The initial scheduled date for PFCS #2 was October 27th. With a forecast (that did come true) of 30+ mph winds and small craft warnings throughout the bay area, we rescheduled it to the next date on our calendar, November 17. The event originally scheduled for November 17 will be rescheduled for some time in the spring.

Our paddle fishing community lost a good friend a few months back. Mark “CooknFish” Bellotte was a well known writer, kayak angler and friend too many within our community. The PFCS #2 was a tribute to Mark and held in an area he fished often and knew better than most – Weedon Island.

The day started off blustery with a solid breeze and fully overcast skies. We had a full list of anglers who had signed up to attend but a dozen or so must have changed their minds when their alarm clock sounded at 4:30 am and they stuck their head outside. The 45 anglers who did show up were rewarded with what turned out to be a beautiful day of fishing.

This event was sponsored by Mirrolure and Riptide. Both companies supplied a fish catching selection of lures for each of the anglers. After paying the $5 entry fee, each angler received a Mirrolure Mirromullet XL and Riptide Flats Chubs, Conley Grubs, 4″ Mullets and Realistic Shrimp. A solid fish catching assortment!

The Pic n’ Sip was held at the St. Pete Brasserie in downtown St. Petersburg. Owned by forum member and PFCS angler Jason “13” Chamoun, the St. Pete Brasserie will definitely be on our list for a must return to spot for future Pic n’ Sips and dining with friends.

With a very large launch area for this event, anglers were spread out over a large section of the bay. Many found lower tides then expected due to the north winds over the past several days preceding the event. This didn’t stop them from catching plenty of fish.

The format for this event was a slam format with substitutions. For the slam categories there were snook, redfish and trout. Bonus or substitution fish were flounder and snapper. Each had a minimum size qualification in order to count for points. After the slam categoriy we had awards for the largest of each fish.

The results for the Slam Category are:

1st Place – Daniel “carniekayaker85″ Hall with a 17″ trout, 27.5″ snook and 16.5” flounder. Daniel took home $112

2nd Place – John “jbdba1″ Bishop with a 20.75″ red, 19″ trout and 12.75” flounder.  John took home $68.

3rd Place – Mackenzie “MacMahi” Ruhnke with a 18.5 red, 17.5″ trout and 13.5″ flounder. Mackenzie took home $45.

In the largest Fish categories, the winners are:

Largest Redfish – Brian “Madocian” Arnold with a 29.5″ redfish (his personal best!). Brian took home a $25 Gift Certificate from Metalfab

Largest Snook – Dave “rugrat181″ Stewart with a 27” snook (his personal best!). Dave took home a $25 Gift Certificate from Masthead Enterprises.

Largest trout – Capt. Ryan “Remaxryan” Herrington with a 26″ trout. Ryan took home a $25 Gift Certificate from T.A. Mahoney.

Largest Flounder – Bob “Dunfly” Riggins with a 19.5″ Flounder. Bob took home a $25 Gift Certificate from T.A. Mahoney.

For this event we had a new category – Largest Fish by a Newbie. We’d like to encourage more first timers to come out and participate in this fun series of events so we added this category. The winner of this was Evan “Wonderboy” Bishop. Evan took home a $50 Gift certificate from T.A. Mahoney. Evan is the son of John Bishop who won 2nd place slam. Good day for the Bishop family!

The final category to report may have the most prestige within the PFCS. Known as the Paddle-Fishing.com Perpetual Jug, many anglers have given everything they’ve had to try and win this but have come up either too long or too short. It is awarded to the person with the third largest redfish. Every winner has signed it and brought it back to the next event so we can keep passing it on.

Paddle-Fishing.com Perpetual Jug winner – Olin “olinfins” Satterfield.

Following the announcement of the winners, we had the largest raffle we’ve ever had. EVERYONE took home something. The list of sponsors for the raffle included Columbia, Breaths Like a Fish, Slayer Lures, Addictive Fishing, FINS Superbraid, Salty Shores, Action Watersports and Dicks Sporting Goods.

Dicks Sporting Goods also gave each angler several valuable discount coupons and a $5 off coupon. Riptide supplied each angler with a coupon code for 30% off Riptide lures in their online store. As one angler said, “Between the lures, coupons, and gift certificates basically we were paid to fish. How sweet is that?”.

The Tournament Director for this event was Bill “Heywood” Howard. Heywood put together a solid show! Thanks Heywood, we’ll be ‘volunteering’ you to do another soon!

Congratulations to all of the winners!

In addition to the $5 entry fee, each angler donated $5 to a fund to be given to Project Snook in memory of Mark “CooknFish” Bellotte. By the end of the event, we had collected $240. Thanks for your generosity guys. Mark would have appreciated it!.

Our next event is scheduled for January 19, 2013 in the Fort Desoto area. The format for the event is not yet finalized but it will be a mystery lure type event where anglers won’t know what they are fishing with until the morning of the event. We’ll be sure to provide a solid selection so all you have to do is show up.

For more pictures and angler commentary, please visit the Paddle-Fishing.com forum.