PFTS Mystery Lure Tournament

Wed, May 23, 2012

Monday, 12 December 2011 01:00

PFTS Mystery Lure Tournament

Written by Bill Howard

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Sixty two anglers woke up bright and early on November 19th, in eager anticipation of kayak fishing tournament number two in the Paddle-Fishing.com Tournament Series. “The Mystery Lure” has all anglers using the same exact lure or in this case “lures”. This year the Mystery Lure was sponsored by Culpirt Riptide. As each angler signed in, they were handed their lure bag, loaded with an amazing assortment of lures.

PFTS Lures

Left to Right –Bottom Row - 3” Mullet in Rootbeer / Gold Flake - 5” Flats Chub in Firefly – 3.5” Shirmp in Gold n Glow. Top Row – 4.5” Inshore Minnow in Bunker - 2” Blue Crab - 3.5” Top water shad. Jigs L to R – 1/16 oz Screw Lock – 1/8 0z HD Pro Jig

With lures in hand, the competitors launched within the designated boundaries, which were the Weedon Island area of Tampa Bay. With a weather forecast calling for increased winds, many anglers chose to find spots that afford them protection from the wind, while others braved it and hit the exposed flats. Despite the gusty winds, all anglers reported good catches with the lures provided by our gracious sponsors. The Pic-N-Sip, our name for a “weigh-in”, was held at “Harveys”, a local establishment in the area.

PFTS Walt Ruda

1st place Slam (Snook, Redfish, Trout) of 75” went to Walt Ruda. Walt used the 3.5” Shrimp in Gold N Glow to land this beautiful snook

2nd Place Slam went to Justin Chaoun with 65.5”

PFTS Riptide mullet

Justin used the 3.5” Mullet in Root beer and Gold Flake, rigged on a 1/16th oz weedless Mustad Power lock hook to catch his slam.

3rd Place Slam went to Chuck Statham with 64” (Chuck could not be contacted for this interview)

PFTS finalists

PFTS top finalists from left to right, Justin Chaoun, Walt Ruda and Chuck Statham.

Again, from everyone at the PFTS we wish to thanks Culprit Riptide for the generous contribution to this years PFTS.

The next tournament in the series is “The Tackle Box”, on Jan 28th 2012. Competitors will be allowed to bring whatever they chose to fish with as they chase the Angler of the Year, which is sponsored by Jackson Kayaks

About the Author: Bill Howard is a Pro Staff Member at Yakangler.com, as well as Malibu Kayaks. He is also on the Columbia Sportswear Pro Team. Bill is an avid photographer and writer, contributing to numerous websites and publications in the Tampa Bay area. In 2008 he completed a 17 day, 129 mile trip around Tampa Bay raising nearly $4000 dollars for the American Heart Association. He is also a board member for the Tampa Bay Chapter of Hero's on the Water.

Read 1009 times Last modified on Sunday, 11 December 2011 21:47

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Bill Howard

About the Author: Bill has lived and fished the South shore of Tampa Bay since 1972. An aspiring photographer and writer, he has had several of his pictures published in several local fishing publications and was selected to write for an Australian Kayak Fishing Journal called “Blade”. He is on the Pro Staff for Fins Braid, Columbia Sports Wear and Slayer Inc.

As a member of the Malibu Kayaks Pro Team, Bill is active in the local and state tournament scene. He has won numerous Catch, Photo and Release tournaments as well as several online tournaments. He has also helped organize demonstration days and seminars covering such topics as safety as well as fishing the flats.

In 2008 he completed a 129 mile, 17 day trip around Tampa Bay. The event called “Paddle Around the Bay” raised nearly $4000 dollars for the American Heart Association. He also volunteered his time and served on the Hillsborough County Sea Grass Task Force. Charged with developing plans to protect the fragile sea grass in Tampa Bay, the committee made recommendations directly to the county commissioners that when put into place will greatly improve the health of the sea grass in the bay.

Bill serves as Vice President of the Tampa Bay chapter of Hero’s on the Water. This group is tasked with taking injured and recovering veterans out fishing in kayaks. Paddle. Fish. Heal is their motto.