ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — Eighty-nine boats eased off The Wharf through the no-wake zone at daybreak Friday.

This weekend ends the season for the Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, which since Spring has gone up the Atlantic Coast and Texas to Dauphin Island coast and now to Orange Beach, a championship destination.

Orange Beach is on the way to becoming “the fishing capital of the world,” the vision of Convention and Visitors Bureau’s (CVB) president/CEO Herb Malone who welcomed a capacity crowd of fishing folk at The Wharf’s Amphitheatre Wednesday evening.

Leading the armada to the Bay and Gulf via the intracoastal canal were division qualifiers who were recognized at the amphitheatre by tourney coordinator Chris Hoover. Capt. Robert Ayelsworth of St. Petersburg led team “Baitmasters,” Gulf Division; Ron Mitchell of Port St. Lucie, Fla., led team “Bandit,” winner of the East Florida Division point race; and Neal Foster of Mobile led team “Intense” for the Upper Gulf Division. 

Team “King of Kings 2” was led by Bart Wetherington of Richmond Hill, Ga., of the South Carolina/Georgia Division. Finally, team “Wrench Head,” the top qualifier from the North Carolina Division, was captained by Kevin Lawson of Ramseur, N. C. 

Kevin Alexander, captain of team “Force 10” from the Upper Gulf Division, won the 2006 FLW Kingfish Series championship title in Orange Beach. He wishes to win the big one to offset disappointment this year. He says that bait and weather will be the determining factors. Event coordinator Chris Hoover had outlined the weather promises during the Wednesday captains’ gathering. Thursday was not favorable, Friday and Saturday were more favorable owing to the nature and sequence of the weather fronts observable. 

Alexander gave an idea about the size of kingfish. He wished to land at least a 40-pounder on Friday to make the cut, and another 30- or 40-pounder on Saturday to win the championship. This gives a clue to the expected weights of the kingfish in this area. The event does not suffer from lack of participants nor media coverage. Fox Sports Network will broadcast and the event will be seen by millions of enthusiasts. 

The sponsors mentioned at the initial gathering were The Wharf, Brett/Robinson, Live Bait at The Wharf, and the Alabama Gulf Coast Sports Commission.