We will end up with a solid number of boats, and most of the tourney vets are back in action so should be great. Let’s all pray for good weather, and for the Burkes to win their own damn tourney.
On the fishing front, Team Jackal has not had a line wet in the tourney grounds, so going to be a frantic week of tagging boats in the harbor with GPS buttons while monitoring mating patterns of Mary Lee on OCEARCH shark tracker. If you haven’t fished by the guide of GPS posts on Facebook from tagged great white sharks then you haven’t fished.
Biggest news on the street is the team that I named last week as the favorite has lived up to their billing. 44 POUNDER caught this week- on topwater! Team Ocean Effect Charters with the team of Goodie, Squirrel and Babajane (aren’t those the names of the guys from the Dream Team with Michael Keaton) have now officially put this tourney on notice. Holy crap. 44 lber would be the all time tourney record – beating the previous bayside 39 lber from a few years back. 44 lbs? I have studied every inch of that picture and am pretty sure I have narrowed down where he was caught, and on what (hint – look at the way the stripes on the bottom fade – that’s all I’ll give).
Either way, Burke bros and two other tourney vets went out today tuna fishing out of Plymouth. Let’s just say we caught 6 species of fish! Huge day! Six freaking different species in one day – can you say epic? Doesn’t matter that none of the fish were tuna, or bass, or even bluefish – or even over a pound, or anything we were targeting other than for bait. In reality, we didn’t see any action on the SW corner – flat calm – no life (one whale all day, no birds, no hook ups that we could see). Name the six species and you’ll get a free t-shirt at the tourney – hint is we jigged for bait off of Plymouth before heading across and then jigged for bait again. Team Jackal stalwart guessed 5 of 6 in his first try- impressive.
At least my 4 year old was impressed when I told him we caught six species. Until I took him bass fishing off the beach and caught a crab on my rigged squid. The bar has officially hit rock bottom. I could honestly not be a worse fisherman at this point. Or any point I guess. I get sick thinking about how much I have spent, time and money over the years, and how much easier and cheaper things would be if I just bought a sweet bass boat. Or a fish tank.
Overall, we are underdogs and that’s how we like it. We have a 6 person crew again this year, and you can pretty much guarantee we will have slayed about 24 fried chicken drumsticks by 8 am – you could skate on the grease on the boat last year. Good times.
This week is all about focus, and getting more boats in. Prizes should be legit and make sure you remember – Hot Stove on Friday night – always a good time for pre-tourney smack talk.
We also want to take this time to thank all of our awesome sponsors – this tourney has always been about the local businesses who help out, and we appreciate it. We’ll give more ink later, but a quick thank you to –
Land Ho! Harwichport
Goose Hummock
Commadore Inn
Davidson Mgmt Co.
Harwich Opticians
Casey Plumbing
Sunrise Bait and Tackle
Hot Stove Saloon
O’Brien Pest Control
DeCharles Plastering Inc.
Harwichport Boat Yard
Fred Murtha Home & RV
Flipkey.com
ESP tees
Red Nun Bar & Grill
Kurt Hedmark - General Contractor
Arlie Ex Sportfishing
Cape Cod Five Harwichport
Ruggie’s Breakfast & Lunch
Riverview Bait and Tackle
Andale Café
Zibrat & McCarthy L.L.P.
Don and Dave’s Auto
Jailbreak Sportfishing
Ocean Effect Charters
G.Hatch Restorations
James McPhee Foundation