A good friend of the paddle-fishing community, Mark “CooknFish” Bellotte, passed away yesterday. An accomplished angler, a widely publicized author and a genuinely good guy, Mark touched the lives of many. Here’s one of his stories:
“A day in the life of an angler: The one that got away.
I wasn’t seriously looking for a bite. Hell I wasn’t even just playing around. I just had my line out, sitting there motionless as I thought about life’s new direction. Then she took the bait while I wasn’t paying attention. I woke up and with a reflex reaction, I raised up to set the hook. Back and forth, the affair raged on. Just as she settled down and I thought I had my trophy catch, she thrashed once again just to let me know she was playing with me. My heart broke along with the connection to such a prize. I’m sure she’s still out there lurking, setting scope to steal the next guys tackle.”
With the summer tarpon season winding down for kayak anglers the big rods are going back to the garage rod racks and the flats gear is getting tuned up in preparation for the redfish schools of fall. This was a good tarpon season for most with several guys getting their first.
Steve “Tide1On” got his first kayak tarpon this year.
Tarpon caught from kayak
A few of the guys who have been at it for years added to their totals. Here’s Steve Manning with one of several he hooked up with this season.
Tarpon caught from kayak pic2
Dave Robinson had a good number this season but this one really took it to him. After trying to jump in his kayak, it gave him a bath before getting released.
Tarpon caught from Native Kayak
After many hours on the water in a dedicated effort, Walt “EZYLYF” Ruda finally got hooked up.
Another first was caught by Neil “fsh4fun”. He had a full audience with his vacationing family on the beach watching and rooting him on through the battle.
BIG Tarpon caught from a kayak
The forumhas many videos and more pictures. One thing that is certain, even as the tarpon gear is getting put away for the season, plans are already being made and anticipation has begun for next year.
We’re planning a Paddle-In for Saturday, May 19, 2012.
The launch will be the rest area at the south end of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and the meeting spot will be the small sand island about a quarter mile east of the launch.
A Paddle-In is a gathering of folks with a common interest in paddling and fishing. It’ s a very informal get together. Get there when you get there, leave when you leave. As the day gets closer we may have rounded up volunteers to grill some burgers and dogs out on the island or it may be a BYO affair. Check the post on the forum for more details.
This is a great chance to put forum names with real names and faces.
The PFTS Angler of the Year competition was sponsored by Jackson Kayak. The points were close and the eventual winner had what might be called an uncomfortable lead going into the final event. There were a couple guys who had a shot at taking the lead if they could put together a big day in the final event.
Rik preparing the Jackson Kayak Cuda for presentation to the Angler of the Year.
Chuck “Teamshaft1” Statham fished hard and held his lead to become the 2011 – 2012 PFTS Angler of the Year. With 336 points, he beat second place by just 11 points and third by 35 points. With one point equal to one inch and those points spread out over 5 events, Chuck had to fish hard at each event to stay in the running. Congrats Chuck! You deserve the win.
Photos courtesy of Bill “Heywood” Howard.
For his efforts, Chuck took home a shiny new Jackson Kayak Cuda, a Polar Bear Cooler and a Hook 1 gift certificate.
The winners for 2nd through 10th are:
Position
Angler
Points
Winnings
2nd Place
ChrisR
325.25
$423
3rd Place
Justin “13”
301.50
$302
4th Place
Andrew “Buda”
283.50
$242
5th Place
Walt “EZYLYF”
277.00
$181
6th Place
Dave “Bigfish171”
226.50
$61
7th Place
Stev “Tide1On”
204.00
8th Place
Todd
198.25
9th Place
John “JKL”
194.00
10th Place
Norm
182.00
(l to r standing) Dave “Bigfish171”, Andrew “Buda”, Justin “13”, Norm, Steve “Tide1On” (l to r kneeling/sitting) Walt “EZYLYF”, Chuck “Teamshaft1”, ChrisR, Todd
The 5th and last event of the 2011-2012 PFTS season was held Saturday, April 7, 2012 in the Palma Sola area. The 33 competitors were met at the early morning sign in with a chilly 20 knot wind that had many rethinking their plans of where to fish.
The format for this event was My Lure is Better Than Your Lure. Each angler picked one lure to use all day. You could bring as many of that lure as you wanted but could only use that lure. The lure choices for the day ran across the entire spectrum from topwaters to spoons to a variety of soft plastics. It became evident at the Pic n’ Sip that no single lure had any advantage over the others when it came to catching fish yesterday.
There were a lot of fish caught by almost everyone. The weather seemed to have to have sent the big fish into hiding with mid to low 20 inches being the largest fish reported. For some, trout were not to be found while others, less than a mile away, couldn’t get away from trout.
The Pic n’ Sip was held at Tequila Beach located at 7423 Manatee Ave. in Bradenton, FL . This has become a regular and favorite spot as the food is delicious and the service is top notch.
The judges are hard at work tabulating the results. On a personal note, and one shared by everyone who attended , it was nice to see Mark at the Pic n’ Sip in his much appreciated spot behind the computer. Welcome back Mark!
(l to r) Todd, Mark, Carla
The guys who make the PFTS happen:
(l to r) Rik Llewellyn, Todd Llewellyn, Mark Michael
Here are the results:
Slam Category
1st Place went to Andrew “Buda” with a 66.75 inch slam. Buda took home $165 and a Finatic Designs print.
2nd Place went to Ron “Idle Speed” with a 64.25 inch slam. Ron took home $99 and a Wang Anchor.
3rd Place went to Steve “Tide1On” with a 57.75 inch slam. Steve took home $66 and a Polar Bear Cooler.
(l to r) Tide1On, Idle Speed, Buda
Snook Division
1st Place – Walt “EZYLYF” – 24 inch snook. Canoe Country gift certificate.
(l to r) Paul, owner of Masthead Enterprises, and ChrisR(l to r) Todd, John(l to r) Todd, Mike
All photos courtesy of Bill “Heywood” Howard.
Congratulations to all the winners and a big thanks to all of our sponsors.
This was the final event for this season. Next year will be our 10th year of the series. Once we figure out the formats and logistics for next season, we will announce the dates, times and places for next season.
Once again, a big thanks to our sponsors and to all who came out to compete this year!
PFTS #4 – The Erick Bell Memorial – is complete. The final event of the series is on April 7, 2012. Look forward to everyone coming out. We will be anouncing the Angler of the Year results at the end of this last event.
The Erick Bell Memorial honors the man who started the “One Lure Tournament”. We use one of our events each season to follow the tried and true concept. In the Erick Bell Memorial anglers are told which lure they will use for the day. It is one lure, all day. You can have as many of them as you like but can only use that one lure.
The event took place in Upper Tampa Bay with anglers spread out from Safety Harbor to Rocky Creek and every fishy spot in between. Fish were caught on the outside flats and back in the creeks.
We typically choose a lurte that isn’t one of the regulars in everyone’s tackle box. For this event we chose the 1/4 ounce Storm WildEye Swim Shad. We allowed both the golden mullet or the shad colors.
The day started with unseasonably warm weather under blue skies and a negative low tide which challenged everyone to find some water and learn how to use the bait. While plenty of fish were caught, there was only one Snook, Redfish, Trout slam caught among the 30 competitors.
The Pic n’ Sip was held as the Cop Shop in Oldsmar. Once again, thank you Cop Shop for welcoming our crew.
Now for the results of the Erick Bell Memorial:
Slam Category
First Place went to JoseC with a 74.45″ slam. Jose took home $150 and a Polar Bear Cooler.
Second Place went to first time winner Olinfins with a 44″ slam with a flounder replacing the snook. Olinsfins took home $90 and a Wang Anchor.
Third Place went to Mako with a 45.5″ best three Red and Trout combination. Mako took home $60 and a Finatic Designs print.
Congratulations to all of the winners and a big thanks to all of our sponsors.
Our next event is PFTS #5 – The My Lures are Better than Your Lures – is on April 7, 2012 in the Palma Sola area. This is the final event and we will be announcing the winners of the Angler of the Year!
We look forward to everyone, and more, coming out to join the fun.
