Southern Open Winners

[Steel Shootin']

I went to the Souther Open awards ceremony this morning, which took place at Ballyhoos Restaurant in Tarpon Springs. At the awards, also from Team Spearboard, was Shooter Dan and JohnHermes. Paul (f94gator) was the forth member of our team, but not able to attend the awards.

Unfortunately, with the weather knocking us off our plans for the Middle Grounds, I knew we would be hard pressed to compete. Not because you can't get good fish closer to shore, but because I am limited in my numbers closer in. We shot our boat limit of Hogs, Dan shot a couple of Grouper, and John and Dan both weighed at least one mango. No one could find keeper Triggers or Sheepies. We all felt the best shot for a winner was Dan's 27#AJ

I took some notes as the winners were announced. On some, I either don't have their name right, or did not get the full name, but I think the rest of the information is correct. I only got the first place and biggest fish winners; there were several other winners (2nd, 3rd, etc.):

"Diver of the Day" (Top Shooter, most points): Dennie Delgato
Largest Grouper: Dean Young, 16.7 lbs
Largest Snapper: John Schmidt, 5.6 lbs
Largest Hogfish: Jessie Gordy, 10.3 lbs
Largest Trigger/Sheep: (Didn't get name) 4.7 lbs
Largest AJ: Joel Parker, 32.1 lbs
Largest Lobster, (Didn't get name), 1.5 lbs
Top Female Shooter: Sharon Codd

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS! There were many more, including photo winners, and youth division winners. Please feel free to reply to this thread with more info on anything I omitted.

Here are a few photos from this morning (sorry, no photos of winning fish, as they had been returned to the shooters last night):

A shot of some of the crowd, waiting for the ceremony to begin (they seem much less patient then they did when the beer was flowing on Friday)
http://www.npr-florida.com/openseating.jpg

A portion of the prize table:
http://www.npr-florida.com/opentable.jpg

Shooter Dan takes his turn at the prize table. Hey, what happen to all those guns that were there? Someone picked the one I wanted!
http://www.npr-florida.com/opendanattable.jpg

Group shot of some of the winners:
http://www.npr-florida.com/openwinners.jpg

Also, congratulations to Capt.Gene of Aquatic Adventures in Z-hills, who not only was a sponser, but found his way to the prize table, as well.

As for me, my only prayor was a "mystery ticket." I left the ceremony when the table consisted of snorkle keepers and DAN calendars. There's always next year. :)

[johnhermes]

"I left the ceremony when the table consisted of snorkle keepers and DAN calendars."

Not quite Scott. I picked during your turn and I picked out a pair of Okona kevlar gloves for you. $40, not too shabby.

[Reef Raider]

What a guy !

[Steel Shootin']

One of my tickets scored after I left! All right! That $40 value covered my entry fee! Thanks!

Good selection, too.

What did you get, John? Did any of your tickets hit?

[Steel Shootin']

Also, I can't forget to mention our own Spear One, who was a sponser of the event, as well. Your business name and logo came out right at the top of the back of the shirt -- Nice placement, as always! Also, the winner of that SS gun that was raffled Friday night looked pleased. :)

[Spear One]

I didn't know they were going to raffle a gun. Was it the 48" Oak Commercial with the yellow butt? If not, who won it on the prize table?

I sure wish I could have been there. It was so far away for me and I have a ton of orders that had to get made. It sounds like the tournament was a success in spite of the weather.

[f94gator]

I think it was a 48" Splash - black with blue splash marks. Forgot the name of the guy who won it.

[Steel Shootin']

That sounds right. I never saw the gun. David announced it as a 48" Spearfishing Specialities gun, and I could make out that it was not a commercial set-up, but wasn't sure otherwise.

[Shooter Dan]

They raffled the Spash on Friday night and the oak commerical gun with the yellow butt was on the prize table Sunday. The Diver of the day took it ( I think).

[Screen Name]

Kevin, we did raffle a splash on Friday to help sell some tshirts. Worked out fine. I tried to convince diver of the day Donnie Delgado that the commercial was defective, but he wasn't bitin. As runner-up, I had to settle for another great prize instead.

I tried diplomacy to get our team to make one more stop, but it didn't work. I guess if I really needed another gun, I could have mugged our boat driver and made them take me to a jack spot on the way home, but frankly we were kind of happy just to be alive after that trip......... 8' seas in 24' boat.

[Steel Shootin']

Hey John. Congratulations on that snapper. Sounds like all you guys did well. Ballyhoos was an exellent venue, as well.

[Screen Name]

And thanks for posting the nice write-up about the tournament. Pretty sure Ballyhoos will be in the picture next year, they did a nice job and made it real easy to reshedule the tournament so that we could at least put it on.

We employed that time tested method of finding good fish at the tournament: 1) Run the boat until you encounter 8 foot seas and everyone else is talking about going home. 2) Toss the anchor in and area where you have seen fish, just so they cant go home. 3) When the boat stops moving, dive the spot because you know it might be the only chance you get.

This forum is awesome!

John Out.

[Screen Name]

By they way, I guess you could say that I was only a Jack off that day..........

John Out

[Steel Shootin']

Now I understand. At the tourney, I overhead someone say, "John is a jack-off." :D

(I think you'll be fitten in here just find with that sense of humor)

P.S.: I was surprised at the small amount of jacks I saw that day. I saw one legal jack the whole day, and others on the boat saw none.

[Screen Name]

Scott, you may already know this, and if you do, just smack me upside the head and say "shut the **** up"..........

I believe that:

1) The big jacks are typically on the upcurrent side of the wreck or structure.
2) Especially when it has been dived recently (which is probable on tournament day), you may have to get far off the wreck, where you cant even see it, before they will come in. A compass is handy here.
3) The more you shoot and commotion you make, the more action you will attract. Sometimes I go to the wreck, shoot something, and intentionally drag it kicking and screaming to more likely big jack territory to string it.

If I've offended Scott or anyone else with this "advice", just remember, I'm only one jack off.

[Steel Shootin']

Don't be concerned about offending anyone here, even if the advice is for the novice. I have as much to learn as anyone on this board.

The commotion part I always try to employ. My last dive on the Open I shot a hogfish, and didn't move from that spot for 10 minutes. It was so fishy after that shot that I just kept reloading and firing. It's surprising how many fish will come up to you if there is a lot of activity. I'd be stringing a fish, and glance away for a second, only to see a nice gag or red 2' from me watching the whole thing. The funny thing about grouper is that they like to come out and watch the show, but they seem to know when you're reloading. Of course, that is where learning how to "behave" (i.e., move) around fish is important, and I think Kevin will be addressing that at his seminar. A friend swears to me that you can turn the grouper into "lap dogs." :D

Anyway, I hadn't tried breaking away from the structure. I'll give that a shot next time if I'm targeting a jack. Thanks for that tip. It makes sense, I had seen a shit load of jacks at these places two weeks ago.

[Spear One]

Hey Scott, I think we should change John's screen name to
"One Jack Off" ......... How about a vote on this?

It is a common practice among commercial fisherman to give their friends nicknames. They usually wait to name him until he says or does something to warrant a particular name. I think John has earned this name!

John has made many trips with me on my commercial boat and I think it is a great name for him... he seems to like it too! I think we owe it to him to make sure he gets the right name.

New Thread for this?

[Screen Name]

Kevin, if you don't mind, I'd like to think about it a few days before I officially become "One Jack Off". It does kind of fit me though!

[Speargun]

I guess I just have too much time on my hands sometimes....

http://www.fishingworks.com/Users/UserFolders/Speargun/PhotoImages/screenname.gif

[Steel Shootin']

Originally posted by Spear One
Hey Scott, I think we should change John's screen name to
"One Jack Off" ......... How about a vote on this?

It is a common practice among commercial fisherman to give their friends nicknames. They usually wait to name him until he says or does something to warrant a particular name. I think John has earned this name!

John has made many trips with me on my commercial boat and I think it is a great name for him... he seems to like it too! I think we owe it to him to make sure he gets the right name.

New Thread for this?
I agree! However, it raises concern over what name I may wind-up with after some trips on your boat. Hopefully it won't be "barn door" or something like that, because someone decides I couldn't hit a barn door from 6' away.

I can see "Jack Off" on the side of John's boat! That would be funny as hell.

[Screen Name]

You must be a Genius! How Da **** You Do Dat? I really want one of those annoying thing for my messages. Please share the knowledge. You know: Give a man a fish and you have a (whatever the rest of this is), Teach a man to fish and you (whatever, you know what I mean)

Your new best friend,

John Out

[Spear One]

Ha!!!! I knew I'd get ya goin on this one. Oh come on John, you could be the first member of Spearboard to get his name by committee...... You could be a pioneer! Think of it more like an American Indian name-
Shoots More Fish, Can't Hit Squat, Gun Don't Work or Shaft Stays Bent.

[Speargun]

John, first of all, sit down, take a valium, and relax. You really should lay off the caffine. :D

I made that pic with Paint Shop Pro Animation Shop. It's basically just a simple banner (animated gif) I threw together. I think you can download a trial version of it at www.jasc.com . If not, just give me a general idea of what you're looking for & I'll see what I can whip up.

Jeff

[Screen Name]

Jeff- I downloaded the program........looks like its going to take some figgerin, so I will see if I can dig up some time and brainpower to devise a catchy and annoying banner. But I have confidence, I have always mastered annoying things.

Thanx,

John

[Charlestondivin]

Screen name try this site
http://www.bannerforge.com/
Makes it idiot proof for easy quick banners online.
Here is one I made for my site.
http://www.paintballcharleston.com/diving/assets/images/chdive.gif

[Screen Name]

Now that everybody knows its idiotproof, either I get this done or I'll have to reregister for the board and pretend I'm someone else.......

Really annoying banner you made there Charleston, you got that down. It'll never beat out Kermit boinking whatever that white thing is though! That is a classic. I log on just to watch it. Suggestion: Make it into a screensaver!

[dlock]

that is the funniest avatar yet :D I still laugh every time I see it !!

[Steel Shootin']

Originally posted by dlock
that is the funniest avatar yet :D I still laugh every time I see it !!
I do, too. The only thing that could have made it better is if Kermit was doing Miss Piggy! :D