2017 Captain Mel Classic Results

The conclusion of the 2017 Captain Mel Classic.  It was a good one.   It has been great fun every year.   This year, the stories were outstanding as usual.  Anglers received their payouts and with part of the entry fee and the raffle money we will be giving Suncoast Animal League another $500.

The participants fought stiff winds on tournament day which made it a more challenging contest.     A better day might have yielded higher catches but our people got on the action.

We added pompano for this year.   None were caught.  In Bonus Species, we had two winners.    The flounder action will get better soon.    In the Ladies, Junior and Fly divisions no redfish were caught.   There were stories of near misses.  Hunter Koch probably wishes he was at check in Friday night.   His father put him in the Junior division (thinking that he could be in multiple divisions which is not permitted).   Had he been in the Open division he had a first place trout.

Our judging station, the very best performance in seven years.   Mark Knowles, judge every year for six years, received help this year from my visiting Maryland client John Veil.    Efficiency, we got done with the awards and raffle in record time.

The No Motor division was far and away the largest division this year.  Olin Satterfield took the overall pool and best payout for 2017.    The rest of the winners are listed below.

By division here were the results.

Ladies

Trout:
1) Angela Blanton 22.25 Inch
2) Katrina Pershing 20.75 Inch
3) Brenda Berger  11.4 Inch

Junior

Trout:
1) Hunter Koch 20.5 Inch
2) Shawn Blanton 16.4 Inch

Fly

Trout:
1) Chuck Henkel  17.4 Inch
2) Fred McClendon 14.2 Inch
3) Joseph Poliseno 12.5 Inch

Open

Trout:

• Holly Rufo 18.8 Inch
• Anthony Rufo 18.7 Inch
• Brian Pershing 18.25 Inch

Redfish

• Marc Blanton 26.1

Combined Inches

• Marc Blanton 3

 

No Motor

Trout:

• Nik Comeau 19.8 Inch $225
• Joshua James 18.75 Inch
• Mike Horn 18.2 Inch

Redfish:

• Olin Satterfield 27.0 Inch $225
• Russ Caipen 24.5 Inch
• Nik Comeau 22.9 Inch

Combined Inches:

• Olin Satterfield 43.5 Inches $300
• Nik Comeau 42.5 Inches
• Don Waiberman 35.35 Inches

Bonus Species:  Flounder

No Motor ($100)
Andrew Robertson 12.5 Inch

Open ($10)
Anthony Rufo 16.75 Inch

Overall Pool (32 entries, $320)

Trout:

Katrina Pershing 20.75 Inches ($80)
Interestingly enough, Angela Blanton did not enter the overall pool or she would have taken the Trout prize.

Redfish:

Olin Satterfield  27 Inches  ($80)

Combined Inches:

Olin Satterfield 43.5 Inchess ($160)

New for 2017, the longest redfish and longest trout tournament wide got art prints by Kumpa.

Angela Blanton took the trout print.   Olin Satterfield took the redfish print.

We will work on a date for 2018.    If we can get a group like this every year, it will be great fun just like it has been every year.    I thank everyone who participated in the Captain Mel Classic.

Neil Taylor

Tournament director