JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Attitude Adjuster, a 35-foot
Wellcraft Scarab Sport Open, out of Emerald Isle, NC, took first place in
the two-day 21st Annual BellSouth Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament with
a combined two fish total of 68.40 lbs.
First place is worth $35,000 to Captain David Murphy and his crew of
three. Total purse for the event, including bonuses for the largest King
Mackerels brought to the scales was $750,000.
The Kingfish caught on Thursday of the event weighed in at 27.00 lbs.
The Kingfish caught on Friday was 41.40 lbs, and enough to put the team in first
place by over a pound. The 41+ pounder was also the third largest fish
caught in the tournament.
Attitude Adjuster is one of five teams sponsored by Wellcraft and
Conseco that fished this event. The Jacksonville tournament is the biggest kingfish
tournament in the U.S., with a field of 1,000 boat entries.
Captain Murphy himself latched onto the fish early in the afternoon
after fishing since 7 a.m. The team, which consists of his son Kevin, Jim Davis
and Bob Townsend, knew two things: they had a big one on the line, and they had
one of their other teams to thank. Attitude Adjuster had been fishing north
of Jacksonville, near St. Simons Island, GA during the early morning hours,
but not having any luck. They left to scout out a new area. After being
gone about an hour and still having no luck, the team received a radio call from
Fish Fever, Captained by Ed Mecchella, who had stayed off St. Simons and had
gotten a good hit on his line. Attitude Adjuster headed back, and proceeded
to catch the winning fish.
"We owe it all to Fish Fever. This is the second time they have called
us in and we've gone on to catch a big one," said crew member Kevin Murphy.
The first time was last year in the SKA Pro Championship, when Murphy and
Mecchella (who lives on St. Simons Island) finished first and second
respectively.
The Attitude Adjuster fishing team's Kevin Murphy, 19, was awarded Top
Junior Angler of the Year in 1998. Jim Davis was the 1993 SKA National
Champion. Together they have had a number of top-ten tournament finishes
They hold the SKA tournament record for North Carolina and won the 2000
Professional Kingfish Tour World Championship.