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!
The guys who make the PFTS happen:
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.
Snook Division
1st Place – Walt “EZYLYF” – 24 inch snook. Canoe Country gift certificate.
2nd Place – Todd – 21.25 inch snook. FINS Superline.
3rd Place – Olin “Olinfins” – 20 inch snook. Backwater Paddle.
Redfish Division
1st Place – Dave “Bigfish171” – 23.75 inch redfish. Holy Mackeral Tackle gift certificate.
2nd Place – Peter “Mako” – 23 inch redfish. Hook 1 gift certificate.
3rd Place – Chuck “Teamshaft1” – 22 inch redfish. The PFTS Perpetual Jug
Trout Division
1st Place – ChrisR – 20.25 inch trout. Masthead Enterprises gift certificate
2nd Place – John “Ump608” – 19 inch trout. FINS Superline
3rd Place – MikeB – 18.25 inch trout. Backwater Paddles
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.
