The second Saturday of August I was invited to an office fishing tournament.It started at or about 5:00 PM.That just meant that the temperature was going to be about 98 degrees.This is the Dog Days of summer.There were about 20 people fishing because the Grand Prize was $100 for the biggest fish.After catching about 30 pan fish, I decided that was enough and decided to load up on my 4-wheeler and go to the other side of the lake.After fishing for a while, and changing bait like changing socks, I decided to try something crazy.In my tackle box, for some reason, I had some salt water bait.It was a piece of plastic about 3 inches long - white with a red tip.So I said, "Why not!"I put a #3 hook in it and tied it on my bait-casting reel.I threw it out into deep water and just let it settle to the bottom and waited for a few minutes.I started to reel it in and "dang! I've got a tree branch".I snatched it to get it loose but it didn't come loose.Instead it started moving.I reeled it in and the line started to go from side to side.I then realized I had a fish.After a good fight, I thought this may be the winning fish.It was a nine pound channel catfish.I tied the fish onto my 4-wheeler and came in with my prize fish.It was the biggest that day and the $100 prize was all mine!Wow, you never know what bait or what kind of fish you will catch.Just keep on fishin....
Wilderness Calls fishing pros attend fishing tournaments on a regular basis. That is when they are not hunting.
This weekend's pictures from Reeling for Kids Tournament.
Wilderness Calls is very proud of our Captain Sam and his crew this weekend! The winning redfish was only 1/2 pound heavier than Sam's entry. GO Captain Sam!!!!!
Last week's Tournament the team placed 5th out of 60!!!!
Saturday April 25 my first mate , Dell Mathis and I, fished the fishing for kids tournament, put on by Shands hospital in Steinhatchee FL. We started out fishing south towards Pepperfish. As the sun started clearing the trees I knew it was going to be a good day of fishing. We caught a lot of little trout to start out with ,but not the size we were after. Later on in the day we came across a group of gator trout the first hit I had was on a trout that was way over 20''. I had him right to the boat when the trout made one more run and shook the hook. But that's fishing. I made a couple more cast in the same area and hooked a couple more nice trout .As the day winded down we headed in to weight in. As we looked at the board we new we had a chance but their was a couple of people that put us out of the running. We ended up finishing 5th on the trout stringer. With the trout I lost would have put us in 2nd place. But you cant win them all. Thanks Wilderness Calls' maybe we can get them next time.
Mel Tillis Tournament
On Saturday 18th my first mate Dell Mathis and myself was fortunate to enter the Mel Tillis Fishing Tournament in Steinhatchee, Florida. This is just one of many fishing expeditions we have participated in.We are fortunate to be sponsored by Wilderness Calls, in their ever expanding quest for excellence.We launched the boat at 6:00 A.M., as the sun was easing up over the tree tops and began to fish.Mother Nature was not to kind to us as we began to fish for that record catch, for she had kicked up a wind of approximately 10 Knots.This made it difficult to locate the schools of fish.At 10:30 A.M. my first mate observed a school of red fish near some rocks where we had been fishing earlier in the week.Using a gold spoon, I hooked into a large red fish that made me forget about our rough start.After 10 minutes of fighting the large fish I managed to land it in the boat.This was the start of a successful day, for we caught several fish after that. We were able to land a large trout with a poping cork, using shrimp for bait.By 3:50 P.M. we felt that we had enough fish to enter the weigh in.The red fish weighed in at four and one half pounds and placed fifth in the tournament.Note the winning red fish was five pounds.The stringer of trout that we had caught was good enough for eight place.It was a successful day, for the tournament consisted of fifty boats, with an average of three angular to a boat.We did not win all the money but that is part of fishing.It was a successful outing and thanks to Wilderness Calls we will be entering another tournament on the 25th and if the fishing gods are kind to us we will place even higher.
