By: Capt. Andrew Bennett
What if I told you that you could hire a local fishing captain to take you and your crew fishing and possibly get paid thousands of dollars at the end of the day and build a good reputation in the local fishing community? Does that sound too good to be true? Well, that is exactly what happens several times each year when groups of anglers win fishing tournaments.
Every year there are several fishing tournaments in our area that dozens and sometimes hundreds of boats participate in as they compete to bring in the best fish. Tournaments are great for many reasons. For one, fishing in a tournament seems to make anglers try their hardest. During a tournament a lot of thought goes into the strategy for the day, what locations during which tides are most likely to produce the fish? The competition gets many captains to “pull out all the stops” as they attempt to out fish the other teams. Catching fish is fun under most circumstances, but a potential payout and the recognition that a tournament win can bring, really makes each fish landed a celebration to share with your teammates. Sometimes catching the tenth redfish of the day when your boat limit was reached hours ago, can seem inconsequential, but when a slightly bigger fish could mean the difference between winning and losing, every fish is a potential game changer. Even the so called “trash fish” that do not normally get targeted like jack crevelle, ladyfish, and saltwater catfish, can bring a nice check in some tournaments.
Besides the motivation to catch lots of fish, tournaments also raise money for some very worthy causes. I fished a one-day redfish tournament last month that raised money for the Children’s coalition of Sarasota/Manatee County & the CCA Redfish stock enrichment program.
There is much more to a tournament than the fishing, after the fishing time runs out, most tournaments have a great after party at the weigh-in, with music, food, drinks, raffle items, and plenty of mingling with the other teams. At the redfish tournament last month, my team was one spot away from the money, but one of my anglers bought twenty dollars worth of raffle tickets at the weigh-in party and won a fishing reel and a soft sided cooler!
So, keep your ears and eyes open for upcoming tournaments, and hire me or any of the other great local captains to take you and your team out for a chance at glory. Tournaments are a great way to get in some topnotch fishing, raise support for needs in the community, and meet like-minded local anglers. Who knows? You may even double your money and get a trophy!