Don's Bait and Tackle

 

This years tournament was a huge success and I want to thank everyone who helped put it all together.  We made some changes from last year after some constructive criticism and the event was much better this year.  There are a few people I need to thank individually first. Greg the owner of Starbrite Marine products really came thru again this year with an amazing donation of product from his company. Chris Hueston also went way beyond any expectations by getting his sponsors Bass Assassin and Rapala to make huge donations in product that we were able to put into the captain’s buckets and in the raffle. Bob Reeves from Strongarm products also made a very helpful donation. Gene Christman as here again with Pepsi and brought more Pepsi product than we could ever go through. Gary Brantley and his crew for putting on an amazing BBQ and Mary Joe’s Dinner for providing the sides. Capt. Glenn Hammond was able to get one of his sponsors Boca Bearing to give everyone a Gift Certificate for product from Boca Bearrings. Carmen and Nelson Padron for helping gather donations and items for the raffle and last but not least Lewis walker who was able to get over $1000.00 in donations from local business and individuals for the tourn. Also, Let me thank Jorge Martinez for providing amazing artwork again this year for the awards. If I forgot anyone I’m sorry, but believe me you’re not forgotten.

Here’s the break down of the results:

36 teams fished 38 registered

total of 79 anglers

largest Trout (tie) 23″

Eric Estrada and Capt. Mike Hutchisson ( Capt. Mike won on time)

 

 

Largest Redfish – 34″ Alex Hernandez

Largest Snook – 35″ (tie) Chris Hueston and Asael Almaldonada

Asael won on Time

 

Overall Male Angler – Alex Hernandez 20″ trout, 34″ redfish, 32″ snook

total all 3 species and 86″

Overall Female Angler – Barb Tucker

all 3 species 16.5″ trout, 25.5″ redfish, 29.5″ snook total 71.5 ”

Overall Team – Alex Hernandez and Eric Estrada

both had all 3 species and a team score of 170.5 ”

Here are some pics from the tourn.

 

    

 

 

One of the unique things about our tourn. is the amount of activities we have going on for the family and kids during the day while the anglers are out fishing.  These activities are open to the public and are free of charge. This year we had 3 bounce houses, pony rides, snow cone machines, several activities to keep the kids busy and free fishing rod/reel combos for any kids that showed up. We try and make the tourn. community friendly and invite anyone to come out and have a good time.

 

Thanks to all our sponsors.

 

 

 

Once again thanks for everyone’s support and I look forward to an even bigger event next year.

Ashley

 

 

 

Our 2nd Annual Don’s Bait and Tackle Backcountry Blowout Tourn. to benefit St. Jude Children’s Hospital is set to happen Saturday March 31. We’re putting all the finishing touches on everything and registration is open.  This year because of the overwhelming turnout we have to limit the tournament to the first 50 teams. This ensures everyone gets a filled captains Bucket and things run as smooth as possible.  Our sponsors are starting to send therre items in and I’ll update everyone as things start to show up.  Remember this year you can have as many anglers on your team as you want allowing for more families to fish together and enjoy the event.

Below you’ll find the rules and regisrtation form.  So if you want you may sign up via fax 305-247-6293. You may also stop in the shop to pick up your copies of both.

tourn rules 2012

2012 Registration Form

This year Jorge Martizez will be providing our awards again all of which will be originals.  We want our tourn. winners to have only the best so no copies or reproductions you get the one of a kind artwork that Jorge is famous for. We have 6 different awards for our tourn.  Largest Redfish, Largest Trout, Largest Snook, Team Grand Champion, Male top angler and this year we’re adding Female top Angler.

This year we’ll have all the same activities for the family including, bounce houses, face painting, horse rides, cotton candy, and we’ll be adding some surprises to make sure the kids and family members not fishing have plenty to do while we’re waiting for the anglers to get back. The activities for the family start at noon and will continue until after the awards ceremony. The Pavilion at Harris Field is an extremely safe place and the kids can run around and have a great time. Also, the city requires us to have 2 police officers at the event which adds to the security of the parking situation with the boats and comfort for our kids playing around.

Feel free to give us a call 305-247-6616 or email me donsbaitandtackl@bellsouth.net with any questions, concerns, or comments.  I look forward to another amazing tourn. and everyone’s help in raising money for the St Jude Children’s Hospital

 

Thanks Ashley

 

 

 

We’ll be updating any and all changes to the current leader board so anyone can check and see what the current catches are and what sizes are leading each catagory.

                    

 

New Date for No frills put your money where your mouth is redfish and snook tourn. 

All the rules and the format will stay the  same the only thing changing is the date.

It is now Sat. November 19th.

Our little no frills tourn. has encountered some logistic and organizational hurdles so we are having to make some changes.

 

First you can have as many people on a boat as you want. The entry fee is just $50.00 per person.

 

Second we will not be meeting in Everglades National park the morning of the tourn. nor after for the payout. We have decided to allow people to check in only at Don’s Bait and Tackle on Fri. November 18th after 7:00 pm or on the morning of the event Sat. November 1. We’ll be opening a hour early (4:00AM) for those who want a early start.

 

The payout ceremony to issue money to the winners will be at 5:00 PM in the parking lot of Don’s Bait and Tackle. We’ll have food and drinks available for everyone.

 

Just to clarify this is not a tourn. in Everglades National Park it is a largest Redfish/ Snook tourn. and you can fish anywhere you want.  

 

Sorry about any of the confusion Please see the Don’s Tourn. page on our website for more details.

 

Thanks Ashley

 

The next tournament is set and the event promises to be a good time with the chance to take home some cash.

We’ve decide to put on another simple format cash tourn. with a very reasonable entry fee so that everyone can fish. We also have a cash payout with all the money collected from the entry fees being paid to the winners.

Here are the rules and format :

• $50.00 per person with only 2 people per boat
• Cash prizes for the single largest Redfish and single largest Snook ( largest being the longest). The entry fees will be split evenly between the two. 
• ie 20 anglers at $50.00 each means $500.00 for snook and $500.00 for the redfish.
• The length is determined with a pinch tail
• In the event of a tie on the length of the fish the first fish caught on time will determine the winner.
• A picture of the fish as it is measured against the tourn. supplied measuring device must be completely legible
• Each boat must supply it own camera
• A score sheet and measuring device will be provided at check in either the night before or the morning of the tourn.
• You can pay at check in the night before or the morning of the tourn. Remenber as many people as you want $50.00 per person.  Cash only this money will be paid out that day.
• a random group of 5 people will be selected to view the winning photos and verify that they are the winners.
• You can start fishing after 5:00 am the morning of the tourn. You can fish wherever you want and however you want. There are no rules regarding how you may fish. You must be back at Don’s Bait and Tackle by 5:00 PM to turn in your scorecard if you are 1 minute late you will be disqualified

So in a nutshell. You check in and pay your money either sat. night the 15th or in the morning the 16th.  You go fishing wherever you want and fish however you want. Take pictures against the ruler we provide and write down the time. Come back to Don’s by 5:00 PM and see if you won some cash. That’s it

If you have any questions you can reach me at the shop 305-247-6616 or email me donsbaitandtackl@bellsouth.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our First Annual Bonefish/ Permit Tourn. was a great success. We had 24 anglers competeing for $1800.00 dollars in prize money. The largest Bonefish caught by Robbie was 26″ to the fork and Russ caught the largest permit 29″ to the fork. They each took home $900.00 for their efforts. Overall the event was a success with a very simple fromat. No captain’s meeting, no goodie bag, no frills just show up and fish and see how you do. 

We’ll start having these simple format tourns. every couple of months so stay posted.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

I want to Thank everyone who helped make this tournament happen. Without the support of the sponsors and anglers this would not have been possible. We were able to raise $1500.00.  This really makes all the work and preparation worth it.

We started off with a great captains meeting at Stick and Steins. They provided us with free finger food and the outside bar area all for free for this meeting.

We had a total of 35 boats fishing the tournament with 76 total participants. This was a unbelievable turnout for our first tournament ever from the shop. The following is a list of the winners.

Largest Snook:    Erik Tietig 33.5″

Largest Redfish:    Greg Hutchenson 27.5″

Largest Trout:    Capt Benny Blanco 22″

Individual Grand Champion:  Capt Benny Blanco 3 species 75″

Team Grand Champion:  Alex Hernandez and Eric Estrada 3 species each 132″

The Celebrity Challenge Winners: Flip Pallot Score was 67″ These people had better individual scores than Flip.

Capt Benny Blanco 75″

Chris Hueston 73″

Erik Tietig 70.5

Adam Gelber 69.5″

Carmen Perez-Pardon 68″

Eric Estada 68″

Honorable Mention: Capt Brian Esposito and Rick Hess They both caught all 3 species and had an impressive 33′ redfish and 37.5″ snook but, had to be disqualified for being late (5 Minutes) for the check in. Sorry guys.

Congratulations to all the winners. They all received one of a kind original artwork from artist Jorge Martinez. I have to give a special thanks to Jorge for really coming through with the awards. They were amazing and really made winning a category in the tournament something to remember. Thank you very much Jorge.

I also have to thank Capt. Rod Fordyce and Flip Pallot for donating their time and energy to our cause and helping us raise money for St Jude Children’s Hospital. They added a unique and friendly competition to the event . Thank you guys very much.

They events and activities setup  for the kids, bounce houses, face painting, cotton candy machine, pony rides, ect. were a huge hit with the kids and they all had a blast and went to bed early. Everyone who had their families there said that was one of the neat concepts of our tournament and really made it a special event.

Overall this event was a huge success and I look forward to learning from my mistakes this year and putting together an even bigger and better tournament next year.