Nauti Gull crew wins SKA fishing event in record fashion

Chad Sullivan, his son Chance and the crew aboard Nauti Gull patiently fished one promising spot last Saturday in the James Island Yacht Club King Mackerel Tournament and it paid off for them in a big way.

The fishing day dragged on, but eventually early in the afternoon, the Sullivans got the big bite they were hoping for, winning the tournament and setting a South Carolina Southern Kingfish Association record by landing a 53.25-pound king mackerel.

Chance Sullivan, a 15-year-old rising sophomore at Charleston Math and Science, was the angler on the record fish and his dad gaffed the smoker that set the new standard for kings in South Carolina SKA events.

The king was the first 50-pounder caught in a South Carolina-based SKA tournament. The previous record was a 49.6-pounder caught by Gary Smith aboard Daddy’s Money in 2002.

The Sullivans were fishing with Sarah Burke, who was driving the boat while the fish was on, Brian Wilkinson and Will Schnexnayder, all of the Charleston area.

The Nauti Gull – a 26-foot Sailfish powered by Yamaha – won both the Small Boat Class and the Open Class, earning the crew nearly $25,000 in cash and prizes.

The Sullivans decided to fish about 35 miles south of Charleston in 100 feet of water along with three other boats, using a variety of bait including menhaden, mullet and ribbonfish.

“We had three spots pretty close together, all to the south, we planned to fish,” said Chad Sullivan, a 1990 graduate of Socastee High School and a 1994 graduate of Coastal Carolina University. “It looked pretty good. We were marking good bait and we saw the three other boats catch a lot of fish so we stuck it out there.”

The crew caught only one small king during the morning.

“It was slow and I previously had ribbonfish and mullet on the downrigger,” Chad Sullivan said. “I put a menhaden on the downrigger 40 feet down and five minutes later the big fish ate. I was the one who took the rod out of the rod holder and handed it to my son, you could tell it was a good, heavy fish.”

The crew cleared the lines, Chance Sullivan took the rod to the bow and Burke began chasing the fish down.

“The fish made a typical initial hard run, took about half the spool, but he was well-behaved,” Chad Sullivan said. “It was textbook. He came straight to the boat. We probably had him in the boat in 10 minutes.”

Before gaffing the fish, Chad Sullivan got a look at it.

“When I first saw him in the water 20-30 feet down, I told the crew it was a good fish. I could see how big his shoulders were,” he said. “He was probably five feet under water when I gaffed him. The second the fish hit the deck I told them ‘Let’s clean up, we’re going to the hill. We just won the tournament and we probably have a state record.’ ”

At the weigh-in, Chad Sullivan proved prophetic.

The largest king previously caught aboard Nauti Gull was a 45-pounder at the SKA Nationals in Biloxi, Miss., a few years ago.

“I knew it was bigger than that fish, absolutely,” Chad Sullivan said.

The second-largest king caught in the tournament, the first in SKA’s Division 3 (South Carolina), was a 34.80-pounder weighed in by Low Country Native. Chad Sullivan was left proud of his son, in the record books as the angler on South Carolina’s SKA record king mackerel.

“He’s been fishing with me ever since he could walk and he’s fished all tournaments with me since he was 6 years old,” Chad Sullivan said. “He can do it all – drive the boat, catch bait, reel, gaff. I was excited for him.”

The Sullivans’ fish was less than 10 pounds off the current South Carolina state record king mackerel – a 62.0-pounder caught out of Charleston in 1976.

Chad Sullivan began fishing in king mackerel tournaments in 2003 and has recorded several top-10 finishes. He won the Beaufort Kings for Kids Tournament in 2007 with a 36-pounder.

The final two tournaments in SKA’s Division 3 will be held in the Myrtle Beach area – The Rumble In The Jungle Sept. 16 out of Harbourgate Marina in North Myrtle Beach and the Marlin Quay King Mackerel Shootout Oct. 21 out of Marlin Quay Marina in Murrells Inlet.

This story was originally published August 6, 2016 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Nauti Gull crew wins SKA fishing event in record fashion."