[capt. jakeg]

Fished saturday in the contender cup. Weather was gorgeous on the ride out with almost calm conditions. When we got to the nautilus, wind kicked up out of the north. We fished a huge spread of almost fifteen eels and the bite, for lack of better words, sucked. we fished all over nautlis for a couple dirfts, then moved to the buoy 18 area. We started fishing at 7 am and didnt have the first bite until 1230. We started catching at the nautilus in the heavy north winds and mananged 4 fish, with our biggest- a 38.68 pound fish coming in the boat at 2 minutes before lines out. Our fish was good enough for second place in the calcutta, but I am not impressed. I feel we got lucky and there were much larger fish in the tournament, including a 55# fish that won by over 13#. That fish was caught by a little girl and all I can say is WOW. Great job. It was really cool watching that little girl at the dock at the weigh in. She was really proud and excited and it made the whole thing worth while watching that the excitement that young lady and her crew had. I feel as though my crew worked especially hard to maintain a huge and demanding spread and I have been much better rewarded several times this season with much less effort out there. Thanks guys. All of you did a great job. If I was hard on you I apologize. It is mentally nerve racking fishing a tournament and not getting bites when I know we are doing it right. Congratulations to all the winners. Thanks to VB contender for putting on a first class event. We will see you next year. All of our bites were on the beginning of the incoming and aparently they like the sound of running diesels because all four of our bites, which turned into four fish caught, were either on free lines or floats right under the boat. Thanks again. Jake.

 

[STX]

Thanks for the report :thumbuplease add pi'c too :yes: were you fishing any kites or balloons??

 

[Capt Max King]

Contender Cup Striper Tournament Results
32 boats


1st place Matt Oliff 55.17 $3200
2nd place Robert Hughes 46.31 $800
3rd place Rick Handly 41.88 $480
4th place AJ Marchigiani 41.65 $128
5th place Jamie Judy 41.19 $128


Chris Bait and Tackle Small Boat Challenge
1st place Matt Oliff 55.17 $320

Chesapeake Angler Magazine Live Release division
1st place Jamie Judy 41.19 $320

100 Calcutta winner take all
Matt oliff 55.17 $1620

250 Calcutta
1st place Steven Lang 39.99 $675
2nd place Jake Hiles 38.38 $405
3rd place Warren wheat 22.65 $270

 

[Brian Hogge]

thanks Jake for everything..... we sure gave it our best shot and got a few $$'s for our hard work. Good luck tomorrow at the Cape.

 

[PlaynHooky]

Hard work pays off in an odd way some times..........I am sure you, AS ALWAYS, did your best..........its tough out there with all the pressure on those fish! You as always came through!

Robert

 

[Bill Fisher]

Saw your boat was gone but had no idea where you slipped off too......not ideal conditions to eel so we trolled. Glad you caught some fish....

 

[Ben S]

We were near you guys on the Nautilus shoal in a 26 Regulator and caught one 40" fish for our efforts. My hat is off to you on managing a 15 line eel spread...hahaha..we were having enough fun with just four.

Congrats on the fish...

Ben

 

[alawson]

Thanks Jake, Had a great time. Ready to go again. That was one heck of a spread.:yes:

 

[Third Child]

Congrats to all The Winners this weekend. Like to give a special thanks to Virginia Beach Contendender for all the hard work at this years tournament. I know the tournament budget had to be light with the econmy and so forth. You guys put in alot of time and it showed.

We especially enjoyed The Chesapeake Angler Live Release Division. The tournament had a first class operation from The Rockfish Tubes to the live fish cradles at the weigh-in. We had the first Live Release of the day. Even tagged it before the release at the dock. It was fun watching the fish swim away.

I know the ASA will have the same release division next year. I hope to see it catch on for many more future tournaments!!:thumbup::thumbup:

 

[c-note]

I think I see some forshadowing in your post. Glad you stayed and grinded it out. We did really well down south and were glad we made the ride. Lets fish sometime im free around new years. Maybe we can get the ladies out.

 

[Virginia Beach Contender]

Congrats to all The Winners this weekend. Like to give a special thanks to Virginia Beach Contendender for all the hard work at this years tournament. I know the tournament budget had to be light with the econmy and so forth. You guys put in alot of time and it showed.

We especially enjoyed The Chesapeake Angler Live Release Division. The tournament had a first class operation from The Rockfish Tubes to the live fish cradles at the weigh-in. We had the first Live Release of the day. Even tagged it before the release at the dock. It was fun watching the fish swim away.

I know the ASA will have the same release division next year. I hope to see it catch on for many more future tournaments!!:thumbup::thumbup:

Thanks to you and Jake for the compliments - putting on a tournament is definitely a lot of work. I must however, give all of the credit to three people - Claude Bain, John Bain and Max King.

Without these guys, nothing would have worked right.

Claude ran the whole thing, including the weigh-in, and he is a class act. I don't know anyone who commands as much respect in this fishing community as Claude - thank you Claude for your help!

Last year he actually disqualified the Contender Manufacturer Rep. for not having a valid fishing license (he would have taken 2nd place, and a few thousand dollars). So you know you're gonna get a fair shake at The Contender Cup.

Next year, we're gonna reduce the entry fee significantly, and we're gonna add a $100,000insurance deal for a fish over a certain number of pounds - maybe 60 - we'll keep you posted.

David - VBC