Fishing Photo Round-up / Reader Support

Closing in on 500 blog entries, and completing another long hot summer on the tournament docks, it will soon be time to focus on sporting pursuits in the field (with some saltwater mixed in). It seems the real message from the fishing folks, of which I am one, is that it's a good thing to involve our youth in fishing and it's also a good thing to promote our sporting heritage in a positive fashion. Allen Mahaffey wrote Lowcountry Outdoors to say, "I have four kids and I try to get them all interested in the outdoors, especially the way things are nowadays, thanks for what you do and good fishin' to you." Brent Williams wrote Lowcountry Outdoors and said, "Thank you for the work you've done and the work you continue to do for marine and wildlife conservation." If readers continue to request more Lowcountry Outdoors coverage, then we might be... 'just getting started.'

PhotosByJeffDennis: Coleman Jenkins won the youth angler honors at FFM and his father Carl wrote Lowcountry Outdoors and said, "We had hoped to have someone dockside to snap some shots, but that didn't work out, so yours are the only ones available. Thanks for sharing the photo, and I know a certain seven-year old who will be thrilled."

Seventeen-year old Alexis Roberts at FFM with a 13.5-pound king mackerel

PhotoByPeteLoy: The only Blue Marlin release at the Edisto Gov. Cup was on Lil' Bit

PhotoByChampSmith: Blair Wiggins, the Mogan man from Addcitive Fishing, and Lowcountry Outdoors teaming up on the redfish!

Addictive Fishing TV films in Lowcountry

When Captain Blair Wiggins and childhood friend and TV producer Kevin McCabe wanted to capture some exciting redfish action in HD, they brought Addictive Fishing to the Lowcountry. Filming took place over two days, as the boys from the Space Coast of Florida tried to locate the 'Mogan' reds around McClellanville and Bull's Bay. The thirty-minute cable television show www.AddictiveFishing.com is action-packed and Wiggins chose Captain Chris Wilson's FinAddict Guide Services to put him on the fish. Captain Champ Smith took turns on the poling platform, keeping the camera boat ready for close-up action. 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of Addictive Fishing TV and besides tackling media, Wiggins has also proved his skills on the tournament fishing trails when he became the 2006 FLW Redfish Series Champion. Just check out his new line of Flats Blue Signature Rods that he has partnered with Wright and McGill to make, you know the ones with the 'flats blue' camo color that blends in with the sky so as not to spook fish at close quarters. In the Lowcountry, look for them at Dick's Sporting Goods but they are also available at Academy Sports or Bass Pro Shops. Guided by Wilson, of http://www.charlestonflyfishingguide.com/, Wiggins and crew fished nothing but D.O.A. artificial lures starting at low tide and continued fishing all the way through the flood tide. Captain Wilson said, "It's neat to fish with Blair and to observe some of the tactics that he has perfected while fishing out of his Ranger 16-foot Phantom boat." A Mogan fish is a cross between a Monster and a Biggan, and Captain Champ Smith said, "Blair can cast the D.O.A. shrimp within 6-inches of where it needs to be everytime, and that really helps the hook-up ratio." What was working so well? Wiggins said, "I'm wearing Costa 580 amber lenses in a fathom frame and fishing a D.O.A. shrimp in the Morning Glory color (black with chartreuse tail) rigged on a weedless Lazer Sharp 1/8-ounce swim bait hook." Look for the Lowcountry redfish TV episode to air in approximately eight weeks to see Blair catch a 34-inch Mogan redfish!

PhotosByJeffDennis: Capt. Blair Wiggins with a bronze-backed 27-inch redfish in the Lowcountry; Three fishing buddies - Bootsie, Champ and Blair; The second generation S-Curve rod features the split foregrip that Wiggins designed for fingertip contact with the rod blank to give greater sensitivity

2010 Fishing For Miracles King Mackerel - Day Two

The 17th annual Key West Boats Fishing For Miracles king mackerel tournament to benefit M.U.S.C. Children's hospital finished with some cheers when Juggernaut brought in a 34.1-pound kingfish to take the first place prize money. Day Two leaders Cool Cat and Bow Movement held on to take second and third place, while Mangler brought in a 32.0-pound king to jump into fourth place overall. The slow king bite continued on day two despite the ocean conditions improving dramatically due to overnight and morning rainstorms that served to flatten out the water's surface. More fish were weighed-in by the 185-boat fleet on day two, but overall for FFM only eight entries topped the 30-pound mark. Juggernaut, owned and captained by Bert Harvey of Beaufort, knew they had a 'good fish' and called family members at the weigh-in to say 'get ready to roll some video tape.' They had to make about an hour run from where they were fishing to get to the 1 -4 weigh in, and were cheered by the crowd when they took over first place. Juggernaut is an SKA (Southern Kingfish Association) boat and onboard was A.C. Harvey and angler Jim Roberts. They only caught one other small king all day, and the big king ate a live mullet fished way back behind the boat, and took about 20-minutes to subdue. Youth angler honors went to 7-year old Coleman Jenkins for his 25.2-pound king caught Saturday on Team Charleston Rigging, who went on to make a television interview that aired on the local news about his angling prowess. Well Done!

For Day One blog coverage form the 2010 FFM click here.

PhotosByJeffDennis: The three-member Juggernaut (winners of the 2007 FFM) with their 2010 first-place kingfish; Capt. James Kampmeyer stands with youth angler Coleman Jenkins and father Carl Jenkins; Zarah Setro with her 15.2-pound king mackerel; and first-place in the 'We THOUGHT we had a smoker king' category is BittaSweet with their 90(?)-pound wahoo that angler Michael Leahy (holding fish) and Captain Jerry Tumbleston (blue shirt) and Brent Williams brought to the weigh-in

2010 Fishing For Miracles King Mackerel - Day One

An eerie calm gripped the 2 to 5 weigh-in at the Ripley Light Yacht Club before the afternoon thunderstorms moved in later. Not many fish were caught or weighed-in during Day One of the 17th annual Fishing For Miracles tournament, with only about 30 boats out of 185 entries even weighing a fish. Seas were a 'stacked-up' three to four feet in the morning which made gathering bait very difficult and really cut into fishing time. With most boats striking out and getting no bites all day, the top three boats did manage to land a king over (barely) 30-pounds and they only had one or two bites all day. A 29-foot catamaran from Bluffton leads the tournament with a 32.4-pound king they caught 30 miles off of Hilton Head and in 85-feet of water. Angler Curt Warrington said they ran to Charleston to weigh the fish, and Captain Chris Prince will drive it back to Bluffton to fish again today. With the weather forecast looking more 'iffy' on day two - Cool Cat may be sitting on a top prize fish worth $25,000. Sitting in second place is angler Jason Sawadske off of Bow Movement with his 32.2-pound king caught for Captain Jim Sherrer. Third place after day one is Team Blue Runner fishing out of Pawley's Island with the 31.3-pounder caught by Captain Craig Hoover.

For more FFM blog coverage click here.

PhotosByJeffDennis: Captain Chris Prince and angler Curt Warrington hold their 32.4-pound tournament leader; Captain Jim Sherrer is with angler Jason Sawadske and son Ryan Sherrer and their second place king; Team Winner's World and the 11.3-pounder caught by 11-year old Les Smith; Drew Coster of Charleston is Team Kaja's lady angler and is shown here with her 14.2-pound king mackerel

2010 Fishing For Miracles King Mackerel - Intro

A great Captain's meeting on Thursday afternoon at the Ripley Light Yacht Club set the stage for two days of tournament king mackerel fishing in the 17th annual Key West Boats Fishing For Miracles event. Anglers dined on rice pilauf and boiled peanuts, and simmered in the six o'clock sun. Wind forecast are favorable for fishing, and the late run of small boats signing up to fish was considerable.

For blog coverage from the 2010 FFM click here.

PhotosByJeffDennis: Check out the cool king wrap on the Sea Hunt Boat; the CCA logo is on the YETI cooler because CCA runs this tournament; the tournament bucket is always a fan favorite

Flat Spot Charters fishes McClellanville

Captain Jamie Hough agreed to head North for a day of redfishing in the pristine waters of Cape Romaine, in order to hook up with McClellanville resident Ronnie Pitts. Clear skies, calm winds and medium-hot conditions meant that it was time to 'mash up' the redfish on the other side of Muddy Bay. With the ocean breakers within earshot, my second cast to the 'flat spot' drew an immediate strike and the big spot-tail headed into the grass. This fish would eventually break me off, but Capt. Hough educated me about how to fight that fish the next time - and I went to school on the previous error and ended up with the largest red of the day, a 32-inch whopper! Redfish queen Amy Little reeled in a 26-incher and had other numerous bites that gave her 'a little trouble.' Captain Hough will work hard to make sure that his customers are on the fish, and he will not rest until the fish are fooled. When my unattended fishing line got eaten up by the trolling motor, there was no griping, he just took off the blade and cut out the line so that we could get back to fishing. We saw quite a few redfish in the area that we fished today, and at the last stop of the day the redfish school stretched for about 100 yards. Want to know where we left em? Better visit.... www.FlatSpotCharters.com

PhotosByJeffDennis: Amy Little and Capt. Hough with a nice McCelellanville redfish; Jamie poles his 22-foot Sterling Pro Flats boat onto the 'sheepshead flats'; LowcountryOutdoors and a daymaker redfish that took me into the grass but did not break me off!

Atlantic Tackle aims for Archery season

Manager Jeremy Burnham is way too busy with offshore fishing to talk about the upcoming archery season, but just go upstairs at Atlantic Game & Tackle and visit with Archery Manager Stephen Hames. You never know who will be on the 30-yard air-conditioned indoor archery range! Check out this link for an update on why now is a good time to get your archery equipment tuned up - PLUS you can get some 'skinny' on the redfish.

To read my feature article in the Charleston Mercury on archery click here.

For past blog entries about Atlantic Tackle click here.

PhotosByJeffDennis: Mother and son at 'full draw' on the indoor archery range at Atlantic G&T; All sorts of strange free-range animals are presently roaming on the indoor range; Avid archer Kara Slick and Archery Manager Stephen Hames in the pro shop