Kids Cup Redfish Tournament --Agonies and Thrills

At first light 85 boats veered away from the pier into the semi-darkness of the harbor.  Then around 2:15 in the afternoon the first boats could be spotted working their way back to Fishermen’s Village for the weigh-in.  The pace accelerated as the deadline approached . As  2:30 approached the harbor whitened with the wake from the boats roadrunning their way to the dock. 

Harpoon Harry’s  was crowded with parents, friends, event coordinators and other spectators milling about, jockeying for places to watch the Redfish Kids Cup, Saturday, April 25.  Those that had staked out the tables aligning the front pier where the weigh-in was to occur, carefully guarded their coveted spots. A boat moved up to the weigh-in station with two boys and  two adults anxiously maneuvering their catch out of the well of their boat.

One young angler, at first joyful at the announcement that his red was over 7 lbs., turned worried and prayerful as concern was expressed over the loud speaker regarding the length of the fish.  Was it over the limit?  Seconds ticked by like hours and then the dreaded news came, and the exuberance was over – the fish was too long. Simultaneously, the other boy with a 6.9 lb. fish smiled warily as his fish qualified, and he realized he was in the best position to win the event. 

 

Later I spoke both to  Jacob Jordan, aged 13, and Collin Moore, 10, the later who did win the initial round of the Kid’s Cup and will go on with five others  to participate in next Saturday’s final.   “I had a 6.5 pounder but threw him back,” said Jacob, who could only keep one of the two fish, and felt the 7 pounder was a sure winner that looked within the limits on the boat.  Had he not, both cousins from Bradenton would have been competing next Saturday.

 

As it stands Collin will go on to compete with Frankie Mancini, who reeled in a 6.7 red, Kyle Miller (6.28), Jesse Smith (6.08) and Taylor Crosland (5.8) at Saturday's Redfish Kid's Cup Tournament.  One other boy, who took a chance on the gold, will regrettably watch on.