TEAM PLACES 3rd IN RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE KMT! - CROCKETT WINS 5th JR. ANGLER TITLE OF 2011

While king mackerel fishing has been slow for most of the season in North Carolina, our Liquid Fire Fishing Team was able to boat a third place 29.34-pound smoker king on Saturday, Oct. 15, in the Rumble in the Jungle KMT out of Little River, SC. In addition to our third place finish in the 93-boat tournament, Crockett won his fifth (5^th) Junior Angler title of 2011!! Again, Crockett did the honors as team angler, while Joshua handled the gaffing duties.

After selling our 2008 Contender 31T on September 2, we were worried about what we would do for a boat to allow us to complete the remainder of the 2011 season. But, our friend, Rob Ferris of the Mad Mouse Fishing Team, came through with “flying colors!” Not only did Rob allow us to use his 2009 SeaCraft 32, he spent the entire weekend as a Liquid Fire Fishing Team member!! This was a tremendous asset to our team. While Rob and I have known each other for five years, this was our first opportunity to fish together competitively.

We currently reside in fourth (4^th) place in Division 9 with one tournament remaining. There are some tremendous fishing teams in this division vying for the top spot. We can only hope to be competitive down to the wire in the Fall Brawl KMT this weekend!!

In addition to our prize winning king mackerel, we also were presented with a surprise... a 43.25" redfish. What a great fish and fight. Even though it's certainly not the targeted species in a king mackerel tournament, it made for an even more exciting day!!



Stay tuned… I hope it will be a great weekend!

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LIQUID FIRE CLAIMS 4TH IN SNEADS FERRY KMT – CROCKETT TAKES 1ST JR. ANGLER AND 4TH JUNIOR TITLE OF 2011

Our Liquid Fire Fishing Team had a highly successful showing during the 20th Annual Sneads Ferry Rotary King Mackerel Tournament on Saturday, August 20, 2011. This event has been one of our favorite stops among the numerous sanctioned events by the Southern Kingfish Association (SKA) for years.

The 42.51# king placed us 4th in the event's overall standings, and Crockett clained his FOURTH JUNIOR ANGLER TITLE of 2011. He also took home third place in another event earlier. In a year that has been as tough for catching king mackerel as we can remember, our prized smoker was a welcome passenger once Joshua placed her in the fish box after a skillful gaff shot!

Our day began with any early morning 45-mile run to a known big king mackerel fishing spot out of Drum Inlet, NC. After deploying our spread of live blue fish and menhaden at 7:00 a.m., we fished the area for over three hours and caught one small king. Although the area looked very “fishy,” with a lot of bait and good water temperature, we decided to try another location in about 90-feet of water over 20 miles away.

Once we arrived at the new chosen grounds, it didn’t take long for us to hear the king mackerel tournament fight song… a screaming clicker from one of our Accurate BX600-X reels!!! The long, blistering run indicated that we were chasing down our targeted species, until… the speedy creature appeared and the iridescent glow of vertical blue stripes showed just before Joshua planted the gaff behind the dorsal fin. Never had we been more disappointed to pull a 25# wahoo over the gunwale!

After pouting for a while, we sent our six-bait spread back out, hoping to capture the interest of our intended razor-toothed target this time. Shortly, we noticed the long bait dragging on the surface. Once we got it to the boat, we found that it had been sliced into three pieces by a sneaky predator. I immediately launched another blue fish on the medium line; Joshua skillfully tuned our 31T Contender back on the same trolling pattern. Within 10 minutes, the long-lined pogy was hit by a slow-moving "bus." A couple minutes into the fight the bait thief showed itself, and as we suspected, a seven-foot shark appeared on the surface, attached to our line.

Not to be discouraged, I floated the medium-lined blue fish back long, and Joshua made a third pass through the active spot. In a matter of moments the blue was attacked, and Crockett grabbed the rod in time to hear the KMT fight song once again!! After the fish made short work of exhausting our Accurate of about 250 yards of Yo-Zuri Hybrid smoke purple line, I placed the boat on top of the fish less than five minutes into the fight, and Joshua was able to identify it as “a good one.” Indicating that it was a king mackerel we would be proud to have.

That’s when the fun and excitement of hearing a long, spine-tingling run turn to shear anxiety and tension. The big girl decided that she wanted to make our efforts daunting… she dove deep and stayed there for over 30 minutes! The normal king mackerel fight for our team is generally from about eight to 20 minutes. Thus, once the fish hit at 12:40 p.m., the ensuing tussle seemed an eternity as the minutes clicked by from our GPS.

After Crockett patiently worked the big girl close to the surface, our team was able to see her size, and it gave us an opportunity to get really concerned because of her perceived innate ability to stay just out of Joshua’s range with our Aftco 12-foot gaff. Finally at 1:13 p.m., she came close enough to the starboard bow, and Joshua plunged the hook eight-feet into the water, made the short but smooth gaffing motion, and pandemonium broke out!!

Even after the 33-minute fight, she still had enough spunk to try to pull the gaff from Joshua’s grip. However, he was up to the task and brought the 42.51# beast over the gunwale for a resounding THUD! When putting the big girl in the fish box, the three-hook rig fell from her mouth without having to be removed, which indicated a true professional angling effort by Crockett.

After setting another three-bait spread while we got the boat cleaned and straightened, Joshua took the helm at 2:30 p.m., powered up the twin Yamaha F350s and proceeded to New River Inlet and the weigh-in at New River Marina and Power Marine Outfitters for an early end to our fishing day. We collected nearly $1,700.00 for our daily efforts, but more importantly, we have a family memory that will last forever!!

Until next time...

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TEAM IS 6TH IN EAST COAST GOT-EM-ON - DANNY COMPTON WINS ROD/REEL COMBO

Our Liquid Fire Fishing participated in the 32^nd annual East Coast Got-Em-On Classic King Mackerel Tournament in Carolina Beach, July 8-10. The highly successful and popular event attracted 161 boats for its two-day Captain’s Choice format.

Choosing to fish the second day, along with another 153 teams, because of a small craft advisory issued on Saturday, we began our quest for a slob at 6:00 a.m. After deploying our six-line spread of pogies, blue fish and mullet, we pounded an area out of Bogue Inlet known for big king mackerel this time of year. Unfortunately, the consistency of this year’s bite matched exactly with our chosen location… NOTHING! Two hours into our day, we decided to make a move and then… make a move and then… make a move… well, you get the picture.

Finally, after we began setting our spread at the seventh location of the day, the long line, featuring a juicy blue fish, began the high pitched scream that gives chills to any king mackerel tournament fisherman! The 2:52 p.m. strike immediately made Joshua, Crockett and me forget about the previous nine hours of shear boredom.

After a seemingly endless 13-minute tussle between Crockett and our prized kingfish, Joshua planted the gaff perfectly behind the dorsal fin and hoisted the 24.90-pound king into the fish box at 3:05 p.m. Forty-five miles from the weigh-in at the Carolina Beach Municipal Docks, we made the run hoping to be “in the money.”

Once the weigh-in closed at 5:00 p.m., 54 of the 161 teams had weighed a king. Our nearly last-minute target placed us sixth (6^th) overall. The East Coast Got-Em-On is always a well run tournament and has been one of our favorite event for several years.

Our next event will be the Raleigh Saltwater KMT in Morehead City, NC, on July 30. This tournament is another popular outing in Division 1. We’ll keep you updated.

CHARLIE WALKER OF GOOSE CREEK MARINE PRESENTS DANNY COMPTON WITH A ROD & REEL COMBO DONATED BY GOOSE CREEK MARINE DURING WEST MARINE SHOW.

As promised, our Liquid Fire Fishing Team held a random drawing from a total of 19 respondents to an email request that asked to verify their email. Danny Compton of Cape Carteret was chosen from the following email participants:

Troy Ellis, Mitch Mitchell, Danny Compton, Dave Compton, David Seaton, George Venuto, Ann Venuto, Curtis Morris, Greg Carr, Carlis Hardin, Tim Turner, Skip Greene, Jesse Vaughan, Millard West, Ray Taylor, Chuck Bryant, Phil Stallings, Mike Harry, Chris Edwards and John Walston

We would again like thank everyone for attending the event. There were a n estimated 300 attendees.

Additionally, we appreciate all of our sponsors for their support of the show; especially GOOSE CREEK MARINE for the rod and reel donation.

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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.

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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!

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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