JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Rain, rain go away was a popular phrase among some boats on day one of the 38th annual Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament as storms in the area affected fishing for a good number of the participants.
When the scales opened at 3 o'clock under a steady rain, Scott Sullivan aboard the Head Hunter was one of the first boats to the dock to weigh a fish and with good reason. Their 41.25 pound kingfish was the early leader.
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"We caught this beast first thing in the morning," said Sullivan. "When the storms come in, the fish don't seem to bite as good. This morning it was beautiful, nice little waves and plenty of bait fish, so there's a lot of fish out there."
Sullivan and the Head Hunter team were in the lead for less than an hour as Steve Carman, captain of the Flyin Hawaiian weighed in a 44.95 pound kingfish. Similar to the Head Hunter team, Carman says getting a good fish in early before the storms was very fortunate.
"Ran offshore a long way, second bait out caught the fish by 9 o'clock and turned around and came right back," said Carman who is from Oviedo and says he looks forward to fishing in this tournament every year to fish against people from here because they are some of the best. As far as a strategy for day two goes, Carman isn't re-inventing the fishing pole.
"We are going to the same place and hopefully doing it again."