This year, JCAA held a second fluke tournament from 8/16 - 8/18 with an entirely new format. More specifically it was a three fish tournament with 1st to 5th places being determined by the total weight of each boats heaviest three fluke. However, we did have one prize for the heaviest fluke caught in the tournament as well as four different fluke Calcuttas and one for sea bass. While anyone can get lucky and catch one large fluke, this tournament involved more skill as the entrants needed to try to catch three large fluke. Therefore, to keep the playing field level, we limited it to a maximum of 4 people per boat. The way I look at it is that having 6 fishermen on one boat fishing against 3 or 4 on another boat would be similar to 6 against 3 or 4 in basketball or hockey. Though I did receive a few complaints from those who wanted to have 5 or 6 fishermen on their boat, most people seemed to like that it was limited to 4 people.
Another big change for this tournament was that entrants could only fish one day but they were allowed to choose their day to fish. All entrants had to text me by 9PM the night before if they intended to fish the next day. Everyone I spoke with really liked that as they could choose a day that they felt would be the best weather-wise or a day that fitted best into their schedule. Some said they would like to be able to fish all three days, as I would, but a lot of people can only fish one day. Again, I wanted to keep the playing field level so it was limited to 1 day.
Sixty-one boats competed in this tournament which I was quite pleased with since it was our first year of trying this and it was run on short notice. The awards ceremony at the Brick PAL went well with really good food provided by Blue Collar Catering and we had great classic rock music performed by the band, Ken and the Escorts.
I hope to expand the tournament and include more weigh-in stations in both northern and southern New Jersey next year. However, I would like to thank the four tackle stores that handled the weigh-ins for us this year, Fishermen’s Den in Belmar, Capt. Bill’s Landing Marina in Point Pleasant, Creekside Outfitters in Waretown and Fisherman’s Headquarters in Ship Bottom. I’d also like to thank those who helped publicize our tournament including various Facebook groups, websites, Al Ristori’s blog and publications such as the Asbury Park Press and the Fisherman Magazine. Finally, I’d like to thank all of our many sponsors, JCAA staff members who helped out as well as all of our participants.
Fluke fishing picked up during the week of our tournament and we had really nice weather on all three days that resulted in some really good catches. However, it was the boat Flounder Wet Spot with Capt. Tony Pacitti and his crew that won the tournament with three fluke having a total weight of 20.64 lbs. They also won the prize for the largest fluke in the tournament with a 10.86 pound one that was caught by Tony's dad, Dave. Their crew also swept all the fluke Calcuttas and took home a total of $9,906!!! The boat Fatties and Flatties with Capt. Kevin Cole won the lone sea bass Calcutta with a 3.31 lb. fish and took home $1,532. The complete list of winners is below.
Three Fluke Total
| Finsish | Boat | Captain | Total Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st place | Flounder Wet Spot | Capt. Tony Pacitti | 20.64 lbs | |
| 2nd place | No Name | Capt. Tom Devaney | 20.03 lbs | |
| 3rd place | Defiance | Capt. Chad Chudzinski | 16.05 lbs | (weighed in first) |
| 4th place | G-Force | Capt. Maurice Verchnot | 16.05 lbs | |
| 5th place | Seen | Capt. Sean Seraphin | 16.00 lbs | |
Largest Single Fluke
| Finsish | Boat | Captain | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st place | Flounder Wet Spot | Capt. Tony Pacitti | 10.86 lbs | (caught by Dave Pacitti) |
Congratulations to all!
