The 8th Annual AIGA Inshore Classic Fishing fishing tournament was held October 21st up at Old Town Bait and Tackle here at Amelia Island, Florida. There were 48 entries -all entries were required to enter the Redfish Spot category (the legal Redfish with the most spots wins that tournament) and they had the option to enter a Boat aggregate (a group of anglers on a boat could weigh in (1) Redfish and (1) Seatrout.
The weather was outstanding – just a bit cool, sunny, and not a whole lot of breeze. After the Captains meeting on Friday night the anglers were turned loose to begin fishing Saturday morning at “safe light”. Meanwhile, the AIGA (Amelia Island Guides Association) was hosting a Silent Auction and selling raffle tickets for a General Raffle (hats, reel, tackle, and more) and they also had a special raffle for (2) Rod/Reel combos donated by RennWorks Outdoors AND a special raffle for 1/2 of a Cow! Butchered and packaged, of course! Musician Bruce Beville provided the entertainment and the American Legion Post 54 were grilling up hot dogs and their World Famous hamburgers.
Although anglers could begin to bring in their catch for check in by 11am, the first fish was walked up to the check in table at 1:25pm. All told there were 17 “entries” brought in consisting of the Redfish Spot fish and then the Aggregate of the two fish, Redfish and Trout.
The winning Adult Redfish Spot fish was Nicole Myers with a 19 spot fish! I was helping measure the spots and I can say for sure that this fish was loaded with spots. We use a special device to make sure the spots are large enough and at least 18 of them were (she got an extra spot added for bringing it in alive). There were a whole bunch of spots (specks) that didn’t fill the measuring device and they were not counted. 2nd Place adult Spot was Nik Bremer with 9 spots. 3rd Place adult Spot was Regina Davis with 8 spots.
In the Youth Redfish Spot division Ms. Molly Lidell checked in a 6 spot fish to take 1st Place. Ms. Brantley Davis checked in a fish with 5 spots to take 2nd place, and Chandler Santiago won 3rd place with a 4 spot fish. All three also took home a trophy donated by Amelia Awards and Signs.
In the Boat Aggregate category, the fishing team headed up by Conner Petty checked in the two fish (1 Redfish and 1 Seatrout) that weighed 8.84lbs. Coming in at 2nd place was the team headed by Daniel Tyler, weighing in a mere .02lbs less at 8.82lbs! And third place was also close – Matt Davis’s boat had fish that weighed 8.41lbs! I would note that all of these winners had Redfish that were rather big and the Seatrout were on the small size.
It was a great tournament and there were a whole lof of smiles as folks were leaving. The AIGA donates half of the net proceeds to the American Legion Post 54.
