Tournament results, and what they tell us

[DarkSkies]

This was started with the same intention of the "Capts reports" thread, to show a window into what people are actually catching out there, and not catching..... :learn:

A lot depends on the time of year, water temps, bait present, and several other factors.
Usually, when you have several hundred fishermen in an area, surf or boat, you should have some fish caught. http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon3.png

I've put forth the premise here that the sizes of fish caught in various coastal areas are declining. Some might think I there have a bias in starting this thread. Nonetheless, I hope folks can see for themselves, that my premise, that the average size of fish caught each year are getting smaller, has validity.

My main purpose here is not to argue or incite resentment, but to educate and inform. Look at the results, make your own conclusions. If you folks have any other tournaments you want to include as part of this thread, feel free. Thanks for reading. :HappyWave:

[DarkSkies]

Courtesy of the Hi-Mar Club


2011
HI-MAR FALL STRIPER TOURNAMENT RESULTS

The annual fall Hi-Mar Striped Bass Fishing Tournament finally had 40 hours of good fishing weather for the fall classic. Although some of the bass were scarce in some areas, the fish were caught in a variety of locations.

The winner of the 40 hour tournament was Chuck Many from Annandale on Tyman. His two fish were 30.00 lbs and 28.8 lbs., a total of 58.8 lbs. The fish were caught in New York at the mouth of the Hudson.

There were 33 boats entered with a few no catches. Chuck Many also had the largest fish at 30 lbs. No huge bass were caught as in previous years.

The Lady Angler was Kathie Hughes, Eatontown, on Prime Coat, 28.6 lbs.
The Junior Angler was Jake Casabone, Mahwah, on Top Gun, 19.4 lbs.
1st. Tyman, Chuck Many, Annandale, 30.00 & 28.8 = 58.8 lbs. Hudson River, N.Y.
2nd. The Nauti Boy, Al Dudas, Cliffwood, 29.8 & 25.4 = 55.2 lbs. Staten Island, N.Y.
3rd. Prime Coat, Buddy Hughes, Eatontown, 28.6 & 26.4 = 55.0 lbs. Shrewsbury River
4th. Runoff IV, Rocco Casso, Roselle Park, 24.0 & 23.0 = 47.0 lbs. Shrewsbury River
5th. That’s It, Gene Graman, Middletown, 23.6 & 20.0 = 43.6 lbs. Hudson River, N.Y.

The Hi-Mar Striper Club would like to thank Bahr’s Restaurant for hosting the Tournament.


Bob Kamienski,
Tournament Chairman



The anglers fishing in this tournament were some of the best of the best. I have met the Hi-Mar members several times at their winter flea markets. Great group of guys. :HappyWave:

Some of them have over 50 years of fishing experience. If fish bigger than this were around in numbers, they would have been found by these guys and gals, but they were not....:learn:

Somewhere over a 100 folks participating in this tournament, 2 1/2 days of fishing, and no bigger fish like they caught last year....congrats to all the people who worked their azzes off to find fish, I know all of ya's put in a lot of time....

[DarkSkies]

This is one of the biggest fall surf tournaments in that area, and in NJ.
I could be wrong, but I think the top fish on the leaderboard now is around 41#.

That is a nice fish, as are some of the others entered now in the top standings.

Congrats to all the dedicated anglers who were out there, day and night, and put in countless hours to get those fish. :clapping::clapping: :thumbsup:

Is there anyone reading this who thinks any one of those anglers lucked into those fish by casually tossing a bunker chunk in the surf and waiting for their trophy? :drool:
Well, think again, if you look at the leaderboard for past years, you will see that many of the top anglers are on the board time and time again...they put in massive amounts of time every year for those fish..at great personal sacrifice....

They're fishing based on log books and past patterns, and are fishing when they believe the fish will be passing by on their Southern migration. They deserve every :clapping: :thumbsup: out there for their time spent and dedication.








Here's another way to look at the tourney....
Even on a weekday/weeknight, there are dozens of anglers out there daily looking for a fish that could place in this tournament.

On the weekends, there are hundreds of folks, every day, fishing for these fish that historically pass by LBI and sit in the inlets and back bays for a short while.

So these sizes are impressive, but so far, the numbers of fish caught this year, are proportionally small relative to the number of folks fishing for them....

Food for thought.....

[DarkSkies]

This tournament, recently held at Island Beach, is one of the most well-known and closely watched tourneys in our state.

Many families look forward to this tournament as a day, after the end of summer, to just get out to the beach and have fun with family. To many of them, even if their child catches a small bluefish, or even a sea robin, that day was a success for them. Bringing joy and happiness into the lives of small children doesn't take much, and many families will continue to attend this great event... :thumbsup:





This year, honestly, the weather was a partial factor impeding angling success. I have to mention that because I'm trying to be as accurate as possible here.

This year, although there were hundreds of entrants in this tourney, I believe a striped bass in the 10lb class won the striped bass division.


Sorry people, but for Commercial fishermen or those folks in fishermen PACs who say the striped bass are not in danger, the results of this tourney don't support that thinking.

[williehookem]

Local FI tournament over the weekend, posted on the internet:

Ran over to the bar that ran the tourney and saw that a 12 lb fish won and there were only few other entered- one 10 lb and 2 9lbers. That blow and brown water really shut things down for most of the weekend.

[finchaser]

From another site written by a professional striper guide

Well its been a pitiful fall so far with very few fishing being caught. I know there is something lik e 30 bass weighted in the derby and the entire first segement is over. Thats pretty sad, seems as the warmer water temps are just keeping the fish up north. I spoke to a few north of us here in Jersey and they are having the same issue just no fish, they had a shot at some decent fish last week but that was quick and they were gone.
This weekend there was 3 tournaments on the island for stripers on boats, SouthWicks, BHMTC and Redmans, and the fishing was awful i think a 13 lber won one of the tournys and 16 won another. Hope things turn on for the boat guys as next week is the seashell, and it dosent look promising.


LBI was 30# not 41#

[baitstealer]

Wasnt the Governors tournament at island beach won this year by a bluefish?

[Monty]

Wasnt the Governors tournament at island beach won this year by a bluefish?
I think it was an 18 1/2 inch blue fish.

[paco33]

Worst year ever for me. My fall has been terrible no keeper stripers either. I entered that tourney and did not catch anything. bababooey posted the results

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?9183-2013-Governors-Surf-Fishing-Tourney


Final results from nj.com


Sunday's Givernor's Surf Fishing Tournament at Island Beach State Park had to be one of the toughest in the 22-year history of that contest. Most of the many categories went unfilled, and there wasn't even a noteworthy fish to take the Governor' Cup. A mere 18 1/2-inch bluefish won for Barry South of Morrisville, Pa. on a time basis. Since only length counts in this tournament, his 6:45 a.m. catch won over the same length blue caught by Douglas Ralph Jr.of Jackson at 12:20 p.m. Actually, the largest fish was probably the 18-inch blackfish landed by Zoltan Egyed of Trenton. A complete list of winners follows:
Kingfish Category



Teen (Female)

First Place ? Alyssa Kuryluck, Bensalem, PA 15 ?"



Adult (Female)

Second Place ? Audrey Estelow-Bock, Florence, NJ 10"

First Place ? Lindsey Nordaby, Mays Landing, NJ 13 ?"



Adult (Male)

Third Place ? Nathan Hagaman, Egg Harbor City, NJ 13 ?"

Second Place ? Frank Bodner, Piscataway, NJ 14 3/8"

First Place ? John Hagaman, Egg Harbor City, NJ 14 3/4:"





Blackfish Category



Adult (Male)

Third Place ? Larry Margiotta, Theills, NY 15"

Second Place ? Robert Campi, Flemington, NJ 17 1/8"

First Place ? Zoltan Egyed, Trenton, NJ 18"





Bluefish Category



Teen (Male)

First Place ? Jeffrey Hawksworth, Atco, NJ 16 ?"



Adult (Male)

Third Place ? Robert Nielse, Flanders, NJ 18 1/8" caught at 6:45am

Second Place ? Douglas Ralph, Jr., Jackson, NJ 18 ?" caught 12:20pm



First Place & 2013 Governor's Cup Winner

Barry South, Morrisville, PA 18 ?" Bluefish caught 6:45am

[seamonkey]

Tourney results from the recent Berkeley Striper Club C&R. Nice work all! I was going to make the trip North to island beach but had heard from a few friends that fishing was great for only about a week and then has slowed down a lot. Even read where the betty and nicks owner was saying that this was one of his worst falls ever.

Final Standings for the 4th Annual Berkeley Striper Club Catch & Release tournament:

1) Will Fredericks - 38" (Submitted first)
2) Maren Toleno - 38" (Submitted second)
3) Chris Butcha - 37"
4) Frank Murcko - 35"

Congratulations to all the winners.

[plugcrazy]

LBI classic pretty dismal
Oct 6 to November 30


Statistics LBI Fall Fishing Classic (Derby) 8 Weeks
Entry requirements Bass 34" Bluefish 32" except 2014 dropped to 30"

2011 848 Anglers 381Bass 177Bluefish

2012 696 Anglers 18 Bass 3 Bluefish Closed end of October because of Sandy

2013 ? Anglers 43 Bass 1 Bluefish

2014 730 Anglers 46 Bass 7 Bluefish (1 week to go) Bluefish dropped from 32" to 30"

[plugcrazy]

Found this on the internet. A few clubs from up in north jersey had a tourney that ended 11/23. Not sure which clubs, assuming asbury, berkeley, shark river, moco cartoppers, spring lake liveliners, and maybe one other?
Here are the results, also dismal as well.



"Got the results from the club tournament - 5 best fish for each club over 5 days.
All the clubs combined, hundreds of guys, weighed in a total of NO fish from Wednesday evening through Sunday noon
Never happened before".

[DarkSkies]

The recent Berkeley C/R tourney......
Over 80% of the winning fish came from one specific area in NJ...100 miles of coastline...and our "good bites" have dwindled to a handful of places...is a sobering thought.....:learn:
If anyone has the official results and wants to post them, feel free.

[jigfreak]

I agree. Well thats why no one wants to share intel anymore. Too hard to find fish. why give it all away to someone who doesn't want to work for them.

[buckethead]

Found this on the internet. A few clubs from up in north jersey had a tourney that ended 11/23. Not sure which clubs, assuming asbury, berkeley, shark river, moco cartoppers, spring lake liveliners, and maybe one other?
Here are the results, also dismal as well.



"Got the results from the club tournament - 5 best fish for each club over 5 days.
All the clubs combined, hundreds of guys, weighed in a total of NO fish from Wednesday evening through Sunday noon
Never happened before".

This is happening more and more. as has been mentioned any decent shore bite has been highly concentrated.
It's a far cry fom 10 years ago.

[SharkHart]

it goes the other way too, some of the self promoting "rock fish smart" guys loud and proud are up to their eyeballs in bass right up until Berkley then they get 1 small fish and ohhh strangest thing it was slow week!!

[jigfreak]

The final berkeley results

Shore Division:
1) Ryan Sherwood - 46.5
2) Steve George - 45
3) Bruce Caporale 44.5
4) Steve Seeberger - 40
5) Shawn DiVincenzo - 39
6) Sean Seraphin - 37
7) Scotty Pullen - 35
8) Chris Butcha - 32
9) Dave Arnold -27 (Submitted first)
10) John Kravchak - 27 (Submitted 2nd)


Boat Division:
1) Steve Saniewski - 39
2) Ray Kerico - 36.5 (Submitted 1st)
3) Ryan Brown - 36.5 (Submitted 2nd)
4) Bob "Blackcloud" Hryszko - 36.5 (Submitted 3rd)
5) Paul Haertel - 25
6) George Strathern - 18.5
7) Open
8) Open
9) Open
10) Open

[jigfreak]

it goes the other way too, some of the self promoting "rock fish smart" guys loud and proud are up to their eyeballs in bass right up until Berkley then they get 1 small fish and ohhh strangest thing it was slow week!!

If you're talking about who I think you're talking about- it's so amazing how many fish that guy catches that no one can verify. Nights when his facebook reports say he "crushed the bass" and he was the only one to witness it. Everyone else catching 29" bass and he has all fish in the 20lb class. Something def smells fishy, just like that guy hoopster and his fake reports. Anyone remember him?

[finchaser]

Almost forgot about the great Hoopster on SOL he cleaned everyone's clocks everyday never had the :skunk:

[fishinmission78]

Yeah hoopster was a legend in his own mind lol.

[J Barbosa]

When I see these numbers I have to keep reminding myself that they are in INCHES not pounds.

Truly sad numbers for a whole weeks worth of fishing.

It is nice to have something to shut up the Facebook sharpies who are killing them every day until a tourney starts...

I might sign up for this one next year. Big fan of the C & R format

[clamchucker]

The recent Golden Nugget beach and boat tournament standings and results. It says a 7 lb striper won in the bass division and a 1.6lb blue won the bluefish division.
https://beachnboat.com/events/golden-nugget/leader-board/

[plugcrazy]

pitiful

[porgy75]

I read a report the other day where a charter guy was talking about how there are plenty of local fish. I guess maybe he was exaggerating a bit?

[storminsteve]

I think it's the same as saying you should have been here yesterday. If they are not catching they can always say they read them on the fishfinder. You can't prove it either way unless they are hooking and bring them up. jmo

[finchaser]

I heard a 9# fish just won the Jersey coast tournament this tells me stripers are in really bad shape

[cowherder]

this tells me stripers are in really bad shape

Finchaser you are mistaken. The cows are all over! If its on the internet it must be true!;)

[seamonkey]

^^^^^^ Oh yeah absolutely. Especially fb. This weekend I read on this guy's page that because the year of the young for 2015 was best ever the stripers were great shape. Everyone can stop worrying now. by next year there will be so many cows in the rivers they will outnumber the other fish.

[bababooey]

Time for some of you guys to get a boat.:HappyWave:

[finchaser]

I heard a 9# fish just won the Jersey coast tournament this tells me stripers are in really bad shape
Confirmed and there was no 2nd or 3rd with 18 boats

[storminsteve]

does anyone have the results of the hrfa tourney yesterday. At least 300 guys in Island Beach. They should of crushed it with all those guys out there? I hope someone killed it last night.

[finchaser]

They didn't Grumpy's only had 2 weigh in's. action was in southern Monmouth and ocean first light

[fishinmission78]

I agree. Looks like b&n only had 3 weigh ins. grumpys had more but I heard most were from boats. so they probably had only 2 or 3 weigh ins from the surf.
Things got better in the afternoon. Overall though I would say the HRFA tourney was not that successful in terms of keepers caught. They were dealt a poor hand yesterday.