Achilles Fishing Team Wins First Place in Orange Beach Red Snapper Tournament

Orange Beach, AL (PRWEB) June 5, 2007 -- When the Achilles Fishing Team left their homes in Mobile, AL at 4:00am on Saturday, May 12 for a day of fishing, little did they realize they would not make it back for 23 hours, or that their trip would take them back through Orange Beach. Neither did they realize they would be on the top of the leader board and take home the $25,000 first place prize in the Orange Beach World Championship Red Snapper Tournament.

"It was a long day, and one I will never forget," said David Rowe, member of the Achilles Fishing Team.



The Achilles Fishing Team, which includes Clinton Cochran, David Rowe, Josh Ladner and Kenny Johnson, launched their 23 foot Sea Hunt boat from Dauphin Island at 6:30am. They were about 50 miles southwest of Orange Beach when they landed their tournament winning red snapper. The trophy snapper was caught on the last cast of the day. "This is the last chance", Cochran told the fishing team, "if we don't catch'em this time, we are headed home."

The last cast paid off, big time.

"As soon as we got the snapper in the boat, I looked at my watch and knew we could not make it to the Dauphin Island Marina weigh station before the 6:00pm closing, so we quickly decided to head for the Orange Beach weigh station (which closes at 7:00pm)," said Cochran, the angler that caught the tournament winner.

It was a day of late starts and minor mishaps. "I overslept and my buddies woke me up knocking on my door at 4:00am. We finally got to the launch at about 6:30am and we didn't pull into the Zeke's weigh station until 6:45pm, running on fumes and prayers," said Cochran.

As the Achilles was backing into the weigh station, Rowe was on the back of the boat ready to catch the dock, when Cochran put the engine in forward to slow the approach. The sudden change of direction caused Rowe to lose his balance and topple into the water. As Rowe climbed back onto the boat to snickers from his fishing team, he was hoping that no one else had seen what had happened. This short-lived wish quickly disappeared as spectators along the docks started applauding when they saw that the angler was not hurt. The cool waters of Cotton Bayou did not dampen his enthusiasm for getting their winning fish to the scales, just 10 minutes before the closing.

As the Achilles Fishing Team weighed in their 33.80 pound red snapper, Captain Sonny "Cheese" Alawine of the Summer Breeze I approached the scales with a snapper that looked like it may top the new leader by a couple of pounds. But looks can be deceiving. Summer Breeze's snapper weighed in at 32.20 pounds, 1.60 pounds less than Cochran's. However, the 32.20 pound snapper was good enough to put angler Darwin Ellison in 3rd place to win the $10,000 prize, at the same time putting the Summer Breeze I charter boat in 2nd place in the Boat Standings to take home the $15,000 prize.

After the excitement of the weigh-in, and the anxiety of almost losing their newly acquired first place position on the leader board, the Achilles Fishing Team started thinking about their return trip to Dauphin Island. The sun had set and the northern sky was flashing with lightning. Realizing they did not have a spotlight and that they were not familiar with the waterways around Orange Beach, the fishing team contemplated their options. Ken Cooper, manager of The Orange Beach Community Website, offered to loan them a spotlight. Returning to the docks with an old spotlight that no longer worked, other options were explored. A call to Sam's Bait and Tackle Shop offered a solution… Sam's would be closing at 9:00pm, only 15 more minutes, and they sell spotlights. After returning to the boat with the new light, another problem in a day of minor mishaps surfaced… the electrical outlet on the boat was not working. Realizing that they had to have a spotlight in order to make their return trip, the team decided to cut the wires off the bilge pump and splice them into the spot light. Another problem solved…

Not being familiar with the waterways around Orange Beach presented another big problem for the weary anglers. The numerous sandbars and narrow channels would be a problem navigating at night for someone familiar with the waterways and nearly impossible for someone who had never made the trip. As a Baldwin County native familiar with the waters, Cooper offered to ride with the Achilles Team around Bear Point to help them get through the sandbars and into the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

After making the trek around Bear Point and into the ICW, the Achilles dropped Cooper at a pier at The Wharf and continued their trip west on the ICW and out into Mobile Bay. After making it through choppy bay waters, they finally returned to the boat ramp at about 1:30am and back home at 3:00am.

The final week of the tournament was filled with prank calls and fake reports from friends with news of non-existent monster red snapper being brought into the weigh stations. Anxiety from these rumors continued up until 7:00pm on the final day of the tournament. At about 6:45pm, a rumor started going around the docks at Zeke's Marina that another boat was on the way in with a large red snapper. To the Achilles Fishing Team's relief, the rumored boat never showed up at the scales.

At 7:05pm on May 20th Tournament Director Tony Kennon announced that Clinton Cochran was the official winner of 2007 Orange Beach World Championship Red Snapper Tournament and the $25,000 first place prize. As the spectators applauded, Cochran and the rest of the Achilles Fishing team breathed a sigh of relief, it was finally over.

Cochran's 33.80 pound winning red snapper was caught on a Shimano reel, using cut-bait, at 5:45pm on Saturday, May 12th, about 50 miles southwest of Orange Beach in 135 feet of water. The anglers were in a private 23 foot Sea Hunt center-console fishing boat, powered by a Yamaha 225, 4-stroke engine.

Winning Boats
Anglers can enter the month-long tournament for a five dollar daily ticket. The entry fee for boats for the entire tournament is $500. Because Cochran's boat was not entered in the tournament, the winning boat was the Boss Man, whose home port is at the Dauphin Island Marina. The Boss Man brought in a 33.40 pound red snapper putting them in first place in the boat category and the winner of the $25,000 first place prize. The 33.40 pound snapper put angler Jarrell Gilbert, from Columbus, GA, in second place in the angler category, with a winning purse of $15,000.

This year's tournament also included a Small Boat category. The private fishing boat Extra Point, out of Dauphin Island, took first place in the Small Boat category with a 30.10 pound snapper. This catch also put fisherman Burke Baker from Santa Rosa Beach, FL in 7th place in the Angler Standings. Extra Point, who entered both boat categories, placed 5th in the (large) Boat Category. Extra Point's winnings from the two boat categories totaled $9,000; the angler prize of $1,000 brought Extra Point's total winnings to $10,000.

Other Money Fish
There were two other money fish in this year's tournament: triggerfish and vermilion snapper or beeliners. Angler Larry Lancaster from Atlanta, GA took first place with a 10.60 pound triggerfish, while Zach Chastain from Birmingham, AL came in first place in the vermilion snapper category with his 5.65 pound catch.

World Line-Class Record
It appears that two of the red snapper caught in this year's tournament broke International Game Fish Association (IGFA) World Line-Class Records. The first was caught by Brian Bailey, Jr. on the Kwazar fishing boat out of Dauphin Island Marina on April 20th, the first day of the red snapper tournament. Bailey's record was broken by Cochran in the third week of the tournament. Both anglers have submitted applications to the IGFA for the Line-Class Record. IGFA records generally take about 30 to 60 days to be verified.

Tournament Benefits Alabama's Artificial Reef Program
"The money raised in the Orange Beach World Championship Red Snapper Tournament goes to build more Alabama reefs" says Maurice Fitzsimons, charter boat captain for the Miss Celeste. "Artificial fishing reefs are the main reason fishing along the Alabama Coast is so productive and popular."

Artificial fishing reefs have been being built along the Alabama coast for more than 50 years. The Alabama Gulf Coast currently enjoys more than 15,000 man-made fishing reefs on its 50 miles of coast line, making it the undisputed leader in artificial fishing reefs in the United States.

Plans for the 2008 Tournament
Tony Kennon, Director of the Orange Beach World Championship Red Snapper Tournament is advocating the inclusion of a greater number of fish species found along the Alabama Gulf Coast in future spring tournaments. "With all of the various species of fish found in our area, one way to expand on the interest of an already successful tournament is to expand on the number of money fish." The 2008 tournament is expected to include red snapper, triggerfish, vermilion snapper, cobia, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, Wahoo, dolphin, and tuna, to mention a few. "This year's tournament has been such a success that sponsors are already putting their names in the hat for the 2008 tournament," says Kennon.

Other Fishing Tournaments Coming to Orange Beach in 2007
The Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup tournament will be held July 6th - 8th at Lulu's Homeport Marina. The Orange Beach Swordfish Classic will be held on July 21st & 22nd, and will be hosted by the Orange Beach Marina. The Orange Beach Billfish Classic (a catch and release tournament) will be held August 1st - 5th, and will be hosted by Orange Beach Marina. The Mobile Big Game Fishing Club Labor Day Tournament will be held August 31st - September 3rd and will be hosted by Orange Beach Marina. The FLW Kingfish Tournament Championship will be held on October 4th - 6th and will be hosted by The Wharf Marina. The Orange Beach October Fishing Rodeo will be held October 1st - 31st and is hosted by Zeke's Landing Marina.

For more information about Orange Beach, AL and all of the fishing tournaments, please visit The Orange Beach Community Website at: www.OrangeBeach.ws.

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