‘Something you dream of as a kid’: Record U.S. Open KMT has two big winners

For Cameron Yow and his Kannapolis, N.C. crew aboard Bare Necessities, it was a childhood dream realized, and the stage was the biggest king mackerel tournament in the Southeast.

For Seth Williams and his all-Murrells Inlet crew of charter captains aboard Lil Crazy, it was an incredible finish capped by an incredible pay day.

The U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament has been held annually in Southport, N.C., since 1979 and the 43rd annual edition was the biggest one yet. The 2021 event featured a record number of boats, 561, and a record winnings check.

Yow and company weighed in the largest king mackerel, a 45.00-pounder, to claim first place over the huge field of boats and earnings of $58,830 while fishing in his 22-foot Clearwater powered by a 150-horsepower Yamaha.

Williams and the Lil Crazy crew finished a close second, weighing a 44.10-pound king, but came out way ahead in winnings.

Williams, fishing with Capts. Jimmy Dever, Trey Floyd and Chris Regan, went “across the board” in the Tournament Within A Tournament (TWT) entry categories and left Dutchman Creek Park with the largest check – for $133,913 – in the illustrious history of the tournament.

Rounding out the top five were Team Fountain of Atlantic Beach, N.C. in third with a 40.35-pounder, Reel Smoke of Riegelwood, N.C. fourth with a 39.90-pounder and Forever Hooked of Taylorsville, N.C., fifth with a 39.35-pound king.

Cameron Yow remembers first using a fishing rod as a five-year-old on the beach of Oak Island, N.C.,, and looking out at the boats fishing just offshore in one of the many king mackerel tournaments held in the waters off Brunswick County, N.C., including the U.S. Open.

“I was kind of in shock,” said Yow. “It was a dream come true from a little boy for me.”

With his business – Big Dreams Lawn and Landscape – in the Charlotte, N.C., area demanding much of his time, Yow, 32, nearly didn’t compete in the U.S. Open this year after entering the previous three.

Credit Yow’s wife, Christie, for giving him the boost needed to enter the tournament for the fourth straight year.

“I told her, ‘I’ve got so much to do, I don’t think I’m going to go,’ ” recalled Yow. “She pushed us to go and damned if we didn’t go and win it. If she hadn’t pushed me we probably wouldn’t have gone.

“The money is great, but the copper king (trophy) and holding that big check is something you dream of as a kid. A lot of guys are out there chasing that thing you just accomplished.”

Yow, who fished with Bradley Flowe and Mitchell Pigg, hadn’t exactly had sterling success previously in the tournament, and that played a role in how many of the TWT prize categories the crew entered.

“Of course after the fact, it’s kind of sickening,” said Yow. “Going into it I think I made the right decision. I’ve had terrible luck in the U.S. Open. I entered what I felt comfortable with. Never would I would have thought we’d be in a situation where we would miss out on that kind of money. The chances were 1 in 561.

“We had never weighed a legal fish in the U.S. Open until that 45-pounder. It was a crazy turn of events.”

Williams and his band of Murrells Inlet captains did enter all the TWT prizes they were eligible for, and hauled in quite a loot with the biggest check in event history.

“It was a great fish,” said Williams, “and if there was any time to be in second place, this was the time. Those guys are all are boat captains in the inlet and friends. We did this as a friendship thing, something to have fun with.”

Yow and the Bare Necessities crew landed their 45-pounder on the first day of fishing, last Friday, to take the early lead.

After taking the time to net “some really big, fresh baits,” Yow decided to stay away from a crowd of boats and fished an area about 7 miles south of Southport.

“We were off a main spot,” said Yow. “I was over bait and marking bottom.”

Around 10 a.m., the smoker king nailed one of the menhaden in the slow-trolling spread.

With Flowe working the rod, Pigg driving the boat and Yow ready with the gaff, the fish got close to the boat, but Yow passed on applying the gaff.

“I probably could have taken a shot at that point but I’m glad I didn’t,” said Yow. “It made another run, and we had to chase it back down again.”

The second time, Yow was true with the gaff and pulled the fish into the boat at about 10:30 a.m.

The celebration was on, aboard Bare Necessities along with nearby boats.

“I had some friends (fishing) about 50 yards away, and my phone started blowing up when that fish came over,” said Yow. “I was sitting in shock at what we got. I knew we had a money fish, I knew we had a 40-pounder, but didn’t know it was going to be 45. It was a little shorter fish but it was a fat fish.”

After the team took the lead, there was another day of fishing to go and the wait was on.

“We treated Saturday like any other fish day,” said Yow. “I told the guys that 45-pounder can be beat. The waiting was the hardest part. I honestly felt there was a fish out there that could beat it.”

Williams, owner of Crazy Sister Marina in Murrells Inlet, and crew aboard Lil Crazy came within an eyelash of doing just that the next day.

The crew was fishing live menhaden at the No. 7 marker in the Cape Fear River shipping channel, and the bite came at about 9 a.m.

“We were all talking to each other and I happened to turn around and saw this hole in the water near our mid-line,” said Dever. “Chris grabbed the rod, the fish made a really good run and right away we knew we had a good fish, we just didn’t know how big.”

With Regan on the bow, the fish almost spooled him twice, Dever said.

“The fish stayed under the boat, we didn’t even see it for probably the first 25 minutes,” said Dever. “Finally when we did (see it) that’s when things got real serious. It came up about 20 yards off the bow and we saw how big it truly was. We said to relax but my heart was pumping, I was trembling. I knew it was the biggest one I’d ever seen.”

The fish got within long gaffing range, but Dever held off, and it made one more run.

“Seth got us right back on top of him,” said Dever. “I gaffed him, we threw him on the deck and that’s when we started celebrating.”

Williams knew they had landed a significant fish.

“We cheered when it hit the deck,” said Williams. “There were a couple of boats beside us and they cheered too. It was pretty neat.“

At the weigh-in, Lil Crazy came up just .90 pounds short of Bare Necessities’ fish but came up big when the checks were distributed.

“It’s an unbelievable tournament,” said Williams, who has fished in the event six times overall and three straight years. “It’s so well run. We were fortunate to finish second. It all worked out in the end.”

For complete results, visit https://www.usopenkmt.com/