Navigating the Waters: Our Journey at the Jimmy Johnson Fishing Tournament

On the Hunt for Victory: Our Experience at the Jimmy Johnson Fishing Tournament

The Jimmy Johnson Fishing Tournament is renowned for having the world’s richest guaranteed purse and some of the most prestigious fishing teams competing. Over 80 boats entered and fished hard for a chance at a piece of the pie. As a team, with Captain Trey Claus at the helm and our two mates Ryan Kocourek and Dylan Wheeler, this would be our second tournament together, and if you’ve been keeping up with our season, you’d know we had to scramble to prepare for our first tournament. Thankfully, the days leading up to the Jimmy Johnson looked a little brighter than they did at the Sailfish Challenge.

The day before the competition, our team, Gale Force x Invincible Boats, spent the day rigging our Penn rods, prepping the 43’ Invincible Monohull, and most importantly, pre-fishing. We headed out of Miami to see what the waters looked like in order to decide where we would set up our kites and baits on Day 1 of the tournament. There was less than 5 knots of wind predicted, which meant getting a kite up with 3 baits could be a challenge. We spent the evening before catching ballyhoo, as they make excellent baits when the wind is low and flatlining might be our only option for keeping hooks in the water.

Day 1 of the Jimmy Johnson began with a 4:00 am wake-up call and a not-so-short drive to Miami, where we began searching for signs of life during first light. The water was the perfect clean shade of blue, we found the current, we saw bait sprays, and most importantly, we even spotted a few sails before an 8 am lines in. The team was feeling confident, and we were ready to tackle the day! We had just enough wind to get two kites up with 3 baits on each kite; a goggle eye, a herring, and a ballyhoo, the perfect spread for slicked-out days searching for sails.

During the fishing hours, we battled next to no wind, plenty of rain, and even some lightning. Just like flying kites on land, flying kites on the water can be tricky; when the kites get wet, they want to fall, if lightning gets too close to the kite, the line will pop. We had to alternate between flying kites and flatlining baits with the goal to keep 7 baits in the water at all times. Although challenging, our first day of the tournament proved successful! We had a steady bite and went 3 for 4 on sails, which landed us securely in the Top 10 Overall for Day 1, something we were all very proud of!

With heads held high, we headed back to the dock to drop off half of the crew, while the rest of us ran the boat to a temporary slip in Palm Beach, anticipating that the bite in Miami would slow down on Day 2. By the time we reached our slip, cleaned the boat with GTechniq Marine products, and dipped our baits for the night, it was close to 9 pm, definitely time for some rest, as we had another big day ahead.

Another early morning and again we were looking for signs of life during first light. On Day 2 many boats struggled to find the fish, and some didn’t even see a fish. We had very little wind but were still able to get our kites up with helium, but instead of battling rain and lightning, we battled the kingfish. In the first hour of the tournament, half our baits got “kinged”; the kingfish either killed our baits or cut our lines clean, which meant we were scrambling to re-rig and put new baits out as quickly as possible. When fishing a competition, every second counts towards having your maximum allowed number of 7 baits in the water at all times. Thankfully, in the afternoon, the kingfish bite slowed down, and we were able to really focus on finding the sailfish. We were relieved that our decision to run to Palm Beach was the right call as many of the boats fishing in Miami never even saw a sailfish. We were thankful we spotted a few and went 2 for 3 on sails.

Ultimately, our efforts secured us a respectable placement within the Top 16 Overall, Top 7 in the Center Console category, and Emily earned herself two 2nd place titles in both the Lady Angler and Master Angler categories. Now with two tournaments under our belts and two second-place finishes in the angler categories, the team is starting to feel like a well-oiled machine and we are hungrier than ever. We are thankful for the generous support of our sponsors GTechniq Marine, Invincible Boats, and Penn Fishing. Their belief in our team has been a driving force behind our success, and for that, we are grateful.

From left to right: Wayne (Angler), Ryan (Mate), Amanda (Owner/Angler), Emily (Owner/Angler), Trey (Captain), Drew (Cameraman), Matt (Angler), Tyler (Angler)