Well it was that time again. Time for my buddy Steve's annual family/friends tournament. As with previous years, we had three categories, Longest Largemouth, Longest Catfish, and Trophy Fish.
Here is most of the turnout (some left before the picture)....
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| Left to right. Damon, Steve, Ray, Dot, Joe, Randy, Judy, John, and Dan |
Trophy fish is determined by Steve and is based on any fish or event that deserves honorable mention. Last year I took this category for an unusual amount of Stripers caught off my boat. This year it went to Rays Army buddy, Steve for a large Pickerel (Jack). I do not remember the length but it was over 20 inches.
Largest Catfish went to Steve's sister Dot. She caught it right off of his doc about an hour before check in. Again I do not recall the length but it too was over 20. Here she is doing a victory dance ...
Steve won the Largemouth category this year with a whopping 12 inches LOL.
For whatever reason I have no pictures of the winning fish LOL You will just have tot talk my word for it.
Over all the fishing was the worst we have seen. I fished from Thursday thru Saturday and barely had anything to show for it. I did catch several nice bluegill on my ultra light to use for bait. I also picked up one tiny catfish trolling on of my new artificial perch baits.
Steve got a nice largemouth prior to the tournament right from the dock while soaking some live perch.
Steve and I went out Friday night for some night fishing. We had hope the Striper bite would be on but no luck there either. It was a great trip out though. Can't beat peaceful, cool, night fishing!
This year we had 4 boats in the water so everyone was able to head out. Rays boat had some trouble so he used Kevin's boat. Kevin could not make it this year but his boat was at Steve's getting some work done to it. Ray was able to give it a good test run. It seemed to do OK.
A great time was had by all. I look forward to next year!
Here is Ray and his sister Judy on a run...
Here is a shot of Steve's son in his Bas Tracker with his cousin John. They met up with Steve and I to exchange some baits...
Of course I had my G3 there. Steve's and I ran that all weekend. Steve's son Tommy made it in for a visit so we took him out for a while. Coleman joined up with us later that day. Still no fish.
This year I decided that since I had a camper top on my truck now, I would try out sleeping in my truck. It turned out to be nice for the most part. I had my new North Face Inferno sleeping bag, Thermarest pillow, and Exped SynMat and I could not have been more comfortable. It was a little muggy early in the night so I just used my mat and my trusty Navy blanket until it started cooling down. Then I would hop in the bag. I was close enough to the house to pick up WiFi to watch Netflix on my iPad. It was just like being at home :))
I may have to do it again next year!
I finished up the trip hanging out with Steve, Susan, and Coleman on the dock/pontoon for some last minute fishing and adult beverages. I think Steve had one too many LOL
Over all it was a great time had by all. It was good seeing everyone again and I hope those who could not make it will be able to next year. I'm looking forward to it!
