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This tourney was held in Crisfield, MD on September 19th and 20th. There were over 100 registered anglers and the entire Chesapeake Bay was open to fish with the primary species being speckled trout and reds. Your biggest cumulative stringer over the course of both days was measured. Hemminway (Gary) and I had been watching the winds like a hawk all week and knew that if they stayed under 15 mph, we had a good chance of not only winning the kayak division, but putting together a stringer that likely couldn't be beat by anyone. After a catered dinner on Friday (part of the $100 entry fee), we headed south...way south. After napping for a few hours and a sketchy waffle house breakfast, we hit the CBBT at 0530 to light winds and no waves.
Once 0630 rolled around, we easily caught a Hobie Livewell full of croaker and headed for our destination. It took virtually no time and my live croaker was moving faster than a croaker can move on his own. I let the bull take him for a few seconds and then it was game on.
After a 10 minute tussle, I boated a solid 40 incher to get on the board.
Not 10 minutes later, my next croaker gets absolutely slammed and I could tell that this fish had some shoulders. As I began to settle in for a longer than normal fight, I hear a bunch of screams and hoots, as everyone around me hooks up. I believe there were 6 of us hooked up, spinning in circles and getting pulled around all at once. After about 15 minutes of a "Please, Lord let my knots hold" kind of battle, I boated my largest red to date at 52". However, I couldn't get the fish on my hog trough, beside the CCA ruler, and keep the identifier in the pic (a poker chip) and still manage to get the entire fish in the pic.
I received credit for 49.5 of the 52 inches, so it wasn't too bad. I had to show them several burst pics to prove the head was in the correct position. He was a beast. I also got an really cool release shot that I am very pleased with.
After I got this pic, Gary was yelling for a hand. He had an absolute pig bull red clamped off to his anchor trolley waiting for a picture. It was his first bull red after 20+ trips; most with me. This was the hardest earned fish I have ever witnessed caught. He earned this fish more than anyone has earned anything. Way to go man. I don't have the picture, but it was a gorgeous red.
Before the hour ended, I landed another two reds. One more at 45" and a very ambitious 34" that ate a giant live croaker and fought like a 45" inch fish. Here is the last pic of the 45".
So after Day 1, Gary and I were sitting pretty. So on Day 2, we moved onto specs. Mike (Grilled), Matt (CB kayak 02), Shane Clift (Reelaxin10), Gary and I launched very close to Crisfield trying to beat a 17.5 inch speck that was currently in first. Well it didn't take Shane long to do that. As we were trolling out, I turned around to hear a huge splash and watched him land a FAT 23.5 inch speck! At least he did it in the first five minutes so, we all knew we stood zero chance.
After the weigh-in on Sunday, it was pretty clear that our Hobie/Snaggedline crew did well. I took home the win for the largest three fish stringer, the largest red, and first in the kayak division. Shane won the award for the largest speck and we finished in positions 4-8 in the Crisfield Slam. We all got a lot of really nice gear from Yeti Coolers to custom rods, costa sunglasses and a couple of really cool paintings from an artist in Miami (Eric Estrada). I have to give props to CCA for putting on a great local tourney, providing a catered meal each night, and collecting some really nice prizes. I highly encourage anyone interested to attend next year.
Here are a few more pics from the final day....
Once 0630 rolled around, we easily caught a Hobie Livewell full of croaker and headed for our destination. It took virtually no time and my live croaker was moving faster than a croaker can move on his own. I let the bull take him for a few seconds and then it was game on.
After a 10 minute tussle, I boated a solid 40 incher to get on the board.
Not 10 minutes later, my next croaker gets absolutely slammed and I could tell that this fish had some shoulders. As I began to settle in for a longer than normal fight, I hear a bunch of screams and hoots, as everyone around me hooks up. I believe there were 6 of us hooked up, spinning in circles and getting pulled around all at once. After about 15 minutes of a "Please, Lord let my knots hold" kind of battle, I boated my largest red to date at 52". However, I couldn't get the fish on my hog trough, beside the CCA ruler, and keep the identifier in the pic (a poker chip) and still manage to get the entire fish in the pic.
I received credit for 49.5 of the 52 inches, so it wasn't too bad. I had to show them several burst pics to prove the head was in the correct position. He was a beast. I also got an really cool release shot that I am very pleased with. After I got this pic, Gary was yelling for a hand. He had an absolute pig bull red clamped off to his anchor trolley waiting for a picture. It was his first bull red after 20+ trips; most with me. This was the hardest earned fish I have ever witnessed caught. He earned this fish more than anyone has earned anything. Way to go man. I don't have the picture, but it was a gorgeous red.
Before the hour ended, I landed another two reds. One more at 45" and a very ambitious 34" that ate a giant live croaker and fought like a 45" inch fish. Here is the last pic of the 45".
So after Day 1, Gary and I were sitting pretty. So on Day 2, we moved onto specs. Mike (Grilled), Matt (CB kayak 02), Shane Clift (Reelaxin10), Gary and I launched very close to Crisfield trying to beat a 17.5 inch speck that was currently in first. Well it didn't take Shane long to do that. As we were trolling out, I turned around to hear a huge splash and watched him land a FAT 23.5 inch speck! At least he did it in the first five minutes so, we all knew we stood zero chance.
After the weigh-in on Sunday, it was pretty clear that our Hobie/Snaggedline crew did well. I took home the win for the largest three fish stringer, the largest red, and first in the kayak division. Shane won the award for the largest speck and we finished in positions 4-8 in the Crisfield Slam. We all got a lot of really nice gear from Yeti Coolers to custom rods, costa sunglasses and a couple of really cool paintings from an artist in Miami (Eric Estrada). I have to give props to CCA for putting on a great local tourney, providing a catered meal each night, and collecting some really nice prizes. I highly encourage anyone interested to attend next year.
Here are a few more pics from the final day....
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