If you’re a tautog fisherman and you missed out on the RI Tog Classic do not allow yourself to make that mistake again! There is absolutely no reason not to register for this once-a-year event. The prizes are phenomenal, the after-party is amazing and with all of the proceeds benefitting the Three Angels Fund, an organization that puts all of their donations toward helping families deal with the financial and emotional hardships brought on by a cancer diagnosis, you can even feel great about not making the leaderboard. In addition to all this, the raffle prizes fill an entire banquet room!
Unlike last year’s classic, the weather was sunny and started off pretty much flat-calm. But it didn’t take long for the fans to come on, and by 10 a.m. anglers were dealing with 15- to 20-mph sustained winds coming from the west/northwest with the occasional stronger gust. This forced many of the kayak anglers to pack it in early, Kayak Division winner and Coastal Kayak Clash all-star Justin Oser said, “I was done by 10 a.m., once I started seeing green water coming over the front of my kayak, I dumped my crabs and headed for the launch.” Lucky for Justin, he already had a double-digit tog on the stringer! Many other anglers ducked into the lee of the land to finish out the event, but the howling winds and building seas did nothing to knock down the scores on the leaderboard at the end of the day.
The big winner was Dan Miller who landed a monstrous 15.39-pounder to take top honors in the boat division. There were some heavy fish on the board too, his fish beat out a 12.04-pounder caught by Joe Acito and an 11.12-pounder landed by Robbie Taylor. Those are some impressive fish! Dan Miller’s daughter, Olivia, also took top honors in the youth division with her 8.44-pounder, which was rounded out with an 8.18 taken by Nick Boiani and a 7.06 landed by Wesley Calef. The Kayak Division leader was a 10.6-pounder taken by Justin Oser, Scott Crain took second with a 6.5-pounder and Mitch Battista rounded out the yakkers with a 5.17. Matt Murray took the shore division with a 6.67-pounder, Gordon Sinclair landed the second place shore winner at 6.28 pounds and Bill Wescott held down the three-spot with a 5.94.
The biggest winner of all was, of course, was the Three Angels Fund, the final total had not yet been tallied at the time of this writing, but the donation will be significant and that all comes with a huge thanks to all who participated and made donations through raffles and other avenues.
The party alone might have been worth the $100 entry fee which included a tournament t-shirt and a meal from one of the amazing food trucks parked onsite. When you add to that the camaraderie of great competition, raising money for an amazing cause and fishing, it feels like a home run. Ralph Craft, owner of Crafty One Custom Rods and mastermind behind the event and his crew are top notch people who put on one the best-run tournaments you’re ever going to find. We’re already counting the days until next year!
