[bluffman2]

BILOXI --Gorenflo's Cobia Shootout came down to the final fish of the day from the 73-boat field Saturday at the Point Cadet Marina.

With 25 fish - some weighing more than 50 pounds - already entered into the official tournament book, a 36.2-pound cobia pushed team Fin Atic to a last-second win over S.Y.L.

In fact, the 36.2-pound cobia turned out to be the difference in a check for $7,452 for first and $2,628 for second.

When the scales closed at 6 p.m., Fin Atic was drifting inside the marina knowing Clarence Seymour and the S.Y.L. team had a two-fish combined weight of 95.40 pounds.

After watching teams like the Subdude and Bone Collector weigh fish, Mark Higginbotham guided his 36-foot Yellowfin boat equipped with three 250 horsepower Mercury engines to the dock.

The first fish off the Fin Atic tipped the scales at 68.10 pounds and was estimated to be six years old by Gulf Coast Research Lab biologist Jim Franks.

That meant the second fish had to weigh more than 28 pounds or a second place finish was in store.

The fish weighed eight more pounds than was needed.

So what were Higginbotham's first words after nailing down the win?

"We burned a lot of gas," he said. "We used 350 gallons of fuel. That's a lot at $3.50 a gallon."

With some boats opting to cut down on fuel expenses, most of the fish entered were caught at Horn Island, about 12 miles south of Biloxi, or at Chandeleur Island, 24 miles south of Point Cadet.

Fin Atic, however, crossed the Mississippi River, a three-hour boat ride from the scales.

"I had gotten some good reports across the river," Higginbotham said. "We knew it was slow (east) of the river and we had pretty good luck on the west side a couple of years ago. It paid off," he said.

Other Fin Atic team members are Mark Martino, Mark Martino Jr., Brett Higginbotham, Mike Jenner and Michael Fournier.

S.Y.L. had a brief lead after landing a 52.35-pound cobia, followed by a 43.05-pounder while fishing the beach side of Chandeleur Island in 13 feet of water.

S.Y.L., featuring a pair of 10-year-old anglers in Austin Derouen and Chance Seymour, caught both fish on live bait.

Up next? The main Gorenflo's Cobia Tournament set for May 2-4. Details: Danny or Laurie Pitalo, 432-7387.