Team Intense Top Tournament Wins and Finishes

Doing well in high-profile sportfishing tournaments is incredibly difficult, especially given the high level of competition found throughout the Southeast. Whether it’s catching the largest king mackerel, releasing the most billfish for points or hunting for a trophy wahoo, Team Intense has a proven track record of success that’s unmatched by any other team on the water today. And it’s much more than just luck—preparation, skill and determination will yield consistency on the water. That’s what led them to winning the “Team of the Year” on the Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour in 2012. That’s the Intense way.

Alabama State Record Holder
Black Belly Rosefish
Spotted Scorpionfish ( Pending World Record )

2016

  • 2nd Place Wahoo – Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic
  • 4th Place Place Wahoo – Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic
  • 7th Place Place Wahoo – Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish ClassicNeal Foster’s Intense team came to Biloxi, Mississippi with a singular focus for the Gulf Coast Billfish Classic: they were going to fish for wahoo, the biggest ones they could find. While the tournament is known primarily for their big payouts for the blue marlin category, the rewards can also be substantial for game fish like tuna, mahimahi and wahoo. The team entered all the optional jackpots in the wahoo division in the tournament, a strategic move that would pay big dividends.But as with any fishing tournament, much less a world-class event like the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic, nothing was pre-ordained. The runs to the fishing grounds are long, the weather unpredictable and the fishing difficult. Wahoo by nature are one of sport fishing’s most difficult, with the shape and speed of a torpedo and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth that make heavy wire leaders a requirement for success. It’s a hit or miss proposition to specifically target one elusive species over the hundreds of thousands of square miles in the upper Gulf of Mexico. The faint of heart need not apply.Foster and his seasoned team were ready to roll as always, but they had just taken delivery of a brand-new 39-foot Contender center-console boat, powered by triple Yamaha outboards. The engines had just five hours on them, but with full confidence in his equipment, Foster simply filled the gas tanks and hit the water.“That’s the nice part about the 350 Yamahas, you just don’t have to worry about them,” he says. “We ran over a thousand miles in the tournament and they never missed a beat.” Foster says the team headed for a few Gulf hot spots that had produced good wahoo in the previous weeks. They set out a spread of live blue runners and started boating quality fish almost right away. “We were specifically targeting wahoo in this one so we didn’t bother trying to catch marlin or tuna,” Foster says. “By focusing on just one species, we were able to go after the ones we wanted, and it worked out.”Once the tournament weigh-ins began though, the Intense team saw that another boat had a much larger ‘hoo on board. The Kraken team scaled a 96.6-pounder, leaving everyone else scrambling for second place. Intense was able to weigh an 86-pound wahoo for second place, a 70.8-pounder for fourth and a 49-pound wahoo for seventh. But thanks to their entry in the various optional jackpots, the team was able to place in the money with their two biggest fish. This netted them an incredible payday of $105,530 for the tournament.“I always say that you can’t win ‘em all,” Foster reports. “All you can do is fish hard, try to execute your game plan and have fun along the way. That’s what we did and this time we came out on top.” Spoken like a true champion.

2015

  • Third Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class Overall Standings
  • First Place/Largest Kingfish, Kajun Sportsman Tournament
  • Second Place Wahoo, Emerald Coast Billfish Classic
  • Fourth Place Wahoo, Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic
  • First Place Bluefish, First Place Bonito and Third Place Kingfish, Flora-Bama Tournament
  • Second Place Kingfish, Bud Light Tournament
  • Second Place Bluefish, Fourth Place Kingfish, Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo
  • Caught the Alabama State Record and Pending World Record Spotted Scorpionfish during the ADSFR

2014

  • Second Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class Overall Standings
  • First Place, Kajun Sportsman Orange BeachTournament
  • First Place, West Delta Kingfish Classic
  • First Place Cobia, Fourth Place Kingfish, Kajun Sportsman
  • Second and Third Place King Mackerel, Second Place Cobia and Bluefish, Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo
  • Fourth Place King Mackerel, Gorenflo’s Tournament

2013

  • Second Place, Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour Overall Standings
  • Second Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class Overall Standings
  • First Place Kajun Sportsman Tournament
  • First, Second and Third Place Wahoo, Mobile Big Game Tournament
  • Second and Third Place Wahoo, Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Tournament
  • Second and Third Place Wahoo, Cajun Canyons Billfish Tournament
  • Third Place Cobia, Gorenflo’s Tournament

2012

  • First Place, Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour Overall Standings
  • Pro Angler of the Year and Pro Team of the Year, Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour
  • Fourth Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class Overall Standings
  • Fourth Place, West Delta Kingfish Classic
  • Fourth Place, Kajun Sportsman Orange Beach
  • Seventh Place King Mackerel, Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo

2011

  • Third Place, Yamaha Professional Kingfish Tour Overall Standings
  • Fourth Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class Overall Standings
  • Fourth Place, Kajun Sportsman
  • Fourth Place, Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo
  • Fourth Place, West Delta Kingfish Classic

2010

  • Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, no fishing in the Gulf of Mexico

2009

  • Third Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class Overall Standings
  • Fourth Place, SKA National Championships
  • Third Place, Bud Light Tournament
  • Third Place, Biloxi Palace Tournament
  • Third Place, Miller Lite Tournament
  • Fourth Place, Alabama Deep Sea Rodeo
  • Fifth Place, Golden Meadow Kingfish Tournament

2008

  • Third Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class Overall Standings
  • First Place, Division 7 Junior Angler
  • First Place Blue Runner, Alabama Deep Sea Rodeo
  • Third Place, TKA Texas Tournament
  • Fifth Place, Palace Casino Tournament

2007

  • First Place, FLW Kingfish Series Upper Gulf Championship
  • Second Place, Cypress Cove Tournament
  • Fourth Place, FLW Kingfish Championship

2006

  • First Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class
  • SKA Junior Angler of the Year
  • First Place, Outcast Kingfish Tournament
  • Third Place, Legendary Marine Tournament

2005

  • Ninth Place, Cypress Cove Tournament
  • Tenth Place, Alabama Deep Sea Rodeo

2004

  • Tenth Place, Alabama Deep Sea Rodeo

2003

  • Fourth Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class
  • First Place, SKA Junior Angler Division 7
  • Seventh Place, Palace Casino Tournament
  • Eighth Place, Cypress Cove Tournament
  • Tenth Place, Alabama Deep Sea Rodeo
  • Tenth Place, Mobile Big Game Tournament

2002

  • First Place, SKA Division 15 Open Class (later became Division 7)
  • First Place Division 15 Junior Angler
  • Third Place, SKA Division 7 Open Class