Beat the Fleet Results
The first annual Beat the Fleet Tournament guaranteeing a $16,000 payout took place on Saturday July 10th, 2021. It seem’s tropical storm Elsa had some anglers hesitant. The storm didn’t stop everyone as we had 46 entrants with 17 of those boats taking home cash or prizes!
Overall Winners
It was a very close final as the top 3 fish were all within in 1/4 lb of each other and 2nd and 3rd place being separated by just .04lbs! The 3 fish stringer was also a photo finish as Determined edged out some stiff competitors including Leprechaun, Fish Monger, Harvester and Lock-n-Load who were all within a pound of the total.
Team F.O.M.F
Leprechaun
Determined
With more than half of the tournament entries came in from the Northern Region it’s no surprise that ‘s where our winning fish was caught. Captain Danny Nykyforuk and his Team F.O.M.F scored our largest fish at 6.99lbs weighing in at Fishermen’s Den in Point Pleasant. That fish won first place in the region and first place overall, they were also registered prior to July 4th which made the team eligible for the $1,000 early entry Calcutta. They scored $5,500 in tournament winnings from their $200 entry. Not too bad. That of course doesn’t include the paid calcutta’s. The team swept all the single fish categories in their region and overall netting them another $6,056 and bringing their total winnings to $11,556, the highest of any participating boat!
The second place team also came from the northern region, Leprechaun scored with a 6.78lb fluke, missing the mark by less than a 1/4lb. Total winnings for Capt Bill Reilly and crew, $6,705.
Our third place team, Determined captain Roy Trainor, hailed from the southern end of the state and actually came in second in total money winnings. Their 6.74lb first place fish, 5.25lb second place fish combined with 12 year old team member Nate’s 3.56lb summer flounder (the largest for any youth angler, and winner of a tsunami prize pack) to net them a 15.56lb stringer weight. They swept all the fluke calcutta’s in the southern region and the stringer calcutta’s overall. The team’s winnings total $9,361.
It would be amiss to skip over the bycatch bag. This calcutta combined the weight of 1 sea robin and 1 black sea bass OR the total weight of 1 skate. At the end of the day it was the skate that took down the overall prize. A 4.04lb skate was weighed in by team Master Baiter at Up Front Bait and Tackle, the team won the regional and overall calcutta’s and will take home $2,304, placing them 4th in overall total money winnings! Team On Point came up just short on this one as their 2.34lb sea bass and 1.49lb sea robin combined for 3.83lb. A few other close calls were Bankers Hours, Amy Marie, Keepin Er Wet, & Honey.
Northern Region Results
Our Northern Region, was our most competitive region, it had more than half the entries in this tournament.
Teams, captain and Total Winnings
1st Place Team FOMF, Danny Nykyforuk - $11,556
2nd Place Leprechaun. Bill Reilly - $6,705
3rd Place Harvester, Jared Shukis - $500
4th Place Lock-n-Load, Nick Barsa - Costa Prize Pack
Other Winners
Master Baiter, Rob Regan - $2,304
Central Region Results
The central region had only 9 entries. If this was another tournament with a 100% payout (those don’t exist) it would’ve only netted the region $1,800. However, being a guaranteed purse the total payouts for the region, before calcuttas, was still $3,000 and a costa prize pack!
1st Place Raging Raymond, George Gaudlap - $2,084
2nd Place OpporTUNAty, Tucker Blanchard - $1,000
3rd Place She’s a Keeper, Peter Hammond - $500
4th Place Team Fish Whistle, Joseph Darcangelo - Costa Prize Pack & $195
Other Winners
Amy Marie, Bill Young - $650
Gypsea, Warren Hollander - $324
Snake Pit, John Sudia - $195
Southern Region Results
The Southern region had 13 entries, the second highest money winners, the top youth prizes and a very close call for the overall bycatch bag. At the end of the day, there were 2 boats that fared best on the fluke grounds.
1st & 2nd Place Determined, Roy Trainor - $9,361 & Youth Tsunami Prize Pack (Angler 12 Year Old Nate)
3rd & 4th Place Rotten Bastard - $500 & Costa Prize Pack
Other Winners
Bankers Hours, Steven Bracall- $520
Kat Lynn 2, Michael Zaleski - Youth Tsunami Prize Pack (Angler 14 year old Luke)
Weigh in Station Winners
In addition to the cash and prizes above, each of our weigh stations offered a $100 prize to the boat with the heaviest fish weighed at their location. Here are those winners
Up Front Bait and Tackle, Keyport - Leprechaun
Fishermen’s Supply, Point Pleasant - Team F.O.M.F
Grumpy’s, Seaside - Snake Pit
Fisherman’s Headquarters, Ship Bottom - Raging Raymond
One Stop, Atlantic City - Team Rhino
Tight Lines Bait & Tackle, Somers Point - Rotten bastard
Jim’s Bait and Tackle, Cape May - Determined
You can view the full results and complete weigh in information HERE
We’re very happy with the tournament in our first year. Everything was smooth and organized for all the participants and we are very much looking forward to next years event! SAVE THE DATE: Saturday July 9th, 2022
Feedback
“Great Tournament, love the setup. Thanks for putting it together, my crew enjoyed it. I think next year you will get triple the turnout.” - Captain Jerry Postorino, Fish Monger
“Thank you for a well run tournament, see you next year!” - Kevin Cole, Fatty’s and Flatty’s
“Great Tournament, Thank you!” - Joe Zagorski, Tsigiria
“Finally someone who runs a tournament the right way! Rules were spot on. Talked to a lot of people that were happy with the way it was run.” - Ron Redrow, El Nino Fishing Team
“Happy to be a part of this event, and looking forward to next year!” - Steve, Up Front Bait and Tackle
“This is Awesome, you’ve really got something here.” - Noel, One Stop Bait & Tackle