The 38th annual Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament was held July 16-21, with an awards ceremony taking place on the last day of the event to honor the winners and participants.
Kevin Bridges, who won the Redfish Spots competition, said competing in the tournament is a challenging endeavor that requires fishermen to do their homework.
"If you don't go everyday and you just go once in a while you're not going to win," said Bridges, who competed in the tournament for the first time.
Florida State University graduate Kyle Pausche also found himself in the winning bracket, picking up a first-place finish in the Redfish Weight tournament with a 7.47-pound fish.
Kyle's father, Jimmy Pausche, accepted the prize money on his son's behalf and said winning a fishing tournament requires a mix of skill and luck.
"You have to be in the right place at the right time," he asserted. "You can't make the fish eat, you can put stuff in front of them and hope they eat but you can't make them eat. A lot of skill involved too, you’ve got to know tides, you've got to know water movements ... there's a lot of skill that goes into it."
Lady Angler winner Connie Adkison, who has competed in the last four Kingfish tournaments, said she dealt with inclement weather during the competition.
"We were soggy all day," she said. "Mostly it was fighting the rain, and I get so sea sick so the only time I didn't feel like I wasn't nauseous was when the lines were going off — it was fun though."
Adkison picked up a win for the first time after capturing a 33-pound fish.
"My husband has been in these tournaments since he's been 8 years old," she said. "He encouraged and invited, supported and instructed me. He's been great."
Other first-place finishers included Jr. Angler Dock winner Lorianna Capes; Kayak winner Edward Smith; Jr. Angler winner Taylor Hildum; Cobia winner Curtis Lang of the "Vitamin Sea" boat; All Weight and Largest winner Everette Cameron of the "Team Fountain" boat; Hi-Roller Single Engine winner David Smith of the "Talechaser" boat; Single Engine Large winner Mike Strickland of the "Fish Candy" boat; and Aggregate winner Chris Stephens of the "Beermoney" boat. For complete results, visit www.kingfishtournament.com/2018-2.
