the seas got out of control.  8-10 foot seas were stacking up and we thought even if we got to the spot that our strategy to chum the spot would not be as effective.  We made the call to go to a spot I have in 95 feet of water. Once there, at about 10:30, we sent the hook down and started chumming.  We had two kites out and two blue runners on each kite.  We were just going to live and die with this spot. 

We caught a couple barracudas and amberjacks, but didn’t get a king all morning.  At about 1:30 the spot really came alive.  Snapper, blue runners, and ballyhoo started showing up in our chum slick.  One hour later, one of our kite baits went off with the king.

Did you fish any flat lines?

We decided not to fish any flat lines, because the weather was so rough.  We wanted to just fish four quality lines.  We had an all blue runner spread.

How was the fight?

The fish skied on one of the blue runners.  I saw it and knew it was a quality kingfish, but it fought more like a barracuda.  She pulled off about 50 yards and then dogged it.  It was an up and down “cudaish” fight.  Gifford Kline was on the rod and subdued the fish within about 25- 30 minutes.  The fight was really not that eventful.

After we gaffed the fish, there was no question that we were heading in.  We dumped the chum out and started our 50 mile run in.  After fishing in those conditions, I just wanted to kiss the ground. 

Which tournament was more rewarding, winning this event or the Naples event last year?

Well, last year was our first SKA win and it was also the big fish of the year in the whole SKA, so that was very special and rewarding.  But the adversity that we overcame, with this weather, was pretty intense.  I think our team does a good job dealing with the cards that are dealt. 

Everyone gets big props from us for just fishing in this tough weather. 

What’s next for your team?

We are going to take some time off and get ready for Ft. Myers.  We are excited to have the Division 11 points lead.  Hopefully we can secure some bait and get this title wrapped up.  We are also planning on fishing some Division 6.  We would like to fish the SKA Pro tour in the future; we want to do that right.