Title: And the winner is!!

By Jim Baugh

Well, all you have to do is look at the cover of this months issue. The first place winner of the Get Hooked On Hampton Rockfish Tournament and Oyster Bash is Jim Freeman and crew on board the Predator.

The top three winning placements almost went to all Customs House Marina boats. The Predator is kept at Customs House Marina as well as the second place winner, Mike Miller on board the Miller Time. The third place winner would of gone to the Sagres, however they had weighed in an earlier fish that was only 10 pounds. The Segras is also kept at Customs House Marina where we keep our Pursuit and Trojan.

A truly exciting event this year with an excellent turn out of 50 boats and over 230 anglers fishing for the top prize of $1200.00 cash, a $1200.00 Bass Pro Shops gift certificate, and a $200.00 Boaters World gift certificate. The Predator came in first place with a beautiful 29.5 pound Rockfish also taking the longest length prize winning them a new Suzuki four hp four stroke engine. All total Jim Freeman and his crew won over $4000.00 in cash and prizes. Not bad for fishing a little over 1\2 day.

This year we knew that the NE wind would blow 15 to 20 knots making for a rough ride in the Bay. Some smaller boats stayed and fished the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) area with good success. The Segras limited out early on the HRBT and then went back out late morning to catch a 19 pound Rockfish only about 50 yards from the tunnel. Water on the north side of the HRBT was calm and was fishable all day. Earlier in the week the James River Bridge had been the big producer, however for tourney day, the HRBT was the place to be.

The Friday night captains meeting was followed up by a pre opening tour of the new Bass Pro Shops in Hampton. This was a real treat and the anglers really enjoyed seeing first hand what a beautiful new store the new Bass Pro Shops is. It was not easy getting everyone back on the bus when it was time to go. A lot of folks just could not leave the aquarium area.

Saturday morning came quickly. We had scheduled a boat inspection starting at 5am and lines in the water at 6 am. I had brought our Pursuit around from Customs House Marina for the night and planned on staying on the boat so I would not be late for the boat inspection. To my surprise when I woke up and looked out the boat at 4:30 in the morning, there were already three boats lined up waiting to be inspected. From that moment on, I knew we had some rather serious anglers fishing the tournament.

The reason for the "boat" inspection is quite simple. It gives us an opportunity to quickly inspect the fish coolers to make sure everyone is playing fair. However more importantly it allows me to visually see what type of boat an angler will be fishing in. With wind blowing 15 to 20 knots I made sure that smaller boats had a handle on where the safest and best place to catch fish would be. Sending boats out blindly without checking out their ride first is something that we are not going to do. With the Get Hooked On Hampton Rockfish Tournament Series, the events are calendar specific, meaning it is next to impossible to postpone an event. As tournament director safety is always my number one concern for all boats. Weather can dictate strategy, and we made sure that the few smaller boats that entered the tournament, would know where to fish safely, and still have strong potential for catching quality Rockfish. The kicker is that the third largest fish caught during the tournament was caught in calm water near the HRBT.

Boats that ventured out to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel area did get quite a beating. A NE wind at 20 knots in the Bay is a small craft advisory, and the chop can play havoc on boats and fisherman. Rockfish do like a NE wind, and they do not mind the chop at all. Big fish were caught from the CBBT all the way threw the middle Bay area. The Predator caught their big fish near the third island in rough seas.

The amazing thing is that the Predator also fished last years tourney and placed in it as well. Jim Freeman took his Boaters World gift certificate he won from last year and purchased some Stretch 25's. The winning fish he caught this year was caught on one of the Stretches he bought with last years winning gift certificate.

Saturday night after the awards ceremony all participants were treated to a great outdoor Oyster Bash complete with the Don Butcher Band, a Flounder Truck, a Beer truck, and all you can eat Oysters. The party lasted to about 9pm, then most of the crowed ended up at Marker 20 and Goodfellas.

For more information about the tournament and to see a lot of great pictures, just log on to www.jimbaughoutdoors.com

We hope to see everyone at the Get Hooked On Hampton Spring Open June 4th & 5th. We are in the planning stages now and are expanding the placement divisions. We are defiantly going to ad Spadefish as a division. Look for more info and entry forms in the April & May issue of the Sportsman's Magazine.

I would also like to thank Seri Carneal for putting together a Sportsman's Magazine crew to fish this years tournament. It was a pleasure meeting everyone and I think the Sportsman's fishing crew made Captain Chandler Hoggs year!! Everyone really had a good time.

I cannot think of a more appropriate time to introduce a wonderful sponsor for our 2004 year, Berkley fishing line. This will be our 10th year promoting Berkley and we already have our 30's spooled up with Big Game 40 pound fishing line. The line is amazing, and I have found no other monofilament to be tuffer, or stronger. We welcome Berkley back on board and hope that everyone will try Berkley Big Game fishing line, the official line of Jim Baugh Outdoors TV.

Lastly I would like to thank all the sponsors who helped support the Get Hooked On Hampton Rockfish Tournament and Oyster Bash. This tournament series would not be possible if it were not for the Hampton Convention and Visitors Bureau. They do a pile of work for these events and it would not be possible without them. Hampton is making it's mark as one of the premier boating and fishing destinations on the Chesapeake Bay, and with good reason.

Think about it, when you can tie up at a beautiful waterfront downtown marina with every amenity you can imagine, motor out on a strong NE wind, and catch 20 pound Rockfish only minutes away from your slip, that harbor is definitely a place I am going to keep my boat. And I DO!

Tight Lines.

Jim Baugh
Jim Baugh Outdoors TV
www.jimbaughoutdoors.com
jbp100@comcast.net