2012 OFFICIAL Photo Thread - Weigh That! A Stellar Big Bang Open for the Log Books!

[SpearMax]

The 2012 Big Bang Open was another amazing success.

The sea state and weather in the hunting regions was stellar.

The courtesy and respect for the rules and each other shown by contestants was stellar.

The sponsor support and prize wall were stellar.

The delicious Cuban food served by Don Ramon's restaurant was stellar.

The free beer, water, food and soft drinks were stellar.

The air conditioned venue, especially when that huge down-pour rolled over, was stellar.

The contestants, families and friends having a blast made for a stellar day.

I wish to thank everyone who participated as a contestant, a volunteer, camera-shooter or festivities attendee.

Our annual photographer Len Pepe (aka "Gradyman") did his usual superb job of shooting the pics using my Nikon camera. I cropped, re-sized and on some images adjusted exposure.

Here are the weigh-in photos. Here is a link to the Top 20 winners thread:

2012 OFFICIAL Photo Thread - Top 20 Winners + A Prize Wall to be Remembered!

First up in the weigh-in pics is the overall winner - the tournament champion with the highest aggregate score - Captain Tony Crumrine.

Way to deliver Mr. T!

[SpearMax]

Lotsa fish meat hit the scales.

[SpearMax]

We had 5 cameras rolling at the event for the TV show Ocean Warriors.

Check out the show here: http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=147219

[SpearMax]

The shark researchers from the Bimini Shark Lab were here again aquiring bait they use for their work.

This is the last round of weigh-in pics. I will present the winners shortly.

[Lazy Bones]

good pics, look slike some quality fish

[Bimini Sharklab]

We would just like to send a huge thanks to all those competitors in the Big Bang Open last week that donated their barracudas and jacks to our bait fund! We received more than we anticipated and we are extremely grateful! We managed to get it all packed into our freezers before they got too ripe so our scientists, volunteers and sharks will be very happy with them! I know we chatted with some of you about the purpose of our collection, but for those of you who we did not get to speak to, we are a research station based just over the Gulf Stream on South Bimini, Bahamas. The majority of our research is carried out there; however we also study the lemon shark population just off your coastline from West Palm and Jupiter. You probably have heard of or even seen these adult sharks aggregating in large numbers near the wrecks during the chilly winter months of January and February each year. Through our numerous tag and release trips we have discovered these lemons are in fact ‘snowbirds’ and are enjoying the relatively warmer waters and abundant food off of Jupiter. Around April most tend to move north during the summer months. Unfortunately this aggregating behavior makes them extremely susceptible to overfishing, and our data was subsequently used by FWC to protect the population in state waters during these vulnerable times of year. But there is still a long way to go so that your kids and grand kids will be able to see this amazing aggregation: Lemon sharks are still being heavily targeted in federal waters and a week's worth of long line fishing in your area could wipe them out for good. For more information about our work in Florida and the Bahamas, please visit us in Bimini or visit our website at http://www6.miami.edu/sharklab/ , you can also find us on facebook and twitter and feel free to email us with any questions!