It's almost go time. As of now, we could have almost 20 boats, and let's just all hope the weather holds. We should be good to go, but will let everyone know Friday if worst case scenario happens and we need to push out to the blowout date of next Saturday August 2nd. Right now it looks like the wind won't be too bad, and hopefully we'll just be dealing with some decent swells, which should make the competition a bit more interesting.
For Saturday, we are going to be on channel 66, so switch to that for any tourney chatter. We also had a last second departure from fan favorite Ben Allen who has some family issues to attend to, so we'll definitely miss him. Ben is a tourney and trash talking vet who we know will be back for next year. That also throws a few crews into disarray so there may be some last second free agent switches that will impact the Vegas odds. As of now, looks like we have 4 charter boats who may have a slight advantage, but with the Feds patrolling the 3 mile line, the playing field should be evened out with most folks fishing in close. This will also add to the competition as we hope to see a bunch of tourney boats near each other on the rips near Monomoy. Last year it was great to have 4-5 tourney entrants near each other taking advantage of a killer day of 20+ lbers crashing the surface for squid.
Remember to bring cameras and send us pictures after the tourney so we can put them up on the site. I'm already hearing a lot of chatter about different strategies so we'll see what works given the tougher conditions. We also are giving a bit more to 2nd place this year, so 80% of all entry fees will go to the winner and the various donated prizes going for other places. Given their help throughout, we will throw a few bucks to the folks who have helped out - especially Sunrise Bait & Tackle.
Let us know if anyone has any last second questions, and hope to see you at the Hot Stove friday night. If you see my brother, ask him about his little mishap earlier this afternoon in the bathroom at my place where we were having a nice quiet family bbq until all hell broke loose.
Good luck to everyone (except Seamus, Mike O'Brien, Pop and Donnie)
