By Joe Kent
Correspondent
Published January 13, 2011 http://galvestondailynews.com/story/204290/
There will be a number of winter fishing tournaments around the Galveston Bay Complex, and one group active in hosting those events is the West End Anglers Fishing Club.
This year, the group will host its second Big Trout Tournament on Jan. 29.
It will be held in Sea Isle at the new West End Marina.
Guides are allowed. Information for registration can be found online at www.fishwest
end.com, or you can call Coe Parker at 713-594-4252.
This will be a live weigh-in tournament. Participants will receive a Fish West End T-shirt just for signing up to fish.
The entry fee is $60 and there is an optional side pot.
Door prizes and music will be part of the program.
The club’s fifth annual Black Drum Tournament is scheduled to start Feb. 1 and run until April 10.
This event gives everyone an excuse to get out and catch a trophy.
Twenty dollars gets you a shot at the 100 percent cash payout purse for first through third place.
The tournament is a CPR event — catch, photo and release.
According to the club’s news release on the tournament’s rules, the winner is determined by length of the fish. So, measuring your catch, photographing it with the appropriate color for that week or a time stamp on the photograph is all that is needed.
Participants are encouraged to deflate the air bladder with a proper venting tool then release the fish.
Any fish that does not swim off does not count. Great care must be taken to revive these very large, old fish.
All of the group’s tournament dates can be found on its website.
While everyone was doing their best to keep warm Monday morning, Jaime Ochoa, his father, Benito, brother Benito, and a family friend went fishing.
They fished the rock groins along the seawall, and, around 10 a.m., the bull reds started hitting.
Within an hour, the four anglers each had a big red, with the largest measuring 46 inches. Only three of the reds were retained as that is the number of red drum tags they possessed.
In addition to the reds, a 33-inch black drum was landed.
It appears we will have another day of this cold weather. However, by the weekend, a warming trend should start.
To get your catch in the Reel Report, phone Capt. Joe Kent at 409-683-5273, or send an e-mail to reel.report(at)galvnews.com. There’s no charge for this service.