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The Gulf Coast Chopper Team displays their catch to the crowd |
PALMETTO -- Despite the rain, crowds flocked to the 27th annual, all-amateur fishing tournament hosted by the Bradenton Yacht Club (BYC). The Saturday morning shotgun start went beautifully, as did the Sunday weigh-in. There were just over 100 boat entries; 72 inshore, 12 offshore and 18 junior anglers.
Although the committee took in fewer entries compared to last year, they still managed to start a new scholarship fund, draw a huge sponsor, and exhibit a much coveted raffle prize: Ôthe booze wagon’.
Even when the pool deck closed down because of lightning, spectators were in good spirits. The children who had been swimming, threw down their floaties and watched in awe as the giant groupers were weighed in
from the offshore division.
Some competitors thought that the big freeze the area suffered in the winter season seemed to reduce the amount of snook and red fish that were brought in. Others thought that this year the fishing was better than last year because of the great tides. Whatever the case, anglers seemed to exude liveliness and there was no shortage of fish.
Some species, like flounder, that are usually not so abundant, appeared rather frequently.
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| Fishing boats line up to weigh in |
”There was plenty of bait,“ said Chris Bringas, who fished with team Vick’s Performance Transmitters on the boat Reel Strippers. ”There were a lot more flounders than usual, a lot of trout on the flats, but we couldn’t find the snook and the red fish.“
One angler went to great lengths to capture his snook; he jumped in after it!
”I knew I had a big snook (on the line),“ said Ryan Duncan with Team Sardinekiss, ”He ran right under a dock. The only option was to lose the fish or go in after it.“
Duncan wasn’t about to let his prime catch get away. He jumped in the water with his pole and was reeling and swimming at the same time. He actually did recover the fish and was credited for a 17 pound snook.
The results were as follows:
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| Under 16 anglers Zack Guerin, Jason Cook and Wesley Woodward |
Inshore
Place Team Name Captain Points
1 Team Robolo Justin Teachey 359
2 MYELS.com Ryan Taylor 336
3` Key Glass Charlie Withers 318
Off-shore
Place Team Name Captain Points
1 Gulf Coast Chopper Chris Cramer 326
2 We Need Many Nate Forest 281
3 Jumbo Shrimp Paul Christie 280
Under 16
Place Team Name Captain Points
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| Madi Sheid holds up part of Daddy DJ's catch |
1 Bailin’ Out Jake Hine 223
2 Outkastz.com James Burton 192
3 Knotty Wyatt Plume 182
4 N/A Wesley Woodward 173
Under 19
Place Team Name Captain Points
1 Tile with Style Joshua Johnson 273
2 Action Yamaha Jimmy Campbell 242
3 Bust-a-Knott Tanner Heintz 231
Biggest Fish Inshore
Team Name Captain Species Size Points Angler
Key Glass Charlie Withers Flounder 5 lbs 45 N/A
Island Rats Jason Armstrong Redfish 34 in 56 Will Boziane
Team Robolo Justin Teachey Snook 40 in 56 Nate Hansen
Anything’s Permit’d Mark Royall Trout 26 in 61 Jared Ward
MYELS.com Ryan Taylor Trout 26 in 61 N/A
Biggest Fish Offshore
Team Name Captain Species Size Points Angler
Gulf Coast Chopper Chris Cramer Grouper 34 lbs 64 N/A
Gulf Coast Chopper Chris Cramer Amber Jack 43 lbs 53 Dillon Cramer (14 yr old)
We Need Many Nate Forest Kingfish 37 lbs 62 N/A
Haulin’ Grass Brian Turner Wahoo 30 lbs 60 N/A
Biggest Fish Other
Team Name Captain Species Size Points Angler
WWBD DJ Scheild Permit 25 lbs 55 N/A
Playmate Scott Wilson Cobia 26 lbs 51 N/A
There were a couple of new additions this year. The first being a scholarship fund set up by the committee in order to sponsor the Crosthwait Education Program, which is a donation available to any junior angler age 17-24, who is currently attending or planning to attend college within the next year.
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| Steve Bertran, part of team Lucky Legends, displays a nice snapper |
The only stipulation is that the chosen angler must have fished in this year’s tournament. The amount of scholarship will be determined by the committee and interviews will begin after the competition is over.
The Crosthwait board is hoping to extend the program to take place annually.
Bealls Department Store’s "Reel Legend" brand backed the tournament this year by providing all of the t-shirts. This was a huge sponsorship that was promoted by anglers that grew up in the tournament.
A raffle was held with the grand prize being a booze wagon, with between $500-$1000 worth of liqueur. Each bottle was donated by a member of the committee to support the scholarship fund.
Other baskets were raffled off individually.
”This way, people can pick what they want to win,“ explained volunteer Whittany Scott. ”It’s great because people who don’t drink aren’t stuck with a basket of wine, and people who don’t have kids don’t get molds of sandcastles. All the money goes towards helping our kids go to college.“
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| The infamous 'booze wagon' |
All snook, redfish, tarpon and trout submissions are done via photograph. This allows participants to be credited for fish that would legally be over the limit and therefore not permitted.
”The tournament has changed a lot from what it once was, ”said Todd Schunmar. ”Now there is readily available photography and they take pictures. That’s why everyone waits until the offshore boats come in. (The new rules) are better for the fish, but not as exciting for the spectator.“
There was plenty of excitement to be had by anglers. There were several reports of manta rays jumping over boats, tarpon attacking bait while someone was still holding it, guys sleeping on tackle boxes, and even a report of a three-legged mermaid sighting (although the latter source being questionable).
”Most of all, I want to thank our sponsors and the BYC for giving us a place to hold this event,“ said committee member Missy Higgins. ”What would we do without them?“
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