On a turbulent leaderboard, Eric Roberts' Commocean crew won the 45th annual Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament. How big was the winner?
On the glaring red numbers of the scales of the Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament, the lead was changing hands faster than the Cleveland Browns change quarterbacks.
Then, the boat called Commocean brought the commotion to a stop.
Captain Eric Roberts and his crew aboard Commocean landed the winner, a hefty 48-pounder to walk away with a giant prize for the largest fish landed at the 45th annual Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament on July 18.
Crew members Kendall Martin and Rick Mottola, hauling the fish to the scales at Jim King Park and Boat Ramp at Sisters Creek, watched those big numbers — 48.39 pounds — light up the digital display. Big numbers. Big rewards.
"It definitely felt like it would be a contender at least," Martin said.
He was right. That battle earned Roberts and the Jacksonville-based crew the big-fish grand prize: a Contender 28T boat, two motors, a T-top and trailer for an overall package worth more than $230,000, coming out on top on a day with more than $350,000 in total prize money.
The midsummer storm clouds stayed away from the traditional centerpiece on Jacksonville's summer fishing calendar, which also raises funds for Jacksonville Marine Charities.
The big fish revolving door
Dan Crowley's tournament-record 57.75-pound catch from 2023 remained well out of reach, but the big-fish leaderboard experienced an eventful ride nonetheless.
Through the afternoon, anglers swapped the lead nearly half a dozen times in a two-hour span — from St. Augustine's Paul Dean (35.73 pounds) to South Carolina's Inman Coleman (36.49) to Wayne Decosta on Frizzy Lizzy (40.93) to Jacksonville's Caleb Johnson (41.18).
At 4:53 p.m., barely half an hour from the close, St. Augustine's James Drysdale became the latest to vault to the top, weighing in a new first-place fish at 44.05 pounds. It didn't last long. Some five minutes later, Martin and Mottola walked in from the dock and stepped to the scale for their 48.39-pound catch, moving into the lead with half an hour remaining.
The Commocean crew had reeled in the deciding fish during the early morning hours, after a battle that Martin estimated at around 10 minutes.
"I gaffed it and brought it up, and I could tell he was big when his head popped out of the water," Mottola said.
No one could dislodge Commocean's mark, with only Nathan Stuart coming close. But at 45.02 pounds, Stuart and his boat Gamechanger came up four pounds short, still receiving the second prize of a $10,000 motor.
Drysdale wins aggregate
Drysdale, the big-fish leader with 35 minutes remaining, came away far from empty-handed.
Combining his top catch with a 32-pounder, Drysdale and Daniel Samurin aboard Anuket racked up a 76.21-pound total to bring home the two-fish aggregate prize, a 150-horsepower engine valued at $16,500.
The larger of the two came in during the afternoon, after a "nerve-racking" struggle that Samurin estimated around 25 to 30 minutes. In all, Drysdale said the crew caught four kingfish on the day but released the smaller ones.
Drysdale's team finished with a comfortable 12-pound cushion in the preliminary aggregate standings ahead of runner-up Jason Inman, with Philip Kelly third.
The tournament adds aquatic success to the track record in the competitive arena for Drysdale, a former standout football running back and linebacker at St. Joseph Academy in the class of 2019.
"It's totally different," he said. "This is how I keep competing when I can't play football anymore."
Fisher tops Lady Angler list
Ryanne Fisher was fishing her first Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament, and even when the scales lit up at 30.95 pounds, she didn't initially realize the implications.
As it turned out, that fish, weighed in the late afternoon, was enough to capture the championship in the Lady Angler division. Hannah Carter placed second, just a few ounces behind at 30.23.
"I knew it was big when it started running. It took a lot of line," Fisher said. "But I did not think it was going to be that big."
In the cobia division, David Filsinger won with a 35.17-pound fish.
Tournament chairman Chris Ebreo said the initial feedback appeared favorable from several adjustments this year, including the relocation of the weigh-in to a stage inside the Liars' Tent rather than its previous location adjacent to the dock.
Preliminary tallies recorded 304 boats for the single-day event, roughly on par with recent years, with more than 150 fish weighed in.
"A lot of people liked the new layout. The crowd was thick all day," Ebreo said. "Everyone's enjoying the shade and a lot of the fishermen like going up on the stage."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament: Eric Roberts, Commocean win
Category: General Sports
