Spiced Rum III to SKA Championship!

Latham Marine Steers Spiced Rum III to Division 8 SKA Championship
-- Team takes Top Lady Angler, Largest King in Summer Slam

“Go with what you know.” It’s good advice whether you’re selecting marine components, tackle or a hot fishing spot and the philosophy paid off big for the Spiced Rum III fishing team in the Southern Kingfish Association (SKA) Fort Pierce Summer Slam.

Faced with the challenge of finding a 51-pound Kingfish to capture the SKA Division 8 title, Capt. Bill Wummer used his Latham Marine Full-Powered Hydro-Electric steering to guide the 35-foot Contender out of Fort Pierce Inlet, and gunned the triple Yamaha 300s toward Loran Tower, a spot he heard was producing good fish the day before. But as any angler knows, the best fishing was yesterday…or tomorrow.

So Wummer pointed the Spiced Rum III toward Juno and a deep-water ledge that was productive for the team throughout the 2013 season. “We did a few runs through the ledge and caught a couple of 20-pounders, and one close to 30,” Wummer said, explaining that a really big King at this time of year would be difficult to find. During what would be one of the last passes before trying a new spot, the downrigger bounced, and line started spooling off the reel. Angler Wayne Beswick picked up the rod and watched as 75-percent of the line peeled off.

“Wayne fought the fish perfect for about ten minutes and led it right to the gaff. We were yelling and high-fiving all around,” Wummer exclaimed. But the elation was short lived. “We put it on the scale and it bottomed out at 50-pounds. We weren’t sure we had enough.”

But the excitement of the moment was re-lived when the official weigh-in scale showed the big King weighing 52.29-pounds. Enough for the Big King of the day, and enough points for the Division 8 crown.

Sherri Beswick landed her fifth Top Lady Angler tournament win, which gave her the Division 8 and Division 10 Top Lady Angler of the season title.

Spiced Rum III isn’t done yet, as it next heads to Biloxi, Mississippi, and the SKA National Championship in November.

See it HERE! Spiced Rum3 Ska Fort Pierce - YouTube