The Mystery Lure was held November 19, 2011 in the Gandy Bridge/Weedon Island area. The launch boundaries were, approximately, from US 19 to the west, Westshore drive to the east, Gandy Bridge to the north and a line from the south end of Weedon across the bay to the south end of Picnic Island.
The format was The Mystery Lure. The anglers who compete do knot know what they will be using for the day until they sign in on Saturday morning. This year the event was sponsored by Riptide Lures. They graciously stepped up to be the sponsor of The Mystery Lure. While the anglers did not know specifically which lures they would get on the morning of the event, they did know they would be getting a fish catching assortment from a well know Florida-based manufacturer.
62 anglers participated in the event. The morning started early for the anglers in the secondt PFTS tournament of the 2011 – 2012 season. The line promptly formed at 6:00 a.m. and sign up began. Some were looked much happier about the early hour then others!
For this event, the weather was not a question. Everyone knew it would be a beautiful day but that wind would be a consideration. Many went in search of protected waters inside Weedon Island and on the east side of the bay around Picnic Island. Others braved the wind on the outside of Weedon and the 4th Street area. The wind did not have an effect on catching fish, though. All areas reported good catches. With 62 anglers competing, everyone had to spread out.
The Pic n’ Sip, our catch and release version of a weigh-in, was held at Harvey’s 4th Street Grille in St. Pete. As always, the food was delicious, drinks were cold and the waitresses were on top of their game keeping up with 60+ people. Thanks once again Harvey’s!
The results of The Mystery Lure sponsored by Riptide are:
Slam Division
First Place – Walt “EZYLYF” Ruda took first place with a total slam of 75 inches. Walt took $310 and a Polar Bear Cooler
Second Place – Justin “13” took second place with a total slam of 65 inches. Justin took home $186 and a Wang Anchor
Third Place – Chuck (Teamshaft1) Statham took third place with a total slam of 64 inches. Chuck took home $124 and a Finatic Designs Print
Here’s all three of the Slam winners with their prizes:
Redfish Division
1st Place – John “jbdba1” Bishop – 26 inches – Holy Mackerel Tackle Gift Certificate
2nd Place – Buda – 25 inches – FINS Super Braid
3rd Place – Tony “hapyfish79” Lai – 24 inches – The PFTS Perpetual Jug
Snook Division
1st Place – Rob “paddlefish” – 29 inches – $25 gift certificate from Metalfab
2nd Place – Dave “Bigfish171” Horn – 27 inches – Canoe Country Gift Certificate
3rd Place – Bruno – 27 inches – Skwoosh Bilge Sponge
Trout Division
1st Place – Steve “Tide1On” – 24 inches – Paddle-Fishing.com logo’d Denali microfiber shirt
2nd Place – Mike “MikeT” Torregrasso – 23 inches – Masthead Enterprises gift certificate
3rd Place – Norm “Norm” Hall – 22 inches – Hook 1 gift certificate
4th Place – Ed “kspops” – 21 inches – Backwater Paddle Piranha paddle
(note – due to a judging mishap we provided prizes through 4th place in the Trout division. This also means we do not have a picture of the 1st place winner)
Remember this pic from above? See the guy on the left who is not smiling? That is Tide1On. After getting the 1st place win in trout, he is smiling now!
Our next event is PFTS#3 – The Tackle Box – is on January 28, 2012. We look forward to everyone, and more!, coming out
Culprit/Riptide is holding a photo contest on their Facebook page for the best picture of a fish caught in this tournament. You can visit their page HERE
