LIQUID FIRE HOLDS SUCCESSFUL "HOW TO..." CLINIC AND BOAT SHOW AT WEST MARINE!

West Marine in Morehead City, NC, asked our Liquid Fire Fishing Team to hold a king mackerel "How To..." seminar on Saturday, June 25. With the assistance of many of our sponsors, the event was a huge success!!!

West Marine Manager, Chris Schoden, was very pleased with the event, stating numerous times, "You guys rock!" According to Chris, and numerous West Marine employees, the event was one of the most successful of its kind for the boating retail store.

In fact, event coordinator, Leslie Cameron, asked us to prepare for another similar event for the store again in and around September.

Many of our sponsors supported the event with donations of shirts, hats, visors and decals.

Goose Creek Marine, the new Contender dealer in Newport, North Carolina, donated a Shimano Torium rod and reel combo as a door prize. This was a $250.00 donation!! Captains Rick and Charlie Walker’s dealership is located in Newport, NC, on Hwy. 24.

In addition, the Best Buy in Morehead City, and its manager, Sophy Stewart, made a special effort to provide us with a 55" wide screen TV to play our Liquid Fire team videos.

Thanks again to our great sponsors:

Cannon Downriggers, Accurate Fishing Reels, Yo-Zuri, Simrad, Contender Fishing Boats, Yamaha Motors, Optima Batteries, Ocean Tamer Marine Grade Bean Bags, SPRO / Gamakatsu, QuadRodz, Pro Chip, Columbia, Costa Del Mar, Power Marine Outfitters, Sanderson Boatworks, Goose Creek Marine.

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - http://www.liquidfirefishing.com/

SPORTSMAN'S TOY STORE IN NEW BERN, NC CLIMBS ON BOARD WITH THE LIQUID FIRE!

The Liquid Fire Fishing Team would like to welcome the Sportsman's Toy Store in New Bern, NC, to our fine list of sponsors. Earl Dail, owner and long-time outdoorsman, keeps one of the most well-stocked, clean and inviting retail locations you will ever visit!

The Sportsman's Toy Store specializes in all of your fishing, hunting, camping and boating needs. If you can't find what you need in the store, located at 2551 US Hwy 70 E, New Bern, NC 28560, the visit their website - www.sportsmanstoystore.com - or give Earl a call at (252) 638-5600.

Earl's friendly, helpful and trained staff will assit you in getting what you need to enjoy your outdoor activity!

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - www.liquidfirefishing.com

COBIA FISHING DURING THE JOLLY MON!

As king mackerel tournament fishing goes, we seem to be getting pretty good at catching cobia!

Actually, we had a really fun day during the Jolly Mon. Capt. Brant and the OIFC staff always put on a fantastic event.
Unfortunately, the weather and full moon made things a little difficult for most of the field this past weekend. Only 23 king mackerel over 10 pounds were weighed from the 185-boat field.

Joshua, Crockett and I fished Saturday and had a nice day on the water. Our first and only king was caught about 8:20 a.m. We boated a 12-pounder that hit a double pogy rig. Thinking that it was a start, we didn't even consider running the 70+ miles to weigh the fish. As I researched the tournament results last night, we should have taken it to the scales. The king would have placed us 19th overall in the 185-boat tournament. Oh well... certainly not the only time I've made a bad decision during tournament days.

The highlight for the day was around 11:30 a.m. We had what we thought might be another king strike, again on a double pogy rig. Crockett fought the fish to within about 50 yards, when I heard him say, “Cobia, and there’s a bigger one behind him.”
I immediately baited up another pogy on an Accurate SR-12 Twin Spin spinning reel, and finally got the second fish to decide to eat her last meal. About 15 minutes later, Joshua had planted the gaff into two cobia, 42# and 31#, and put them in the box! Certainly not what we were looking for, but it was a lot of fun!

In addition to at least 10, two-foot sharks, we also had three Spanish mackerel about five pounds each.

Overall, it was a decent day of fishing in some very difficult conditions.

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CROCKETT WINS 3RD JR. ANGLER TITLE!! TEAM FINISHES 6TH IN PROS...

Fourchon, LA, proved to be everything that it's known for during the week of May 26 - June 4... BIG FISH and LOTS OF THEM!!

As stated in the previous post, our Liquid Fire Fishing Team traveled to the spectacular fishing location for a 10-day trip that we won't soon forget. After catching a 70# wahoo, dozens of American Red Snapper, many king mackerel and a nice cobia the first two days, the serious fishing began.

Day one of the pro tournament began with check-out at 6:00 a.m. After fishing the tour for three years, it's still impressive to see some of the triple engine, and up-to 42' boats blasting through the inlet after showing their boat number to SKA Managing Partner, Jack Holmes.

At 9:15 a.m., our largest king of the day engulfed a blue runner, set at 48-feet on one of our Cannon downriggers. After a blistering run and about 10 minutes later, Crockett worked the 40.73# fish within gaff range, where Joshua planted the 3" hook in the tail and brought her over the gunwale. After another seven-hours of heavy action, we took her to the weigh-in at Moran's Marina, had a very nice seafood buffet dinner at the local truck stop and got prepared for the second day of fishing on Saturday.

Day two began much like day one, except we had to find our bait, large blue runners, at a different oil rig. The skies were clear, winds were light and seas were calm. While it took a little longer to catch bait, we set our spread in the same offshore location as Friday. After losing two smokers right off the bat, we finally broke the ice with a mid-20 pounder. The upgrades began from there.

A few minutes later, Joshua gaffed our first 35# fish of the day. Feeling a little better, we began setting our spread. Mark was putting our a long line, and Crockett was letting out the medium line when he blurted out, "I've got him on!" Once again, at 9:15 a.m., we were fighting another nice king. Two long runs later, Joshua placed a perfect gaff shot behind her dorsal fin and hoisted the 46.93# slob over and into the fishbox!

Major action continued through the remainder of the day, including another fish weighing 42 pounds that was brought in backwards from about 250 yards after becoming tail-hooked. Crockett also caught his largest cobia, a 50-pounder, toward the end of the day.

After weighing in our day's catch, Crockett claimed his third straight Top Junior Angler title, and the team finished sixth in the pro event. This finish pushed our team into 11th place overall and the Angler of the Year race. Winning the title is a long shot, but we're going to keep fishing hard and have a good time!!

This was a truly exciting event, and one that we consider the most fun, complete fishing trip that we've ever experienced. Our team and family look forward to visiting this fabulous area again next year.

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - www.liquidfirefishing.com

LIQUID FIRE VISITS FOURCHON...

The Liquid Fire Fishing Team has embarked on the third stop on the SKA Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour. The 1175-mile, seven state jaunt to Fourchon LA, was a very long and tiring 22.5-hour drive.

However, upon our arrival, the area proved to be everything that's advertised... we landed a 33# cobia on #1 gold live bait hook!! Additionally, an hour and one-half of fishing produced several nice king mackerel.

We were told that the American Red Snapper were thick in the area also. While we were bait fishing on Saturday, we found it to be true. Trying to catch blue runners proved to be difficult, as the snapper were more that willing to eat anything we dropped down!! We can't wait until snapper season opens on Wednesday!!! What an exciting place to fish.

Unfortunately, Sunday and Monday were blow outs... Maybe the rest of the week will have better weather. We'll keep you posted...

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - http://www.liquidfirefishing.com/

SECOND TOP PRO JUNIOR ANGLER TITLE CLAIMED!

The Liquid Fire Fishing Team comprised of Joshua, Crockett, Audrey and Mark traveled to one of our favorite destinations on the east coast during the week of May 10, Jensen Beach, FL. While it wasn't our greatest showing at this event, (we won it in 2008), Crockett still claimed his second TOP PRO JUNIOR ANGLER title of the year , and we were able to weigh a 17.35# king on day one, a 20.53#er on day two and stay in 18th place in the SKA Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour.

Unfortunately, while Friday was a very slow fishing day, we had a great opportunity to boat a huge king on Saturday morning. Crockett fought the fish for 10 minutes, after it made three long classic kingfish runs, only to come up empty after the beast either tail-whipped the mono or another fish cut the line. While it's a "fish story" to most, it was an extremely frustrating day for our team, knowing we had an opportunity to substantially increase our standings.

In addition, we caught a 22# blackfin tuna, hooked up two sailfish and caught numerous other king mackerel.

Our team travels to Fourchon, LA, on Thursday, May 26, for the third event on the pro tour. Fourchon is one of the greatest fisheries in the world, and our family is very excited about making our second trip to the area. Hopefully, we'll have some great photos and videos we can share from the trip.

We'll keep you posted during the trip if possible!


BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - www.liquidfirefishing.com

CROCKETT TAKES TOP JUNIOR ANGLER TITLE - TEAM CLAIMS 13th PLACE FINISH IN SARASOTA!

After fishing the first leg of the 2011 SKA Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour in Sarasota, FL, Audrey, Joshua, Crockett and Mark returned to Cape Carteret, NC, at midnight, 5/1/11. A 15-hour jaunt across four states gave the Liquid Fire Fishing Team plenty of time to reflect on Crockett's TOP PRO JUNIOR ANGLER honor and its 13th place overall finish.

Our first opportunity to fish the west coast of Florida was made very enjoyable by one of the most organized and well run tournaments in which we've had the pleasure to be involved. The tournament sponsor NBOA Marine Insurance staff, lead by Jim Butler, were prepared, professional and available to help the teams at all times.
A fantastic captain's party kicked off the event Wednesday night. Captains and team members from 35 registered teams shared in food, festivities and conversation throughout the evening. It was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones!! Thanks again NBOA!!

Once arriving at the Sara Bay Marina at 2:45 a.m. Wednesday, we caught a couple hours of sleep, met up with another team to discuss our daily bait-catching excursion, and exited the pass. A couple hours later, and after fighting 20-plus knot winds and four to five-foot seas, we had a couple dozen blue runners in the baitwell.

We awoke Thursday to more high winds and steep seas. This allowed our team to get some needed relaxation before the captain's meeting, where once again, NBOA and Contender Boats provided a fine meal of fish tacos for the teams.

Friday morning again greeted the pro anglers with high winds and angry sea conditions. While some of the teams with bigger boats and large fuel capacities were willing and able to make a 185-mile run where there had been a concentration of tournament winning size fish, some teams (like us) were resided to choosing to fish more local waters to try and capture a good "points fish."

Our day one, 14.92#, king mackerel was a bit of a disappointment. However, we were able to put the much needed fish on the scale to begin the year. Day two wasn't much different, as the winds continued to howel. Even though we didn't catch big fish on the first day in Egmont Channel, there were a few teams that caught some respectable fish there. So, off we went.

Saturday began differently than the previous day, as we had a 25# king hit at 7:57 a.m. Shortly after, our 26.04# fish ate a blue runner that we got from Lee's Live Bait that morning, as Crockett was setting the spread. Fifteen minutes later, the fish was in the fishbox and awaiting the five o'clock weigh-in.

Although we would like to have scaled a couple larger fish, we accumulated enough weight for Crockett to claim Top Junior Angler Pro honors in the event (his FOURTH such individual pro event honor). In addition to resting in 13th place overall by the end of the first event.

Congratulations to Stacy Wester and his Big Bad Wolf team on their victory! Great job Stacy.

The Liquid Fire Fishing Team will be leaving for Jensen Beach, FL, next Tuesday, 5/10/11, to participate in the Frances Langford King Mackerel Tournament. This is another very well run event in a wonderful location. It is also the second of the five professional tournaments. We'll be sure to keep you updated!

BE SURE TO VISIT US AT - http://www.liquidfirefishing.com/