56 lb, 12 oz kingfish

Seamus Caskey’s kingfish currently leads the STAR tournament. Seamus is 14 years only; the fish weighted 56 lbs, 12 ozs.

Seamus, fishing with his father and some his friends, were trolling blue runners around Rig 681 when the big kingfish took the bait. He recalls it was around 3:00 p.m. and it was hot. The group of anglers were about to call it a day. They had just landed a 46 lb kingfish and had iced it down. They baited up for one more run when the 56 lb. fish struck the bait.

“I was sitting by the rod when the fish hit,” recalls Seamus. The blue runner was about 40 yards behind the boat. “The fish stripped a couple hundred yards of line off my reel, about half of what I had on my reel. Then I gained some of it back. When the fish saw the boat he burned another couple hundred yards of line. Eventually we got him.”

Seamus’ father, Bobby said when he saw the head of the fish as it broke water, he knew exactly what Seamus had. “There was no mistaking it. It was enormous.” He estimates it took about 25 minutes from the time the fish took the bait to when it was gaffed.

“He (Seamus) fought the king all the way, not giving the rod to someone else,” continued Bobby.

”Tears of joy, lots of congratulations from everyone on the boat,” said Seamus in describing the rush of excitement after the fight. “The people on the boat put kingfish slime on my face,” the mark of a conquering warrior. “He’s a rock star in certain circles, famous in the kingfish circles,” said Bobby.

This group of anglers tries to get out at least once a month to fish for kingfish. Caskey said one of the men, Terry Pool, won the STAR kingfish division in 05 or 06; he couldn’t remember the exact year. His buddy, Darrell Rittiman, who co-owns the boat the group fishes from, won the Dorado division two years ago. Seamus won a $20,000 college scholarship in the early drawing in 2004.

If Seamus’ fish isn’t surpassed before the Tournament ends on Labor Day, he will take home a Camo Polaris Ranger Crew 570EFI with a Big Tex Trailer and a STAR Special Edition Trophy.

“If the fish holds up we definitely can use the Polaris as we have a ranch,” continued Bobby. “We are holding our breaths; there are a lot of people out there fishing for kingfish. We will see what happens.”

Photo: Brian Keen, Seamus Caskey, Bobby Caskey, Darrell Rittiman and Terry Pool