The New Jersey Beach N Boat had a hard time giving out $8,000 in cash but doled out plenty of fun and excitement over Father’s Day weekend at Schooner Island Marina in Wildwood, NJ.
Tournament organizers said 150 anglers and friends gathered for the event and even those that did not catch the big ones won raffle prizes and received lots of freebies.
As with all Beach N Boat events, fishermen, women and kids can fish from anywhere in saltwater. The weakfish fishing was the hottest from the rocks in North Wildwood with all those trout weighed coming from there. Meanwhile, the fluke brought to the scales were caught by the boaters.
Tog season is closed and striper, drum, bluefish and kingfish were not weighed in over the Father’s Day weekend, not at Schooner Island Marina anyway. The black sea bass that were caught were just a tad short to make the minimum entry.
With $1,000 for the largest catch in each of the seven open species up for grabs, it was Bill Collins of Glendora, NJ who nabbed the weakfish category with a 6.8-pound fish, followed closely in second place by Richard Henderson from Cape May Courthouse (6 pounds) and Pete James (5.8 pounds) of Villas, NJ in third.
Good friends and boat neighbors, who love to compete against each other, both brought live fluke to release to the scales. William Dameron from Hilltown PA (4.3-pound fluke) was topped by Drexel Hill, PA’s Capt. Scott Pierce (4.5 pounds) of local Tuna Chic fame. However, both anglers were disappointed when Dave Duckenfield of Cape May Courthouse showed up with a 5.2-pound flatty and walked away with the $1,000 top prize.
Organizers and guests alike loved the new Base Camp location at Schooner Island Marina. The on-the-water location was the perfect spot. Boats could pull in to weigh fish and there was plenty of excitement with music, sponsors products on display, and people with a great sense of camaraderie. The next Wildwoods Beach N Boat Fishing Challenge will take place again on Father’s Day weekend next season, so mark your calendar now for June 17-19, 2016.
For more information on the season-long contest, go to www.beachnboat.com
