JCAA
/ TRUMP PLAZA
$45,000
JERSEY COAST FLUKE TOURNAMENT
FINAL RESULTS
By Don Kamienski - Tournament Director
(from Jersey Coast Anglers Association June 1995 Newsletter)
A few weeks ago, the 1995 Jersey Coast Fluke tournament made history by becoming the largest one day/ single specie saltwater tournament ever held in New Jersey. A total of 742 boats and almost 4,100 anglers from Sandy Hook to Cape May wet a line on May 27th for more than $34,500 in possible port prizes.
When the weigh-in process ended, each of the following fluke weights won a $1000 check for some skilled angler: Sandy Hook (6.26) , Shark River (7.00) , Manasquan River (4.20) , Barnegat Inlet (6.95) , Beach Haven Inlet (5.34) , Atlantic City (4.75) , Townsends Inlet (3.31) , Cape May (5.56) , Delaware Bay (3.50). These reasonable weights are a clear indication that cheating was avoided, which was one of the goals of the event.
A 13 year old angler won the $1,000 Delaware Bay port prize while a lady angler took the Townsend’s Inlet top prize. The largest fluke of the tournament (7.0 lb.) was taken from a rental rowboat not more that 25 yards from the dock in Shark River. I guess this reconfirms the old adage that it’s the angler, not the boat, that catches the fish.
No bonus awards of $100 were won by JCAA club members who happened to have won a top port prize. Also. since no angler bested the current NJ state record for fluke during the tournament, perhaps JCAA should raise the ante for the 1996 event to $50,000 for this record. This should draw a crowd !!
The Friday after the tournament, The Trump Plaza Casino in Atlantic City played host to a special awards drawing. The drawing redefined the term "overflow crowd" as between 1,500 -2,000 tournament anglers and their friends attended the event.
Every seat and every table was filled in the Plaza’s Imperial Ballroom, and at one point the Trump staff had to open an adjacent room for the well mannered crowd of anglers.
A total of 376 tournament boats were represented at the awards. At the drawing, more than $10,000 in cash and prizes were given away to those attending. Mr. John Kekatos of Barnegat walked away with the grand prize of $5,000. In the actual tournament, john didn’t even catch a fluke which made his winning the $5.000 check especially rewarding. I wonder if he made it out of the casino with the check in his pocket, or did he parley his winnings into the purchase price of a brand new Grady-White boat?
A total of 742 boats registered for this event. Considering that this was the first Jersey Coast Fluke Tournament, the high number of registered boats is a clear indication that the format of this type of early season event is popular with the statewide anglers who enjoy fishing for fluke or summer flounder.
With such a large number of competing boats, it’s nice to know that all boats weren’t competing against each other for port prizes. The tournament’s format had each boat only competing against the boats which pre-registered for a specific weigh-in port. The number of registered boats across the nine ports ranged from a low of 38 to a high of 141 boats depending on the port. Fifty-four percent (54 %) of the boats registered for the ports between Sandy Hook and Barnegat Inlet, while forty-six percent (46 %) registered for ports below Ol’ Barney. This is a clear indication that the tournament’s format and prize package attracted anglers from both north and south Jersey.
Most 1st year tournaments are usually plagued with starting-up problems. This, however, was not the case with the Jersey Coast event. This lack of problems can be attributed to the active participation of the JCAA Fluke Tournament Committee, the staff of Trump Plaza, the various weighmasters and their clubs, the eleven statewide weigh stations who opened their doors and their scales for the event plus the member clubs of JCAA who helped promote the tournament. Without the help and assistance of the Committee, weighmasters, weigh stations, Trump Plaza, and member clubs, the tournament would not have been such a rousing success.
A special tip of my weather beaten fishing cap goes to Conrad and Ruth Treusch plus Bill Degnan for their excellent handling of the hundreds of tournament entry forms and telephone calls. They did a great job!
In the next few weeks, the JCAA Fluke tournament Committee will be meeting to discuss the 1996 event. I’m sure that they’ll be looking for feedback in terms of what you liked or disliked about the 1995 tournament. You can send your comments to the JCAA Fluke Tournament Committee, 1201 Highway 37 East, Toms River, NJ 08753. A simple penciled note is sufficient to help create a better event for nest year.
The JCAA/Trump Plaza Jersey Coast Fluke Tournament started the 1995 fishing season off on a positive note. Hopefully, this good fishing will continue throughout the remainder of the year. Here’s wishing you a great fluke fishing season during 1995.