By Chasten Whitfield
I felt like Santa with boxes and boxes of toys in my truck. We were picking up toys to give to the Toys for Tots Tournament that Yellowfin Yachts puts on called the Yellowfin Charity Classic – Fill the Fin. The following morning my team and I got up at 4am and started to load the boat up. There was a storm right off the gulf (about 10 mins from us) so we hurried, grabbed our rain gear, and took off shot gun style to try and outrun the storm. After they called our boat number, we were off to our first spot. We saw some snook and snapper but didn’t catch much, so we moved to a grass flat after seeing some birds diving, but still not even a line hit. I decided to leave the Manatee River and head towards Anna Maria Island. As we were driving, I remembered this one spot where I have caught some redfish before, so I stopped the boat, turned around and headed there. I threw a shrimp under the dock and got a baby red right away. Next bait BAM another red, 30 minutes later we had caught 9 reds so we decided to target some snook. We get to our next spot and BAM another redfish, so we throw another shrimp on the hook hoping for a snook. We hook up on something and it looked like a Jack Crevalle, but then it jumped and it was snook! This tournament is a catch and release tournament, all pictures are submitted on an app which is kind of nice as you can see how all the teams are doing. We headed to the weigh-in, where all the teams are discussing their day on the water. Overall, the tournament was a huge success for the kids receiving gifts from Toys for Tots and this is what it’s all about!! Altogether, anglers caught and released a total of 69 redfish, 62 snook, and 62 trout during this tourney. Thank you to all that participated and those that help sponsor this event. It was truly a huge success – wish we could see the kids’ faces open these toys! One of the most fun tourneys and a perfect way to end 2018! Our day during the Yellowfin Charity Classic Fill the Fin Tourney 2018 video is on my YouTube channel, Chasten Whitfield, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C5WQ0f0yEE
