BigBendFishing.Net

Going to Academy to see if I can get an official CCA ruler and then im going Redfish fishing this afternoon now that we have some good weather!

Glad to see our winners from the local area!

John - enjoy that cast'n'blast boat!!! Cannot WAIT to see that thing in the water.

Gary - congrats on the SUP, good luck on the sale.

Ralph - better luck next time around man! These things are always tough to validate, especially at this prize level.


Otherwise... CCA will have the WINNERS CHOICE drawing this Friday, September 23rd!!!

Thanks Chris, still walking on water, well, air!

I take delivery on the 15th, then have to have it checked out.

Congrats again, John, on winning the C&B. That's a cool boat that should do very well for our area. Anxious to see it myself. And you've already got someone who can pole you around.

Have only slightly better odds than winning the PowerBall jackpot but still hoping Leiza gives me a ring after the drawing on Friday for the winner's choice. The GMC truck is probably the best return for resale. I'd make the emotional one, though, and go with the Pathfinder. Or maybe the Hell's Bay. It would be a hard decision either way.

Way to go, John! Man, if I'da won that sweet rig, I'd almost be obliged make the leap of faith into motorized marine movement.

Congratulations to you as well Coach! 2 years in a row on the winner's board. Well done!

Congrats John, I've been checking out that boat the last few times I've e had mine serviced at big bend marine. Super cool looking boat. What division did you win? Also, congrats to Gary, not surprised you won something with as much work as you put into it. Congrats to both

SG, John won in the Spotted Seatrout division. He also told me Saturday his grandson won a scholarship prize, so the Williams family are STAR double-dippers. I know Luc is jonesin' to get the call on that Hell's Bay come Friday too.

With Gary Droze's win, it great to see the Big Bend well represented in this year's STAR tournament!

Thanks guys.

Jono's 7 year-old Camden won on an entry for a ladyfish he caught off the beach, while on vacation in Ft. Walton Beach. Always good to have a line wet.

Just received an email and text alert from the STAR Committee.

The Winner's Choice drawing will be televised tonight, 9/22, on the Chevy Insider Fishing Report, on Fox Sports Sun at 5 and 10 p.m. The show is hosted by Capt. Rick Murphy, who is a CCA life member.

The lucky winner will have his or her choice of the Conley Buick GMC pickup, Contender 22 Sport, Hell's Bay Waterman, Pathfinder 2200 TRS or the SeaHunt 235 Escape.

The winner actually caught a tagged fish last year, was registered for STAR, but didn't join CCA. I'm surprised the process doesn't "force" that.

Bad luck last year, good luck this year. I believe he chose the Pathfinder.

Pretty sure you can't register for STAR unless your CCA membership is active. The membership drive, along with awareness, are the reasons behind the series in all participating states.

Congrats again to all the winners. Like the Cubbies (and Atlanta Braves this season), there's always next year!

I thought so too Captain Dave, but I'm pretty sure that's the story he told on the show, with Leiza (CCA) right there. I'll check the video, i recorded it for Luc, just in case.

He may have reversed it due to nerves on television? Could have been a CCA member but not registered for STAR.

With all that has gone on this year, I'm sure the committee checked and double-checked his credentials.

I missed the second airing of the show. Was watching the Braves fry the Fish and forgot to switch over.

I don't know how you could do that but here are the remarks directly from the FL Star page:

"During the 101 days of the 2016 STAR Tournament presented by Yamaha, 20 of the 157 tagged redfish released in STAR were recaptured by anglers that were not properly registered for the tournament or did not follow the rules. This year to increase the excitement for our registered anglers STAR chose to offer a special Winner’s Choice drawing; any registered adult angler who submitted an eligible species (spotted seatrout, sheepshead, snook, cobia, kingfish, dolphin or lionfish), in any division excluding the conservation and guide divisions would be placed into a WINNER’S CHOICE drawing for one of the remaining STAR Tagged Redfish prizes. The randomly chosen winner would have their choice of the GMC Sierra 1500 crew cab pickup truck donated by Conley Buick GMC of Bradenton or one of the donated boat, motor & trailer packages either the Contender 22 Sport, Pathfinder 2200 TRS, Hells Bay Waterman or the Sea Hunt 235 Escape all powered by Yamaha.

The angler drawn using random.org is Scott Emmerman. Scott is not a new participant to STAR, in 2015 he caught a STAR tagged redfish, unfortunately he did not win, he had registered for STAR but he was not a CCA member. In 2016 he did all the right things, became a CCA member, registered for STAR and entered in the other divisions as well as fished for a 2016 tagged redfish. Congratulations!"