Eastern Shore Fly Fishers Inaugural Tripletail Classic!
The Eastern Shore Fly Fishers is a small local fly fishing club based out of Fairhope, AL on the “Eastern Shore” of Mobile Bay. The club had never before put on a tournament, but wanted to conduct an event that would draw fly anglers together and promote conservation-conscious fishing practices. “Demonstrating to anglers that you can still have an enjoyable day of fishing without coming home with fish in the cooler was one of our primary goals”, said tournament director Noble Davidson. The tournament was entirely catch-and-release, and in addition, anglers were provided with tagging kits from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Lab. The research lab was also the beneficiary of the tournament.
Events including a Captain’s Meeting on June 26th, and Awards on June 27th were held at the American Legion Post 199, right on the bay in downtown Fairhope, AL. The venue boasted beachfront casting demonstrations, a pier for tying up, a colorful waterfront tiki bar, and Saharan Dust sunsets to be remembered.
The fishing was difficult to due heavy overcast conditions as a result of the Saharan Dust covering the Central Gulf Coast throughout the weekend, but it was all smiles as anglers rolled into the awards ceremony sporting their new Skinny Water Culture – Clearwater Raglan tournament shirts.
In addition to Skinny Water Culture, numerous local and national sponsors were on board to support an enjoyable and successful event. A huge thanks goes out to the other title sponsors including; Hell’s Bay Boatworks, CCA Alabama, Monic Fly Lines, Ego Fishing Products, and ABC Applicators.
Despite difficult conditions, a few teams were able to put it together and land, tag, and release some fish! All fish in this tournament had to be captured, tagged, photographed and then released. The tournament included three categories; Most Points, Largest by Length, and Most Fish. Rankings in these three categories were summed to generate a cup score and determine the Grand Champion.
Team “Flipper Magoo” took third place in all three categories, resulting in a third-place overall finish.
Team “Tails from the Trypt” took first place largest fish, and second place overall with their 23.5” fish that came in late in the afternoon.
And finally; Team “3Tail”, a Mobile, AL local father-and-son team took the Points and Most Fish categories as well as the Grand Champion position!
Thank you so much to all participants, sponsors, and volunteers. Can’t wait to see everyone again next year!
Noble
ESFF Board of Directors