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Stinson and I fished the FFTB tournament today.
All you had to weigh was 2 redfish.
We came n 2nd with 11 pounds 15 ounces.
One ounce out of the 12 pound 1st place.
Top 5 winner spots were all 1 ounce apart.
Eighty boats and over 200 fishermen fished from Econfina to Apalachicola river boundaries.
We also caught a lot of sheepshead and black drum as well as a few trout.

Who won??

Congrats steve.

slowroller wrote:Who won??

Team X-Ray won but I don't know their names.

Pettis and I had 13 #....didn't make weigh in ....Congrats to everyone....I heard NFGFC had a strong presents in top five

Congrats Steve and Steve. Skillful angling.

Great cause and it sounds like contestants were able to work around the winds.

Any idea if all 80 boats kept fish? With optional most-spots entry and the two-fish rule, that's a lot of reds harvested in a single day. Maybe the tournament committee would consider a live release format similar to bass tournaments or a photo release format for next year? It worked for the CCA STAR tournament and has for years in the Tampa All Release and others with a lot more money/prizes on the line.

silverking wrote:Congrats Steve and Steve. Skillful angling.

Great cause and it sounds like contestants were able to work around the winds.

Any idea if all 80 boats kept fish? With optional most-spots entry and the two-fish rule, that's a lot of reds harvested in a single day. Maybe the tournament committee would consider a live release format similar to bass tournaments or a photo release format for next year? It worked for the CCA STAR tournament and has for years in the Tampa All Release and others with a lot more money/prizes on the line.

I really would like to see release tournaments become the norm around these parts - would involve a lot of strategic action on the part of the organizers to ensure a LIVE release of those fish. Example: A fish coming from Spring Warrior may not survive a release near St Marks.

Otherwise - hell of a showing from NFGFC at the tournament. And J.R. winning 99% of the raffles was hilarious. Team X-Ray (1st place) also won the 2nd largest prize: The Trolling Motor. And I think J.R.'s table won the MinnKota Talon as well. Overall great tournament it seems, and weigh-in activities.

Big format of "Must Have Veteran on Boat" for next year's tourney

silverking wrote:
Any idea if all 80 boats kept fish? With optional most-spots entry and the two-fish rule, that's a lot of reds harvested in a single day. Maybe the tournament committee would consider a live release format similar to bass tournaments or a photo release format for next year? It worked for the CCA STAR tournament and has for years in the Tampa All Release and others with a lot more money/prizes on the line.

Many boats had no fish at all. Others weighed only one fish at 4 pounds or less.
Most of the 2 fish entries were in the 8-9 pound range.

If the "Must Have Veteran on Boat" category becomes a reality, I am officially whoring myself out to first taker next year. I realized early on Saturday that this tourney is a tricky one for solo anglers, due to the no culling mandate (which I TOTALLY agree with, despite its implications for single anglers). I threw back a buncha 24 inch reds, holding out for another upper slot to go with my 26.5 keeper. Then panicked when the bite slacked, and kept a 23.5 for my second fish. Ended up one ounce behind Steve S & JT. Arrgh! (I mean...congrats, guys!).

PS Since nobody bought the fancy rod/reel combo I won last month & offered for sale, I used it to seriously try artificials for the first time. Had no idea that suspending mirrolure twitchbaits could fake out so many reds. This is a whole new world for an erstwhile mudminnow dunker.

Jumptrout51 wrote: Many boats had no fish at all. Others weighed only one fish at 4 pounds or less.
Most of the 2 fish entries were in the 8-9 pound range.

So there were still plenty of fish kept that weren't close to being in contention. Maybe a minimum weight or size would help offset that. Not anti-tournament by any means and also realize the limits were within legal harvest. Would just like to see a serious move towards release formats to ensure the long-term health of the fishery, especially with tournament popularity growing. Releasing fish still offers spirited competition and there are ways to prevent cheating for a level playing field.

Congrats Gary on your third-place finish. You had some good karma using your STAR combo. And I told you those fake baits would work.

John Swanson and his team did a heck of a job for this being their first tournament.

Steve Hobbs tore up his skeg and prop, then won $1000.00 in the Sea Tow drawing, so he can get it fixed. He also won a cooler full of gear in a drawing.

JR. and the young lady he fished with gave back their prize money for 5th place to go to the vets, then proceeded to win nearly very raffle drawing. ( Good Karma).

I don't think the tournament put a dent in the redfish population at all. Since you can only legally keep two fish and you had to weigh two, most folks threw back redfish all day long trying to get one over 24" but under 27".

I thought it was interesting how many folks in the top 5 had shallow water rigs - my jet foot boat, Gary's bicycle/kayak combo, JR's airboat. I think the tide and wind gave us some help although the winners were in a full sized boat from what I remember.

Definitely a worthwhile and well organized event. We will do it again next year.

Congratulations Steve, Steve, and Gary. Outstanding results in extraordinary conditions. Some boats had difficulty finding water, let alone redfish. Nice to see club members prevalent in the top 5. Very well done!

JR won 4th, Lloyd and Sam won 5th

What a great turn out for a great cause and Bass Pro Shops of Tallahassee is proud to support John and the Fishing for The Brave organization.