Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament brings victory at last for Waycross crew

Nelson Pittman started reeling in the kingfish, and he knew it was big. It was heavy. Best of all, for a crew still stung by memories of a past Jacksonville visit, this fish was in one piece.

"We knew," Pittman said, "we knew we had a big fish."

Five years to the day after the team wound up on the wrong end of one of the most bizarre finishes in VyStar Credit Union Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament history, this was redemption.

The Georgia-based crew under captain Randy Howell weighed in the 50-pounder to take home the grand prize at Friday's 44th edition of the annual kingfish tournament at Jim King Park at Sisters Creek.

Their prize: a package valued at over $220,000, including a Contender 28T boat, twin Yamaha outboard motors, a trailer and more.

Palm Valley's Dan Crowley and his crew aboard Posse, winner in the big-fish contest with a tournament-record catch in 2023, this time placed first in the aggregate standings to claim the $12,000 cash prize.

The afternoon started slowly — only two boats weighed fish during the first 95 minutes after the weigh-in tent opened — but picked up speed, ending with a victor above the 50-pound mark for the second year running.

WHAT HAPPENED TO RANDY HOWELL'S CREW IN 2019 TOURNAMENT?

Five years ago, the Howell crew also thought they had snatched victory in one of those dream moments for any angler, only to see those hopes crash down.

On July 19, 2019, Howell rocketed to the top of the standings at afternoon's end, the last fish of the last boat of the day. His fish had recorded the heaviest weight despite an inches-wide gash left by an apparent encounter with a shark during the 45-minute effort to reel it in. Even missing part of its midsection, the fish still tipped the scales at 52.56 pounds.

But after an appeal, tournament officials in 2019 had disqualified Howell's fish after ruling that it was "mutilated," having incurred too much damage to be able to fight. That ruling elevated Chris Jonsson of Side Job , who had landed a 49.79-pounder, to first place.

The painful ending five years ago didn't leave hard feelings for the crew.

"That's just fishing," said crew member Curtis Tumlin, who weighed in the fish in both 2019 and 2024.

This time, there were no such disappointments. They landed the fish shortly after 7 a.m. while off Georgia coastal waters. In fact, Tumlin said, the massive catch might have come before they were ready.

"When we first got it in the boat, I said we messed up," he said. "Didn't have a fish bag, wrapped it with curtain towels. It's been a day, brother."

Tumlin and Pittman hauled the fish ashore and placed it on the scale, where it slipped off on the first attempt. Then, patiently, they turned to their left and watched the bright red digits light up on the electronic screen for a grand total of 50.53 pounds, displacing the 49.28-pound catch of Ponte Vedra Beach captain Keith Wilson.

YOUNG CREW NEARLY TAKES TOP SPOT

For most of the afternoon, Wilson's boat led the way.

Shortly after 3:30 p.m., when only two boats had weighed in, the Hakauna Matata docked and the captain's son — also named Keith — and Kaidan Edwards walked to the scales to record a mammoth 49.28-pound kingfish.

The younger Wilson said the crew landed the fish in the early morning, setting a course for the coastal waters south of town. From there, they brought the fish aboard after a fight of about 8 to 10 minutes.

"It was quick at first," Edwards said. "And then right when we got him up to the boat, that's when he started taking a while and he started spinning around."

The Hakauna Matata crew grasped first place for an hour and a half, surviving a close approach from Ron Hildum aboard Sweet Caroline. The Green Cove Springs-based crew weighed in a 49.08-pounder at 5 p.m. sharp, coming up three ounces shy.

Following Howell's catch, Wilson finished the day second with Hildum third.

As it turned out, the biggest catch of the week didn't even reach the scales during the general tournament. That belonged to Parker Hensch, who caught a 53.55-pound kingfish in Wednesday's Junior Angler competition.

"When the juniors started bringing in big fish, I kind of knew we were going to have some big ones," tournament director Mel Hammock said. "I really expected a little bit bigger [on Friday]."

WINNING COMBINATION FOR DAN CROWLEY

Winners last year in the big fish category, Dan Crowley's boat Posse took top honors this time in aggregate to complete a rare double of the tournament's two chief awards.

The first fish weighed in at 34.10 pounds, the second at 41.79, and together they brought home a five-figure prize with their 75.89-pound combined weight.

"We've got a scale, a pretty good scale on the boat, so we had a good idea of what they were close to," said Lucas Crowley, a two-time nominee for college football's Rimington Award while at the University of North Carolina and a former NFL center who spent stints on the rosters of Arizona, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Washington. "But you never know the way they bleed and all that stuff."

That was enough to overtake the Flagler Beach-based crew of CJ Johnston, who seized the early lead in the two-fish aggregate. Johnston's crew landed kingfish weighing in at 35.88 and 38.93 pounds, good for a 74.81-pound aggregate count.

In the Lady Angler competition, Monica Stam earned the $2,000 top prize and crystal trophy with her 27.77-pound catch aboard Turn 3. Chris Stephens and the crew of Beer Money picked up $1,000 in cash — whether for beer or anything else — by reeling in a 35.36-pound cobia.

In all, Hammock said that about 300 boats entered Friday's general fishing.

"It was busy and it was fun," Hammock said. "A lot of people worked really hard all year long to make this happen."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament brings victory at last for Waycross crew