Reel-N-4Kids Inaugural Tournament

The Inaugural Scout Boats Reel-N-4Kids fishing tournament was help on Saturday June 5 out of the Bristol Marina. This special tournament is a new effort to raise funds for the Dorchester Children's Center which serves Charleston, Dorchester and Berkely counties. Executive Director Kay Phillips of the DCC said that they helped provide therapy for 859 victims of child abuse in 2009. (www.dorchesterchildren.org) Rick Hall of Hall Marine hosted the Captain's meeting at the new Sportsman's Island facility on Daniel Island and Scout Boats donated a 151 Standard 'hybrid' to the event. Haddrell's Point donated the first place rods and reels for the tournament. Tommy Strock was the lucky winner of the Scout boat!

PhotoByRalphPhillips: 8-year old Alex Sieber won the youth angler division at Reel-N-4Kids

PhotosByJeffDennis: T-shirt Logo; Just look a the transom and joystick control for the new Scout hybrid!

2010 Fifty-Fifty Tournament Inshore Results

Unofficial results are as follow: John Haas took first and second place in the flounder division with his 3.6-pound flattie and his 1.8-pound companion, with third place going to Jim Reed for his 1.8-pound entry. First place trout went to Jim Reed for his 4.6-pound spotted seatrout, second place went to Eric Stone for his 3.6-pound speck and third place went to Michael Gianelli for his 3.4-pound trout. Chad Mixon took the first place spot for black drum with his 4.8-pound fish while fishing partner Curt Wood took second with his 4.6-pound black drum, and third went to Bob Horner for his 2.8-pound fish. Tom Benton took first place in the sheepshead division with his 7.0-pound convict fish caught on fiddlers East of the Cooper. More tournament information can be found at www.fiftyfiftytournament.com.

To see more blog coverage from the 2010 Fifty / Fifty Tourney click here.

PhotosByJeffDennis: Jay Haas with his two flounder and friend Butch Webber; Tom Benton with his 7.0-pound sheepshead; Jim Reed caught his first-place trout using a big finger mullet while fishing aboard G-Ride; Curt Wood and Chad Mixon with a mess of black drum caught aboard Fishin' Fever

2010 Fifty-Fifty Tournament Offshore Results

Unofficial results are as follows: Fifteen-year old Lauren Leasure took first place in the dolphin division with her 39.80-pound mahi caught aboard Fishwrapper, and proud papa Stevie Leasure was the gaff man while Captain Joey Smoak kept his crew on the fish. Second place in the dolphin division went to Adam Richardson who caught a 38.4-pound mahi fishing on Southbound. Third place went to Alexis Lee on the Gusto IV for her dolphin that weighed 32.6-pounds. George Campsen took first place in the wahoo division with his 54.3-pound stud caught aboard Hosanna. Second place in the wahoo division went to Ben Mann for his 28.2-pound fish caught aboard Wild Cat. Third place wahoo went to Justin Massenburg fishing on Family Tradition for his 20.6-pound wahoo. The thirty-three boats that fished the offshore division reported an ocean full of dolphin but only three wahoo came to the scales. Proceeds from the Fifty-Fifty go to benefit the funding of the S.C. Memorial Reef. (www.scmemorialreef.org)

Billfish releases were as follows: Splitbill released a blue marlin; Gusto IV released a white marlin and three sailfish, Blue Boy released a white marlin and Dragon Lady II released a sailfish.

To see blog coverage from the 2009 Fifty / Fifty Tourney click here.

PhotosByJeffDennis: Youth angler Evan Bailey holds his 22.2-pound dolphin caught aboard Chaos; Michael Jackson holds the top dolphin for Lauren Leasure; George Campsen stands by the Toler's Cove sign with his prize wahoo

2010 Carolina Lady Anglers - Article and Tournament

The Carolina Lady Anglers (www.CarolinaLadyAnglers.org) conducted their 13th annual Fishing for the Cure inshore tournament on Saturday June 5 with 150 boats participating. They held their Captain's Meeting on Wednesday at the Charleston Maritime Center and had a good turnout despite the hot and muggy conditions. Friday's issue of the Post and Courier had a nice feature story on the CLA - and I wanted to provide a link for blog followers to learn about this great group of lady anglers and their entourage:

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/jun/04/fishing-for-the-cure/

To see blog coverage form the 2009 CLA click here.

PhotosByLowcountryFishScales.com: Michele Stroud took the outstanding female angler award for her two kings that weighed 24.70 and 16.32 pounds respectively; Dylan Suggs brought a 3.98-pound flounder to the scales to take the outstanding youth male angler; Grace McMillan and her 1.0-pound dogfish, which was good for the outstanding youth female angler - Congratulations Grace!!

DU Collegiate Sweet 16 - Citadel No. 4

The tally for 2009 is in for the Ducks Unlimited college chapters initiative. More than $550,000 was raised on college campuses and the top chapters then competed in a Sweet sixteen bracket-style competition to see who came out on top. Congratulations go to East Carolina University of North Carolina for being the 2009 DU collegiate champion.

The North Carolina State DU chapter, led by Trent Nelson, finished third in the collegiate Sweet 16. The wolfpack chapter has the distinction of holding the record for dinner event attendance In North Carolina. They have an annual DU banquet where just under 1000 people show up to participate, which their large committee of banquet planners is responsible for selling them their tickets.

The Citadel Ducks Unlimited Chapter in Charleston, South Carolina finished in fourth place in the Sweet 16 competition behind the strength of their Sponsor Skeet Shoot event. Led by Caleb Rodgers, the Citadels’ dinner banquet fundraiser has been steadily improving. And with three of the top four spots firmly in the grasp of the Carolinas, there can be little doubt about the high value that is placed upon the enjoyment of the outdoors by young people in the Carolinas!

Cabell Barrow of Charlotte is DU’s University Chapter Coordinator and said, “It is truly inspiring to see these young adults join together in the name of waterfowl and wetlands conservation. Each and every collegiate chapter in the nation helps to secure our hunting and outdoor heritage.” Those interested in more information about the collegiate chapters can call Barrow at 864-380-1498.

UNC-Wilmington grabbed sixth place in the Sweet 16 competition. Clemson University finished in eighth place and has held a spot in the Sweet 16 for several years running, raising tens of thousands of dollars annually for DU. The University of South Carolina took the final spot in the Sweet 16 with signature events like oyster roasts and Lowcountry boils.

D.O.A. Lures fishes with Able Minded Charters

Captain Mark Nichols was in South Carolina recently and subsequently gave some tips to local anglers about how to best use his D.O.A. shrimp to catch some 'stupid' fish. Captain Mike Able Jr. grew up fishing in Mount Pleasant and has been running Able Minded Charters (843-475-7696) for five years. He averages about 80 trips per year, and spends the rest of his time working in Haddrell’s Point, the tackle shop owned by his father. Mike Able Sr. is the reason that Jr. grew up fishing and Jr. calls him “One of the original redfish guides in the Charleston area.” Able-minded Charters runs an 18-foot Hewes Bonefisher flats boat, and offers Shimano Stradic 2500 reels on G. Loomis Medium-Light fast action seven-foot rods. Able Jr. said. “June fishing revolves around water temperatures that will be in the high 70’s and low 80’s. Everything associated with live bait and fishing has been starting late in 2010 because of our cold winter. June live bait options might include menhaden, blue crabs, shrimp, mullet, and mud minnows, but artificials work too. We start throwing topwater lures in the morning, and then work through an assortment of jigs, and maybe end up with a D.O.A. deadly combo. Because everybody loves to see a cork go under.” The deadly combo lure is an oval float on a ‘clacker’ rig with beads that make noise to attract any curious fish, and it comes pre-rigged with a D.O.A. shrimp underneath it. Able Jr. said, “I like the Fiji Chix color with its darker back, lighter belly and chartreuse tail – allowing it to work well on reds and trout in all water clarity conditions.” Fiji Chix also has some glow color in its body and is speckled with red, black and silver flakes. Captain Mark Nichols of Stuart, Florida invented the D.O.A. shrimp and was in S.C. to speak at a seminar at Haddrell’s Point about his fishing knowledge. Nichols said, “The reason we add glow color to many of our baits is to mimic the bioluminescence that I see occurring naturally in the marine world. I fish all the time but I still want it to be a fast and easy, and effective.”

To view a past blog entry about Haddrell's Point click here, and for DOA lures click here.

PhotoByJeffDennis: Capt. Mike Able Jr. and Capt. Mark Nichols out in the boat in Gray Bay

Spotted Seatrout Survey

SCDNR recently sent out this message:

 

As you may recall, during January our state experienced unusually cold weather resulting in colder than average coastal waters. Similar cold weather events in the past have killed significant numbers of our coastal fishes, particularly spotted seatrout.  Data collected by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources since January suggest that such an event occurred during January 2010.  We are asking you to spend a few minutes filling out the associated survey to help us better understand any potential impact of this year’s colder than normal water temperatures on our spotted seatrout population.  Please take 5 minutes to complete this survey at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/seatrout

PhotoByCalhounWitham: Jeff Dennis with a spotted seatrout and a spot-tailed bass caught on May 23