BigBendFishing.Net

WTF....Where's the report....I was tasked to ask Sir Reel what happened at the weigh in, as well....So, Bud what gives do tell

Report or is it that bad....

I fished with Jeff Trent. It was no different than most of the tournaments I've fished in. I had to carry the load for the team landing all 5 keepers and the bonus fish.

We fished until 11:00 or so until this started to roll in on us...










We had 4 keepers and the bonus fish when the storm hit. We waited about an hour and went back out to catch the last one. We decided to call it a day at 1:00 when my line was floating in the air and my rod buzzed on every twitch.

Back at Jerry's where we enjoyed Boat Drinks and Smoothies courtesy of Scott. TC and SirReel manned the fryer and a good time was had by all. Well there was one thing that happend at the weigh in, but I'll let Bud tell that one.


One tip, igloo cooler rulers may not be regulation size.


Oh Yeah, We won!

















Thanks Jeff for a great day of fishing.

WTG That looks like a nasty storm!

Good deal, Tom. West or East. Live or Artificial.

I didn't see TC holding any fish....

Good job Big T on the win....

I noticed the same thing, Chalk. What about it T.C.

We caught them mostly west. A few east. All on artificials.

TC had fish, I just must have missed getting his picture (or my camera rejected it). TC actually won big fish.

Great Toury folks. I had a great time. Great food and friendship. Went to Keaton Beach today and got wet again. Super photos Tom. But I remember them being a lot blacker.

I can say we had a good time and it was good to finally meet some of you guys, you made us feel welcome and we will be back for more. And hopefully catch a few more fish.

I'm glad Tom got some pics of that storm, it was an awesome looking site.

That storm hit the Bottoms area around 10 but at least I didn't have ta wash the boat

Congrats on another win Tom

Chalk requested:

....I was tasked to ask Sir Reel what happened at the weigh in,

There's not much I can say about the weigh in except that one of our fish was challenged as being short. (actually 2 were challenged) The tournament director measured the fish on the tournament stick and it was determined that one was short of the legal 15 inches and disqualified. The fish was caught early in the morning (I won't say who caught the fish cause it's my responsibility for anything that goes in the box... and as much fun as some of the members are gonna have with this ..... it wouldn't do any good to say it wasn't me . I can say that the fish was legal when it went into the box (two witnesses) and when the fish was put on the cooler top, at the weigh in, it was still legal but the measur'n stick used by the tournament director is the standard for all and I'm OK with that. I can say that when the cooler top is checked with a tape...it's between 1/16 and 1/8 off. I am fully aware that a fish can shrink after being in a cooler for a while SO... It's my fault! I do find it interesting that no mention was made that our team had the first place catch prior to the challenge. The challenge was made by the second place team. The second place team became the first place team. Even with one of our fish removed we still finished Second!! In addition, we had the Biggest Trout Weighed In. Because we did not enter the "Big Fish Pool" Tin Can's team won the pot with the SECOND BIGGEST FISH weighed in. TC did thank us for not entering the pool but did not offer to share
I had a great crew with Rodbow (David Griffith) and Carl Vinson (BlindHog). They fished hard and were not phased by the weather we had to deal with, the slow bite, all the location changes, the one hour rain delay, going back out for an hour and catching one more (very legal) trout to finish the day. They deserve a lot of credit and I get the notoriety for bringing in a "short" trout to the weigh-in. As I said, ...with this group it wouldn't do any good to say it any other way cause they're gonna have a bunch of fun with this for at least another 12 to 18 months .... or will they make it 15 months just to prove a point.. I want to commend the Tournament Director for handling a very volatile and politically charged situation with diplomacy and poise.... it's hard to measure a fish with the second place team's heads in the way

I want to say how much we enjoyed seeing catchin1 and his lovely partner join us. You folks please do join us again and we hope you had a good time.

For the record it was made mention to me by another person in the tournament (not in the running for anything) that the fish looked short. I was in the process of taking the picture at the time and then noticed it myself. Yes I was the one who challenged but left the determination up to the tournament director on what to do.

We did have quite a bit of fun at Bud's expense. But in all fairness, its not the first time this has happend and probably won't be the last.

I was the catcher and measurer of the trout in question. I used the Igloo cooler's ruler and it was over 15" according to it, and that is a fact. Actually it was STILL 15" at the weigh in, according to that same FAULTY tool.

So please go easy on Sir Reel, he really was just a bystander. On a day like Sat where we all feared a five-fish keeper catch might be darn hard to come by, I didnt think I was doing anything "wrong" keeping a 15.

Oh, and in case some were wondering or questioning, I always scrupulously comply with all FWC regs in fishing and in hunting. And, from my experience so do Sir Reel and RodBow.


Carl Vinson, BlindHog

I don't think anyones integrity is being questioned just a little fun being had

Blindhog we were almost in the same situation, Steve checked 1 of ours and it was barely 15 on the stick. We also go buy our cooler lid and it was about 151/2" on our lid. Never really crossed my mine to veryfi cooler lid. We'll get a better way to check from now on cuz I'm sure "The Man" don't care what you cooler lid says.

BTW we got to the "weigh-in" at about 2:55 and looked like to me it was over with except for us. Is that common practice or just the weather ran everyone in early?