Fall Fish Bowl Results

charels w cullen bridge, indian river inlet, delaware seashore state park, fall fish bowl, surf fishing tournament, — Charles W Cullen Bridge with the Full Moon in the background was a nice view when t he clouds would let up

The inaugural Fall Fish Bowl was on Thanksgiving weekend. We got lucky with the weather, because the rain held off for most of the day. 67 surf anglers competed for prizes and bragging rights. Huge thanks to everyone for coming out we raised $305 for Frets 4 Vets with ticket sales.

Fall Fish Bowl 2018, delaware surf fishing, surf fishing tournament, delaware, sussex county, delaware seashore state park, 3rs, — Fall Fish Bowl 2018

The day started out a little gloomy looking with some heavy surf. Gannets were spotted offshore diving and everyone hoped whatever they were on would come in closer. It was a good sign, the water looked perfect for striped bass. Sunrise happened but we didn’t see it, by mid morning the skies cleared a little and the sun came out for a few hours. That was nice break because we all were watching that storm head towards with what looked like snow in the DC area.

DS Custom Tackle gave out Bona Fide bait samples to many anglers, they also provided bait to anglers that was donated by Lighthouse View Bait and Tackle when they cleaned the freezers out for the summer. Unfortunately the only “fish” that was chewing on Saturday were dogfish. 67 people fishing plus about 10 more not in the tourney, and no one caught a single fish, all day.

Everyone had a great time despite only catching dogfish, after all it is fishing. Which motivated several people in the dog pound calcutta to concentrate on nothing but dogfish. That paid out well for Matt Hamilton, he caught 13 dogfish and won $200.

Anglers threw everything they had from spoons, plugs, bunker chunks, mullet, eels, Bona Fide Bait, squid, bloodworms, and their lunch, you name it they tried it. “We are going to give hot dogs a try, at this point why not”, said Matt Dammyer.

D Morelli had the catch of the day. “I just caught a sock with pineapples on it”. We had to make an award for that catch. She was presented a Fall Fish Bowl odd catch trophy, a sock mounted on a board.

The rain hit at 1:30 PM ish and many toughed it out, those that didn’t, went to Crabby Dicks to await the awards. Everyone knew, aside from the dogfish calcutta, the dog-pound, we would be pulling a lot of names for prize places. That is what happens when fish are not caught, we pick raffle tickets for winners.

Crabby Dicks was a fun venue for the awards and it was very warm, which after a day in the wind and some rain was a nice bonus. Big thanks to the staff and Manager Ted for accommodating us at the last-minute this week. The staff did a great job and we packed the house.

Thank you everyone for coming out on the holiday weekend and helping raise money for Frets 4 Vets. Now get ready for May The Fish Be With You on May 4th in Delaware Seashore State Park.

Big thanks to DS Custom Tackle, they will be handling registration or ticket sales from now on with a new service. This will be much more affordable than Eventbrite has been. I highly recommend everyone too check it out and use the service for your events.

Rich King

The following are the winners of the Fall Fish Bowl 2018 …

First Place Charlie Harrison $500 and a Tidal Table Fall Fish Bowl

Second Place Rob Lyons $400

Third Place David Eastburn $300

Fourth Place Mike Wiktorowicz $200

Fifth Place Kordell Cotton $100