SWANSBORO, NC - TIDELAND - Team Liquid Fire wins king tourney

Local fishing team tops in Florida SKA tournament
Published: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 3:21 PM EDT
Tideland News Report

The Liquid Fire Fishing Team was on a hot streak during tournament action down in Florida.

The Swansboro-based team captured top honors in the Frances Langford Memorial Fishing Tournament, fished May 1-3 out of Jensen Beach, Fla.

Fishing from its 23-foot Seacraft, powered by a pair of 250 horsepower Mercury Verado four-stroke outboards, the team weighed-in a two-fish aggregate catch of 90.11 pounds.

Capt. Mark Henderson and crew boated a 31.55-pound king on Saturday and landed a 50.56-pound smoker the following day.

The crew’s big fish was good enough to earn them third place in the single biggest fish competition.

Taking top honors in the biggest king division was Henderson’s fellow Team Sea Craft angler, Rob Faris, fishing aboard the Mad Mouse, who brought a 51.52-pound king back to the scales.

Joining Henderson on the Sea Craft Tournament Edition were his sons, Crockett and Joshua, and son-in-law Chris Waters.

The high finish in the Jensen Beach tourney propelled the Liquid Fire team to third place in the Southern Kingfish Association’s Angler of the Year standings.

“We really worked hard to get ready for the tournament,” explained Capt. Henderson. “We studied charts, water temperatures and depths and basically did a lot of homework.

“And Sea Craft has been outstanding to work with,” he added. “This is a great boat and they’ve been very supportive of us.”

But the captain admitted that there’s always a little luck involved with winning a tournament.

“There’s always an element of good fortune,” he said.

Team Liquid Fire is gearing up for its next tournament, which will be much closer to home – the 27th Annual Swansboro Rotary King Mackerel Tournament.