Due to a death in Todd’s wife’s family, he will not be able to attend the Erick Bell Memorial this weekend.
The immediate thought was to reschedule for the following weekend. After rethinking that idea and talking to several others it seems best to cancel PFTS #3 for December.
We have several open dates in February/March where we can reschedule this event.Changing PFTS #3 to the following week (the 18th) put it the week before Christmas which just did not fit in a lot of folks schedules. Plus, it was not fair to many in the PFTS Angler of the Year race to continue with the event that would have little participation.
If you know anyone who was signed up please contact them. We would feel really bad for that one guy that did not get the news and he shows up at 6 AM at the sign in and no one is there.
Once Todd gets back from out of town, we will find some dates and reschedule PFTS #3.
Thanks for everyone’s understanding and out condolences to Todd’s family for their loss.
On Saturday, October 23rd, 43 anglers showed up to compete in the second event of the PFTS. The format for this event is “The Mystery Lure”. In this format, the PFTS organizers choose the lures and hand them out on the morning of the event. Anglers show up with no idea what they will be using that day.
The winners in the Slam Division are:
Mark Belotte (CooknFish) took 1st Place with a 69.5″ slam. He won $215 and a Polar Bear Cooler
Phinla Sinphay (Noles) got 2nd Place with a 61″ slam. He took home $129 and a Wang Anchor
Steve manning (Manning) captured 3rd place 59.25″ slam. He took home $86 and a Finatic Designs print
In the largest Trout division, the winners were:
John Ward (Vercetti) in first place with a 21.25″ trout got a $25 Gift Certificate from Masthead Sailing Gear
(l-r) Todd, Vercetti and Paul Silvernail, owner of Masthead.
John Lee (JKL) in 2nd with a 20″ trout got a hat from Hook1
Check Statham (Teamshaft1) got 3rd with a 19.5″ trout and took home a light from Custom Safety Light
In the largest Redfish Division, the winners were:
Peter Poletti (Mako) got 1st with a 25.5″ redfish
Mark Couch (Saltwater Cowboy) got 2nd with a 25.25″ redfish
Dave (Bigfish171) caught 3rd with a 24.25 inch redfish and took home the Perpetual Jug Trophy!
In the largest Snook division, the winners were:
JoseC took first with a 16.75″ snook
MarkM got 2nd with a 16.5″ snook
Bob (Dunfly) took 3rd with a 16.5″ redfish
This year we gave the anglers an excellent assortment of lures from various manufacturers. In the bag were:
4.25 inch HighRoller from High Roller Lures
Two bucktail jigs from Anglers-Ammo
Jig heads from Slayer, Inc.
A spoon from Aqua Dream
Assorted plastic tails from Bass Assassin
Anglers began arriving at the sign in at 6 a.m. eager to get their lures and start fishing
Though a bit windier than we expected, it was a beautiful, sunny day with a lot of water movement during the fishing day. Several of us launched from the Weedon Island Park launch.
The Weedon Island Park launch at sunriseAfter launching we are greeted byt the start of a beautiful dayMike (Pembrokayak) found 3 reds from this holeDave (Bigfish171) trying to upgrade his redfishGary searching…..Steve (Tide1on) searcing….Mark (MarkM) with a red on the line.At Harvey’s 4th Street Grill in St. Pete awaiting the resultsAt Harvey’s 4th Street Grill in St. Pete awaiting the resultsAt Harvey’s 4th Street Grill in St. Pete awaiting the resultsAt Harvey’s 4th Street Grill in St. Pete awaiting the resultsMark and Todd – judging is serious business!
We had 47 anglers show compete in the event held on the south shore of Tampa Bay.
There were a total of 7 slams caught today ranging from 37″ to 73″ *.
Slam Division
1st Place – JoseC with a 59.25″ slam. He won $235.00 2nd Place – Native1-with a 55″ slam. He won $141.00 3rd Place – ChrisR-with a 51.25″ slam. He won $94.00
Trout
1st Place – Cooknfish. 22.2″ 2nd Place – Kspops- 22″ 3rd Place – Bseggs-21.25″
The Paddle-Fishing.com Tournament Series(PFTS) is the longest running paddle fishing series in the State of Florida. The PFTS was born in the Tampa Bay area 7 years ago by two guys that wanted to start a catch/photo/release paddle fishing tournament series that were low cost, very competitive and most of all FUN. The home for they chose for this series was Paddle-Fishing.com
The original series were termed One Lure Challenges (OLC). Erick Bell, formerly with Folsom Products, started the OLC’s as tournaments with limited boundaries where the anglers could only use the lure chosen by the tournament director. It created a very level playing field.
After four successful years of running the OLC an employment opportunity took Erick to North Carolina. In his absence, Todd Llewellyn started the PFTS to continue the series with the same premise of a low cost, limited boundaries tournament series that created a level playing field for all the participants to have a good time. This next season, 2010 – 2011, will be our fourth year running for the PFTS.
Over the past three years we have had a running average of 55 anglers per event. Over the past three seasons, over 150 different anglers have competed in at least one event. Our events are all low cost, $10, and limit the anglers to the lures they can use and the boundaries they can launch from. The top three anglers for each event split 100% of the tournament entry fees with 50% going to first place, 30% to second and 20% to third. The tournament director keeps none of the cash paid in. Other donated prizes from sponsors and friends of the PFTS are awarded, as we have them, to largest fish, most spots, etc.
In the 2010 – 2011 series, we will have a series long contest that tracks the total inches of one of each of the slam fish (sea trout, redfish & snook) for each event per angler. The angler with the largest total inches at the end will be named the PFTS Angler of the Year. We will have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prize in the PFTS Angler of the Year competition.
The first event in the PFTS was held September 11, 2010 along the south shore of Tampa Bay. The rules for this event were simple – each angler was allowed to bring two fishing rods each rigged with one lure of their choice. That’s it.
We had a beautiful but warm day and 48 anglers showed up to compete. The Pic n’ Sip was held at The Docks Restaurant in Apollo Beach and, as usual, they were gracious hosts.
