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Podcast by a Panhandle Surf Angler for all anglers of any level. We will talk weekly to guests that are anglers and also industry professionals. I want you to walk away from this podcast with some knowledge either refreshed or new for you to become a better angler. Though it will start in the Panhandle of Florida, it will be around the entire United States so we can all learn something about fishing in different regions.
Speaker 1 (00:00:00):
This episode of Finding Demo Surf Fishing is being brought to you by the Kids Can Fish Foundation. Hey, it's kind of fitting, right? We're gonna be talking with Tom this whole time, so it's totally fitting. If you guys haven't checked out the website, kids Can fish.net. Lots of great stuff on there. And I say it in every episode that you hear when I bring this up. Everything you do and you throw money into and you help out with these tournaments, all that stuff goes back into the foundation to help get these kids out there to come, go learn fishing, throwing cast nets. I mean, there's so many pieces they do and I, I'll let Tom get into that one. But you are the ones that make this what it is. You help this happen. You are the one that's helping a kid get this addiction that we all have. It's always good stuff. Kids can fish.net. Go over to the website after this after listening to the episode. Of course. I mean, of course. So we're gonna get right into it. Here we go.
Speaker 1 (00:01:24):
Welcome back everybody. It's going to be a great week, great episode. This one is heavily focused on Kids Can Fish. We are going to be talking about a lot of stuff, especially in regards to the St. Simon's Island running the Bulls tournament. This is going to be a double piece with that. So lots of good stuff in there. I hope to see you there. I'm gonna be there. Yeah, Tom's obviously gonna be there. He's gonna be on the show. A lot of big names are gonna be going and there's probably a couple surprises coming that we don't even know about and it's gonna be well, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm just excited. So without further ado, when me flap my jibs, Tom, welcome to the show, brother. Good to see you back.
Speaker 2 (00:01:57):
Hey, good to see you. Thanks for having me again for, uh, the second time. Uh, glad to be here,
Speaker 1 (00:02:02):
. Hey, anytime I, come on. We, um, so we're, we're kind of fortunate when we do have about 10 minutes in our lives that we're not going about a million miles an hour, we are able to have a conversation on the phone or text message for a couple minutes and catch up on stuff. So you were a busy man.
Speaker 2 (00:02:16):
Oh, well I think you're pretty busy too, bud
Speaker 1 (00:02:19):
. That's all lies and propaganda for me, man. . Alright, let's start at the beginning. We, we did have an episode before, but for those that haven't heard it yet, we're gonna go ahead and start at the beginning here. What is the Kids Skin Fish Foundation? Yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:02:32):
Real quick. Uh, you know, it was a vision that my daughter started, uh, just before her 10th birthday, what we thought was gonna be a really small family-based charity where maybe we do some small, small things locally, turned into something much bigger. And now we're averaging at the end of this year, 11 fishing camps, I think is what we'll have done. Uh, the first year we did two, the second year we did five. And I believe if we can sneak this August and September camp in, it'll be 11 for the year. And we do that through fundraising and charitable outreach. And most importantly, um, we do a lot of different styles of fishing with kids. And if they're at a cast net camp, they leave with a cast net. If they're at a surf fishing camp, they leave with a surf fishing rod and reel.
Speaker 2 (00:03:16):
If they're at a pond's edge on fresh water, they leave with an appropriate rod and reel and always some extra goodies and swag appropriate for that style of fishing. What I would've thought, um, was gonna stay small has it, I guess, skyrocketed to me at least rapidly. And it's just, it's been a blessing. It's been absolutely amazing. And that's what we do. We just fundraise to get kids outdoors. Um, really just show them what they're missing out on by not leaving the house or the electronics. The, the world around you is too incredible to not go out there and see.
Speaker 1 (00:03:51):
Definitely. And you guys have been crushing it, man. The camps have been great. I I haven't seen one kid with a unhappy look on their face. Everything that's been after it has been a, a positive mean all these kids. I was talking to Captain Dave Hanson from Your Salt, uh, your saltwater guide out of the West Coast, and he was like, man, that's the way right there because, and it, it changed my way of speaking about Kids Can Fish was, he's like, you guys are, we already have the addiction. We're already pumped it, it's in us, we're done. We need to feed them. They need our addiction. And it, it made me really see like how much that mattered and with what you guys are doing, it's tied it together so well and these kids are just better for it. And you're just, you guys are doing so many great things and thank you Carolyn, for the awesome brains of making this start. And you've been doing great things. Oh, oh, I always say it wrong. Uh, it's
Speaker 2 (00:04:43):
Alright Caroline.
Speaker 1 (00:04:44):
She's gonna punch me in the face and I totally deserve, its like Carolyn. No, it's Caroline. Dumb dumb.
Speaker 2 (00:04:51):
If it makes you feel any better, my dad does it too. So
Speaker 1 (00:04:55):
Okay. A little bit better. , your dad is awesome, , he's so much fun to talk with. Alright, so you kind of nailed into a lot of the accomplishments there, but let's talk about some of the other ones. I mean, you got what, 14 camps? Um, I'm looking at my notes. We nailed there. We got 14 camps done and the number over $42,000 in fishing gear donated to kids, man. Yeah, that is huge.
Speaker 2 (00:05:20):
So that, that number comes in a couple different ways. I mean, we get donated product in and whatever the retail value of that 'cause that ends up in the hand of a kid. Um, but when we buy product, uh, like our cast nets, um, every kid that comes to a cast net that has a cost, the one thing that we're not factoring in to the product out or even even sometimes we'll make donations if there's a kid, like there's a kid, two kids in Texas whose father passed away and the dad and these kids fished. That was their thing. We sent a care package and just it, it didn't have anything in there other than we're thinking about you from Georgia, you know, signed the Kids Can't Fish Foundation. It was a box full of fish and goodies and some bass pro shops gift cards, like, so that's when money comes in. We raise money, um, we do some exterior, uh, outreach like that, which we consider, you know, an in-house donation. But yeah, $42,000 in, uh, 24 months is just it, it blows my mind. And, um, it'll be interesting to see in year four, um, as we're continuing to grow. We, we might double that number, um, in our fourth year. I don't know. We'll see.
Speaker 1 (00:06:29):
Well, it's got you quite busy, that's for sure. And all these kids are, like I said, I've said it before, I'll say it again, they're better for it. And thank you guys for all the stuff that you're doing and I'm, I'm just, I'm excited to even be a small part of it and thank you for letting me. You, you mentioned, uh, the next camp. So September you're looking at an intro and uh, another or something in October.
Speaker 2 (00:06:51):
So I'm a glutton here. I I, I have to sneak a camp in, in August. I gotta do it . I've had such a busy personal summer, uh, with a lot of personal travel that I got 25 cast nets in my garage ready to go. I'm going to run a cast net camp in August. I'd like to do a, we call it an inshore camp, but it's a, uh, saltwater Creek system, um, and fish for trout and reds and get another one of, uh, inshore style camps. And then it's October in Georgia. You know, I gotta do a bull red camp 'cause we've never done a bull red camp. Um, yeah, so if we do the third one, it'll actually be 12 camps this year. Um, two for sure. Maybe three
Speaker 1 (00:07:39):
If there's time. If, and
Speaker 2 (00:07:40):
Then I take November off, like, but that's not true because we said last year, take November off and I did a camp in November. You
Speaker 1 (00:07:46):
Did?
Speaker 2 (00:07:47):
So, but the goal is to take November off. We'll see what happens. , we're averaging like a camp every six weeks at this clip, so
Speaker 1 (00:07:56):
Wow. You, you've got, I mean, you and wow, I'm tripping over my words here. You've also had repeat kids. I mean, you've got guys Oh yeah. Cows and gals that have been out there and they always learn there's something new or, um, one of my favorite videos that I've seen this year from you was there was a young man at the CNET clinic, uh, at the camp. He had his own method for throwing the cast net and it was brilliant. It worked perfectly for him. And you were just like, dude, rock on. I'm gonna try it that way. Yeah, that's,
Speaker 2 (00:08:29):
That was, uh, his name was Cash.
Speaker 1 (00:08:31):
Cash. Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:08:32):
Yeah. And um, I was like, where'd you come up with that? He is like, I don't know, I just, that's the way I taught myself. I'm like, don't change it. Yeah. Because he's telling me the whole net's wide open. You know, we have two methods. We, we teach a in the mouth, uh, method, which some people don't like to do. I I don't personally throw, you know, biting onto the net and then the Caroline Method, which is, um, no teeth. And then I'm watching this kid, I was like, that's not what we taught this kid. He's like, well this, this is just what I wanted to try. And I'm like, don't, don't change. It's perfect. And, uh, yeah, that was pretty cool. And I, I studied him and I was like, you know what, I'm gonna keep that in my back pocket in Okay. If I get the yips or something and I can't throw an net anymore. The
Speaker 1 (00:09:11):
Yips, , got a piece of the shanks, right? ? Yep. There you go. If listeners name that movie, you're welcome. Oh man. Alright, so let's break into the last two things here and or last piece here, and then we're gonna go ahead and get into the tournament itself. How do people find you and can assist with kids? Can?
Speaker 2 (00:09:32):
Yeah, it's, it's interesting. So our largest platform of followers is on Facebook now. We have a Facebook page, the Kids Can Fish Foundation, which is an administrative page where nobody can post, you know, without approval. And then we have the Kids Can Fish Group, which has 13,000 members and that's kind of like the virtual brag board and then Instagram. And although I just, me and Instagram, we have a strange relationship with each other. Um, it seems like we, we like trend more on Instagram and we actually get more views and interactions. Um, but Facebook is kind of home. That's where we announce our camps and clinics for the most part. Um, and then that diverts 'em all over to the website. Kids can fish.net because that's where, um, the registration takes place. We have forms and, you know, the liability waivers, the, the, um, photo waivers, things like that all come in when someone registers for a camp. So Instagram, Facebook, and our website.
Speaker 1 (00:10:34):
Perfect. Love it. Alright, so let's get into it. Ladies and gentlemen, we're gonna talk about the ss s i Running of the Bowls tournament, charity tournament. It's so much fun. Uh, I loved it last year, and yet last year was a challenge. It was not easy fishing, but this year we got a lot of really, really positive possibilities. Good weather, good tides, all of it's looking perfect. So let's start at the beginning with it. What is this tournament and how did it come about?
Speaker 2 (00:11:02):
So we, you know, when we became a charity that was relying on fundraising and not, not just, um, donated product, we needed to generate cash, um, it, it became a thought of do we want to be in this perpetual fundraising mode 24 7, 365? And the answer to that is no. So with the fishery right in our backyard and the bull redfish being near and dear to our heart, we have an opportunity. I talked with local government, got support locally, and, uh, three years ago we gave it a try. And in the first year we had 110 participants. And it just blew my mind. Um, year two we had 171, and this year we're gonna have 200. We'll cap it at that. And, uh, we won't deny any kid entry. So if I hit 200, there's actually 140 people as of today registered. As soon as I hit 200, I'll shut down the adult entries on the website and only accept, uh, youth entries, which is a 15 year old and younger. So it, it really came from needing a way to generate funds so that we can do 11 camps a year. Um, you know, donating, you know, uh, spinner baits and worms and all that is great and we use it. It's a wonderful thing to receive. Um, but cash buys, cash nets, cash buys, rod, and real combos, cash buys, hats and shirts and stuff for kids. So this, this tournament is the most important thing of our year for our fundraising
Speaker 1 (00:12:33):
With this tournament. When is it?
Speaker 2 (00:12:36):
So we have a, what we call a welcome party on October 6th. Um, it's the equivalent to a captain's meeting and it's more of a party social gathering. We have raffles and probably some silent auctions and some exclusive raffles, custom rods and whatnot. Um, it, I really like it because what we give the tournament angler an opportunity is to check in early. That means they don't have to meet me at the beach at 5:00 AM on Saturday morning. They can go right out to their spot. I'll be at a check-in Saturday morning waiting for everybody. But the, the best thing we did was give an early registration, an early check-in, and allow the anglers just to get out there Saturday morning. 'cause on Sunday there's not a check-in you, you head out, you've already checked in. So it's a way to meet the anglers, socialize, uh, raise some more money through fi uh, through raffles and whatnot. And, um, it's a really good time. But the tournament is October 7th and eighth. It's a two day tournament and, uh, gives people that are traveling for the holiday weekend a an opportunity to, uh, travel on Monday if they wish and not have to get right back to work or school.
Speaker 1 (00:13:41):
Yes. not sad about that. Not even a little. How much is it to enter?
Speaker 2 (00:13:49):
So we have a $65 entry fee for the adult and $40 entry fee for the youths.
Speaker 1 (00:13:58):
Now, backing up for a second here, like you said, you're gonna cap the adults at 200. However, the adults are required to be there for fishing with their kids. Yes. They just can't reel 'em in at all for that part if you're not registered.
Speaker 2 (00:14:12):
Right. So the, I guess the, the couple questions I've had is if I'm only entering a 12 year old and they're the angler only, do I have to pay an entry fee? And that's no. Um, the youth has to do our, our, our recommendation is youth should be doing a majority of the work, but fact of the matter is, a 10 year old's not gonna be able to cast a six ounce weight and a piece of mullet, you know, as far as the mom or dad might be able to. So we allow the parents to do the casting. We allow the parents to set the sand spike and put the rod in there, and we like them to talk about setting the drag. And as soon as that rod comes out of the spike, it should get, get in the kid's hands. And we would like the kid to do a majority of the reeling.
Speaker 2 (00:14:55):
But if a mom or dad has to help, then obviously that's acceptable. And in the first year, um, one of the participants was spinning, uh, using a spin combo, and the rod, the reel just exploded. It, it fell apart. So the dad, and they're hand lining this fish in, they land the fish. And I got asked, well, is is the, did the dad catch that or did the kid, I was like, was the kid pulling on the line too? And they're like, well, yeah. I was like, was the kid reeling the reel when it exploded? They're like, yeah. I was like, the kid caught the fish. Like, come on. So we, we want kids, moms, dads, uncles, aunts, grandmas, uncles, whoever, best friend that's fishing with a kid, just to have an experience like be in the sand, enjoy each other's company, meet some new people. Um, we're not really worried about, you know, if a parent is helping a kid, because that's how you fuel the passion. Catching your first bull redfish with whoever that loved one family member friend is with you, um, helping a kid that that's how I learned. That's how you learned. Right. Um, so we're, uh, we're pretty loose on the rules as far as the kids go. Um, the adults, that's a different story.
Speaker 1 (00:16:07):
. Yes. Uh, we're gonna get into the part of the adults here, but let, let's continue with this. What are the boundaries for fishing?
Speaker 2 (00:16:16):
So we have what we call a north and a south boundary. So the north boundary is the Coast Guard, uh, beach. Um, there's a coast guard station there, a large parking lot. And we basically will move about 300 yards, 400 yards south of there. And then the entire beach north to Gould's Inlet, which is, uh, G O U L D S if people are looking would be what we consider the north boundary. Then we have a very small south boundary. Um, it's a pretty popular spot. Um, and that is from fifth Street to 10th Street. Um, still a good stretch of beach, um, but it seems to be a pretty popular area for people to go. I can guarantee you it'll be more crowded down there. Um, but there certainly wasn't any shortage of sand if you wanted it. Um, but I can't give you even the exact distance, but it's probably a third of the whole North Zone.
Speaker 2 (00:17:15):
Um, but if I closed that and made it a north zone only, um, a lot, a lot of people would probably be like, why don't you have that zone open? It, it just makes sense to be down there. So we have a north and south and we leave a, uh, a stretch of property in between open. Um, it's a big tourist area, people swimming, um, hotel Airbnb people. And we want to, we want to keep the local government happy. We want the local tourists to, to have beach space to be able to swim and not, uh, not worry about anglers on the beach that, you know, um, obviously we've, we've heard stories and we, we've never had that in our tournament. Never had an angler and tourist is issue. And um, I hope to keep it that way in the third year.
Speaker 1 (00:17:59):
And I know this wasn't in the questions, but I'll ask because I know some people will also see this. There is another tournament going on at the exact same time, uh, different organization doing different things in a whole different area. However, there is a little crossover. Just be careful, uh, be careful when you're picking out what you're gonna do here and where you're going. There's, uh, make sure you're on the kids can fish one, don't, don't be on the other one when you're looking this up,
Speaker 2 (00:18:23):
You know? And, and here's the thing that I, I've fished in that tournament up north. Um, had a great time and if, if it wasn't on the same weekend as ours, I, I would fish their tournament. Um, because I, I, I love red fishing from the sand. Um, different format as far as, um, payments that, that tournament in my opinion's geared more for adults. Um, we do a lot of extras and weird spinoff things that are just fun. Lot of giveaways, the environment's totally different. But yeah, our, our tournament is the running of the bulls on St. Simon's Island and we limit it because we want people to be able to come and have beach space and enjoy themselves and feel if they're not catching fish, at least feel like they had just a really good day on the island, on the beach
Speaker 1 (00:19:18):
With this whole zone. I mean, it's a decent area and there's gonna be plenty of room people. There really is. You'd be surprised, but if you've never fished this before, there is plenty of room. Uh, when you do catch a fish, because this is in a large area, how are these fish verified?
Speaker 2 (00:19:33):
Yeah, so we, we are heavily reliant on volunteers. So, um, the federal law enforcement training center is really close by. We have, uh, police trainees from all over the country that come and volunteer. The local, the local high schools are huge. The R O T C is a huge, uh, help with, um, giving us volunteers, national Honor Society, and then random people that just want to volunteer that live on the island. Um, we have just a great blend of volunteers. They'll be wearing blaze orange, they'll be easy to see. Um, basically about every 50 yards, 30 to 50 yards is where we set our, our volunteers. And when they see a mass of people around an angler, they know that there's a fish on, they walk over, they have the official tape measure that we use. Um, they'll measure from the top of the fish all the way down to a pinch to tail.
Speaker 2 (00:20:28):
They'll say whatever the measurement is. And the last thing, and we, we changed this this year. We, we've never had a big discrepancy over a measurement, but the last thing your beach judge is going to ask you is, alright, this is 38 and a quarter inches. Do you agree with that measurement? And if the angler says yes, it's final. If the angler says no, I think it's 30 and a half, then the judge and that angler should be spending some short amount of time to rectify the disagreement, get that fish in the water quickly. But as soon as they say, yes, I agree that fish hits the water, there's no going back. Um, that's the one thing we've never had a judge ask. And then of course, it, it's always good if, if the judge or someone's videotaping, but we don't, we're not a video photo type contest. We, we rely on volunteers. So you'll see volunteers on the beach and so far it's worked really well.
Speaker 1 (00:21:26):
Perfect. What are the fishing hours for this tournament? Because this is a cool thing that I do enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:21:34):
Yeah. So day one is eight to four 30 as of right now. Day two is also eight to four, uh, is is eight to three. The tide is so dang good, man. I, I'm real. And people travel and I'm, I'm gonna get hit from both ways. If I extend for another hour, they're gonna say that they don't have enough time to go to an air, Airbnb, a hotel, whatever, shower and get to the awards banquet. And if I cut it short, people are gonna say we wanted to fish another hour. That tide on Sunday, that last hours at the switch. Man, I mean, I gotta think about it. I'm probably, I'm probably gonna bump it. I, I gotta talk to the organizers. Probably gonna bump it. , I dunno.
Speaker 1 (00:22:24):
Well, on Sunday, everybody, so it's a little added piece here. And this is just Brian's side opinion here. Uh, keep in mind, after the last bit to wait, when you go to the weigh in, you are going to be there for a little while. There is a lot of great things happening when you're at the weigh in. I'm so that's like, that's like the party part. I mean, you've got more raffles, you've got more drawings, you've got the winnings. There is a lot still going on. So when you guys are planning your departure for Sunday, keep in mind it's going to be a later evening.
Speaker 2 (00:22:55):
Yeah. And, and you know what, last year we had a food option. It was a slower food option. This year we have a food truck that's gonna be ready to fire off food quickly. I can talk about more of that later. So in my mind, 'cause the, the awards bank, what's gonna start at six, you literally can go back, shower, change, and you have everything you're gonna need at the awards banquet. Um, the the awards banquet is, you thought it was good last year. This thing's gonna be bananas. It's awesome. I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (00:23:29):
Well, you, since you opened it, where is the weigh in gonna be at?
Speaker 2 (00:23:32):
Yeah, so Village Creek Landing, which is a Marsh side, amazing venue. And it, it, we've like quadrupled our face, indoor outdoor multiple restrooms, fire pits patio, covered patio. It, it's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. Um, not that the last venue, Benny Betty's Benny's Red Barn is great. We just outgrew it. It, we too many people, we just outgrew those shoes. Um, I, I wish it wasn't that way 'cause I love that establishment. Um, but wait till you see it, Brian, uh, village Creek Landing is phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (00:24:14):
I'm excited already, man. I've been excited for the whole thing. So . Um, so why did you all decide to do the wa or the fishing from the Orn that time into 4 30, 5 o'clock in the evening? Why not let 'em go all night? And I love the reason to by the way.
Speaker 2 (00:24:32):
Uh, well first of all, volunteers. Um, some of our volunteers are 16, 17 years old, 15 years old. Um, I, the accountability piece, as much as I would love to start early, um, I also know a lot of people give us an eight hour day, 10 hour day and asking, you know, anybody to come out to the sand at 3:00 AM and stay out till noon is a pretty tough ask. Um, trust me, when I hit the sand and I fish personally for the red fish I'm there are dark. Um, that's just, that's just the way it is when I fish, um, for myself. But the, uh, the tides are perfect going any earlier might, might even be when you wouldn't go out anyways. So it is really just more about respecting our volunteers time and their effort, um, and that accountability piece that, you know, I, I don't need a volunteer getting in the water in the dark and having some kind of ins incident. Um, so that's why we, we chose not to, to have an overnight or into the night kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (00:25:38):
My bad. I thought it was a different reason that I'm gonna say ,
Speaker 2 (00:25:41):
Well say. 'cause maybe we've had a lot of conversations.
Speaker 1 (00:25:44):
So one of my favorite reasons is at the end of the day, I mean, you've spent your entire day with the kids and this is just, that's dinner time. You're gonna escape the beach and go to the local restaurants. You're gonna get out there with the people that you met that day. It's a perfect time for you to also have that family bonding piece because this is, I mean, you got the kids and the parents, this is a super win of like, hey, look, we are fishing, we are non distracted. And I love, I mean my, my brain said that. I was like, oh, okay. They just got it set up so everybody can go to dinner together and, and do family time. So my bad,
Speaker 2 (00:26:14):
That's why we don't, that's why we don't have a social function on Saturday, is there's a lot of families that come from out of town. And if we, if we do something Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it's, it's overkill. Um, go see the island. Go do something you've not done before. Enjoy your Airbnb and you know, have a, have a fire on the back patio. And, um, yeah, you know, the, the, the welcome party or the, uh, the awards banquet party to me is so much fun that I, I almost would sacrifice time on the sand to go to that thing because it really is a great time. Um, this is a very big social tournament. Um, the vibe is right. The people are right. Atmosphere's great. Support's great. So it's, you know, I'm sure there's people that are registering to win, like they, they want to win. But I can guarantee you everyone that competes will leave and say, that was fun and I didn't catch a fish. And they'll come back next year. Yep.
Speaker 1 (00:27:15):
Last year especially. Don't worry everybody, this year's gonna be better. Last year's tide is not gonna be what it was. We'll be okay.
Speaker 2 (00:27:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:27:22):
Oh, there were so many sticks in the water. Ugh.
Speaker 2 (00:27:25):
We still, gosh, uh, I'm gonna get my numbers mixed up. There were still 20 to 24 redfish caught last year, or was that the year before? I there was still redfish caught. Oh
Speaker 1 (00:27:34):
Yeah, there was still plenty caught. I mean, we had, well we had the conversation in the morning. I know it was afternoon on Saturday. We were kinda like, man, why aren't the fish coming? You know, this, this is a low count. And then come sundown, boom, it exploded. And then the next day, boom, people were nailing. It was like, okay, we're gonna be, it's all good. We're good. Well
Speaker 2 (00:27:53):
Time out here. You, you caught fish, you caught a red fish.
Speaker 1 (00:27:58):
Well you wanna bring a . I ac I'm, I'm still gonna say I accidentally caught it 'cause I did bring it in on a bait check and was like, huh, here's a fish of 13 inches . Yeah. Never caught a red that small in my life. . Well,
Speaker 2 (00:28:15):
So Uhoh, you, you got, you got awarded right last
Speaker 1 (00:28:18):
Year. Oh, I did. I I am the king of the smalls
Speaker 2 (00:28:22):
And, and probably one of the most classic photos from the tournament of all time . And everybody loved when you got your King of the smalls, the baby bull recognition, the place went nuts, . Like, they loved it. And I was like, we, we missed, we missed on this one, but guess what, we, we didn't miss baby.
Speaker 1 (00:28:46):
Oh, look at that sexy era. Oh, that is pretty. Oh, look at that baby bull. Oh, that is so nice. Yes. So,
Speaker 2 (00:28:57):
Uh, the, uh, the King of the Bulls this year, the Queen of the Bulls will, will get this Alabama burning plaque. I can't see the camera anymore.
Speaker 1 (00:29:05):
You're good right there. Oh, look at that. Oh,
Speaker 2 (00:29:11):
Alabama burning makes these
Speaker 1 (00:29:14):
Such great work. Love their stuff. So many good
Speaker 2 (00:29:17):
Things on, on top of something else. Cash or, uh, rod and reel or something. But they're, they're gonna walk away with one of those things. And, um, I guess since I'm, since I'm on the trophy kick check this guy out's,
Speaker 1 (00:29:34):
Look at that. Oh, .
Speaker 2 (00:29:37):
Yeah. That's not a baby bull.
Speaker 1 (00:29:39):
That's not little that, that's big .
Speaker 2 (00:29:42):
So, uh, I got these for the, this one there's an, uh, almost a identical or very similar one for the adult winner and then also did ones very similar to the baby bull for the second and third place. Youth.
Speaker 1 (00:30:00):
Man, those are
Speaker 2 (00:30:02):
Excellent. That's the fun stuff we do. Um, Alabama burning, um, last year did our, our our two, we had two plaques and one of the things like more plaques. More plaques, so people want more plaques. They're, they got more plaques.
Speaker 1 (00:30:21):
Wow. This year I, it's gonna be a good competition and it's gonna be fun. Uh, yes. Um, I've been, I've been warned by Seth, uh, that he's coming for the crown of King of the Smalls and I was like, all right, cool. We'll see. Hope,
Speaker 2 (00:30:32):
Hopefully it's like a 39 inch baby bull that that would be something, right?
Speaker 1 (00:30:37):
Oh, that, I mean that's, I have a feeling this year it's going to be a, a double digit or, I mean, granted, if I can, if I can find another 13 inch, and I will say this right here for the record, for all of you out there that see me fishing this tournament, I will be targeting the smallest red I can possibly find. If you pull in my rig, you will see that I am specifically targeting a certain one on one rod. Yeah. I'm not messing around. If I'm not getting it, I, I hope that, um, Abby is going after it. So we're, we're, we're going after him .
Speaker 2 (00:31:05):
And if, if you go back to back, man, I'm, I'm gonna be excited for you. 'cause uh, anytime you have a back to back champ or something, that's pretty impressive, right?
Speaker 1 (00:31:13):
It is. Um, and I mean it, I'd probably have a better chance getting the lottery winning numbers, but hey, you never know. And that's one thing we'd all love about fishing is you just never know what's gonna come at the end of the line. You can plan, you can plan, you can plan. And at the end of the day, that's when you know how it went. So I'm just excited. I'm, I'm very much so looking forward to this. I still can't believe that fish stayed on that hook. . It was unbelievable. Ugh. That was fun times. Um, well you've already brought up the trophy, so let's, let's, uh, go on with that. Uh, how many winning categories are there?
Speaker 2 (00:31:50):
Yeah, so we, another thing that our adult participants said was do more placers. So the first year we did top three, last year we did five. This year we're gonna do cash payouts for the top seven adults. And we're also gonna do the top seven youth. Yep. And then there will be, uh, a Calcutta. So the Calcutta is the red fish with the most spots. Um, a tie breaker on the Calcutta would be the earliest fish caught. So if me and you each have a red fish with 27 inches or 27 spots, um, if you caught yours before mine, you would win the Calcutta. It's, uh, and if we have a time, because it'll be pen and ink recorded by our judges, if there is a tie due to time, which would be crazy. Yeah. Okay. Um, it'll just get chopped. Um, so the Calcutta is a $25 entry.
Speaker 2 (00:32:50):
We do a 75% payout on that. We keep 25% as a donation to the charity. Um, and I'm, there's all kinds of stuff. Like every day first person to catch a fish is going to win something. Mm-hmm. . Um, it might be a rod reel. I don't know. I kind of wanna offer up the first, uh, lady angler to catch a red fish gets a lady angler prize. And um, you know, let's just lock that in. I'll do it right now. The, uh, the first lady that catches a redfish in the tournament is gonna get a pair of, uh, bahi sunglasses. How about that For a women's, uh, frames bahi sunglasses? Um, I might do, I might do the after lunch first catch. I don't know. We have Brian, the amount of donations, um, stuff that's awesome that has been given to us. Just these are the fun things.
Speaker 2 (00:33:43):
Like I might, I might middle of the day get on the Facebook and say, very next fish caught is gonna get a hundred dollars gift card to wherever so you can eat for free that night. You know, that's the kind of stuff we're gonna do. That it maybe sparks the, uh, the afternoon law. Right. Um, make you check your bait, put something fresh on that, that that's kind of what we do. And, and the, the awards banquet and the the welcome party are the same way. Um, you, you're not gonna wanna leave 'cause the next thing you're gonna be told can't believe they gave stuff away like that. Mm-hmm. , um, when you hear the sponsors we're, it's unbelievable the names you're gonna hear. We're just, we're very fortunate.
Speaker 1 (00:34:22):
It's glorious. And I will be the first one to tell you all. Yes. The drawings are worth being. Therefore I only spent, I'll admit it. I'll tell you guys now. Somebody was freaking out like, oh, you must have spent so much money on the donations. I was like, no, I just bought some tickets and I got lucky. And the drawings, I mean, I went, I came home with reels gear, so many great things that were in the prize pool drawings for just the donations. It's worth it. Everybody. It really is. And they're fun. And it all goes back to the foundation. It's huge. Yeah. For that turnaround. Everything you all do for this tournament goes back in to help keep it thriving.
Speaker 2 (00:35:01):
So I had last year, a couple people say, I hate I'm, I hate to tell you this, but you have too many prizes. They're like, it's crazy. They're like, but it's a good thing. They're like, it kept us there . And they're like, they're like, everybody should leave with something. It's, it's insane the amount of stuff we have. And it's awesome. It's just fun. It
Speaker 1 (00:35:22):
Is. Um,
Speaker 2 (00:35:23):
It, it's, it's, it's, it's bigger than last year, which blows my mind.
Speaker 1 (00:35:28):
That's just gonna keep happening, man. . It's not gonna get any smaller, that's for sure. No way. Ever. Um, thank you you for throwing in the Calcutta. You got that. And we got the raffles. All right. So you were talking a little bit more about extras. You just nailed into some of that mm-hmm. . But let's get into the names. 'cause you, you actually, you're tied it just fine. So let's talk about the sponsors. Do you have some names you want to talk about or any of that piece?
Speaker 2 (00:35:53):
Yeah, I, um, I listed 'em all off, um, because I don't wanna leave anybody out. We finalized sponsorships, they're closed. Our title sponsor for the third year in a row is, uh, caliber Home Loans of Coastal Georgia. Um, they, they were with us from day one on season number two at the awards banquet. Leighton Johnson, who's the region, uh, manager, um, was at the awards banquet. He's like, can I be the title next year? I'm like, absolutely. Um, I hope they're the title in the fourth year. Caliber Home Loans, coastal Georgia title sponsor, um, very close. Number two, a new sponsor is Hook Fishing. Uh, hook Gear and Hook Apparel have been helping us in ways that, um, a lot of people can't see up front in the camps. I mean, you see some hook shirts and stuff going out to kids, but they're, they're right there in the, uh, what we call the premier or, um, platinum sponsor Fish Bytes. They've been with us from day one, like they were the first company I called. And, uh, the crew over at Fish Bytes are a big time sponsor of the tournament. Promar Ahi, uh, our cast net company that, uh, that we do a lot of work with. I was up there in a premier, uh, that platinum level. A new one is Zco, uh, made a new relationship with Zco. I have a hundred doc demon rods sitting in my garage.
Speaker 1 (00:37:24):
We all know the doc demons bring naughty things in.
Speaker 2 (00:37:27):
And I think what I'm gonna do is say, let's do a photo contest for the kids. They can stand in the water, throw the dock demon, and let's just see if someone catches something bizarre with a dock demon. It is, it's not set up for the surf. Like I know that, but it's fun. And every kid that joins the tournament that comes is gonna get a Dock Demon for free. So, um, we're gonna do something with a Dock Demon, uh, Zco sponsored, and then, uh, Batson Enterprises team Rain Shadow. Um, they are doing the, uh, prizes for the youth for second and third are all going to get custom surf rods. That's new this year. Uh, usually the winner got a custom surf rod. And of course those are all made by Brian at Bandit, uh, custom Rods. So good.
Speaker 1 (00:38:16):
Dude.
Speaker 2 (00:38:16):
Those are, yeah, he's phenomenal. He's, he's one of the best. Um, and he's also gonna do some other rods that you might be able to get your hands on Friday night, so you don't wanna miss the welcome party. Um, just a little teaser there.
Speaker 1 (00:38:32):
That was a good one. .
Speaker 2 (00:38:33):
But let me, uh, let me me go over this list and I'm gonna take up some time doing this. Let's
Speaker 1 (00:38:37):
Fire away, man. Let make it quick. These, these people are totally, all of it's worth it because these sponsors, y'all make this what it is. Even better. So fire
Speaker 2 (00:38:45):
Away. And these are, these are in no particular order. I just wrote 'em down so I have my notes. Number one, because I believe in their cause and believe what they're trying to do. Uh, captains for Clean Water are an official sponsor of the Tournament Hilliard's Restaurant Group. Um, they, there you go. Um, they are a big time sponsor who's tied in with Sea Island Forge. The Hilliard's food truck is going to be at the welcome party. Hilliard's is the best restaurant possibly on the island on St. Simon's Island Sea Island Forge. They make these really nice cast kettles, um, cooking kettles and campfire kettles. We've been donated a Sea Island Forge Kettle with a Hilliard's cooking experience, or an $850 Hilliard's gift card and a charter that we're gonna silent an auction. Um, we just finalized that on Tuesday. That's the largest donation probably we've received in, in one single sitting. Excited about that. Uh, we have Country Financial of the Golden Isles in Brunswick. Dense Home Services, a guy here that, um, has helped Kids can fish in a lot of different ways. Uh, RV clinic's a new sponsor here locally, uh, um, doing RV repair and RV work. Something, you know, a little bit about that, right? Hey, look
Speaker 1 (00:40:04):
At that. That's cool. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:40:07):
Um, Cherokee Brick back, uh, for the second year. My home has a brick on the front around the patio. They came from Cherokee Brick, um, St. Simon's Bait and Tackle, uh, back again for their second year sponsoring, if you need bait for the tournament, St. Simon's bait and tackle's the place to go. They're on the Pier Village. They're opening early just for our tournament. Uh, captain Sparrows, which is an indoor putt putt neon course thing. Um, and the Brunswick Zone Bowling Alley. Uh, sponsored again for the third year. Um, Kona Ice of Brunswick, who will be at our events giving kids the shaved ice, uh, DSS Custom Tackle. Uh, they're in as an official sponsor for the first year. I would be fairly certain that we're probably gonna be giving away some DSS custom tackle Redfish rigs. Good, good guests there. Um, Tempest Barbecue and Cape uh, creation.
Speaker 2 (00:41:03):
Cape Catering Creations. Their food truck is gonna be at the welcome party. They're a huge sponsor. Um, so the food need is taken care of on Friday too. Morningstar, marinas Yates, Astro of Brunswick, uh, Georgia Saltwater Adventures. Uh, a great friend of mine who's a charter. Unbelievable Fishermen. That's the charter that's going with the Sea Island Forge, Hallard Combo, fortress Marine Anchors. Those people are amazing. Every year I call 'em up and they're like, what can we send you? We want in, um, got more of their stuff. How about this name Drop as a new sponsor. Surf Hippie Fishing. So, uh, bur Burman, uh, and I have had a lot of conversations and actually he secured a brand new sponsor at the witching Hour of Angler's Fishing Mate. So they're on board with us that, that literally just happened today.
Speaker 1 (00:41:58):
Um, nice. We
Speaker 2 (00:41:59):
Go, the tournament shirt is is going into print today. And Angler's Fishing Mate is in crazy, uh, blue Frog Outfitters. They make our buckets, the rope handle buckets. Uh, Southeast Adventure Outfitters. They're the folks that, uh, broker the Kayak donation, which we have another kayak we're raffling off, uh, Hobie 10.5. For a $10 ticket, you can win a $2,200 kayak that's going on right now. We'll have tickets at the event. We're gonna draw the name at the awards banquet, the reel I use. I love their inshore reels. Florida Fishing Products is back again as a sponsor. Uh, burning Reels, fishing Charters of the Golden Isles. Um, this company that probably you haven't heard of yet, I think, uh, Yeti.
Speaker 1 (00:42:44):
Yeah. Who's that?
Speaker 2 (00:42:45):
Yeah, Yeti. Just this company make that makes really good coolers. Um, they're in, um, there's, there's another guy. He, he like does something with Lead and these things you probably want to buy them for the tournament.
Speaker 1 (00:42:59):
Sounds familiar.
Speaker 2 (00:43:01):
Sinker Guy. I
Speaker 1 (00:43:02):
Think that's his name. Is it?
Speaker 2 (00:43:03):
Yeah. Yeah. That guy. The sponsor. Because everybody that's fishing the tournament, and this is no joke. Chip is gonna be at the welcome party. He's gonna have his sputniks. Do yourself a favor. Buy five or six of a five ounce. Buy five or six of the six ounce. I'm not so sure you're gonna need six ounces of weight this year, but you never know. Um, by Sinker Guy Sputniks, you'll want 'em, I'm gonna be using 'em. Uh, Bahe Sunglasses, brand new sponsor, uh, surf Fishing Solutions. Brian Ette is making a four wheel custom cart that on the welcome party, everybody who enters the tournament, adult and youth is entered to win a free, um, surf cart made by Brian, which is awesome. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (00:43:51):
It's Brian's
Speaker 2 (00:43:52):
Good. Don't be there If you can't make the welcome party. Your name is going to be in the drawing. And if your name's picked, I will make sure your cart gets delivered to you on Saturday because I'm not gonna want to carry it around until Sunday. . I want you to use
Speaker 1 (00:44:07):
It .
Speaker 2 (00:44:09):
So thanks Brian. That's, that's a huge, that's another one of those fun things that we're doing that just makes this tournament kind of cool. Uh, bull Bay tackle, they're back in sending us some fishing rods. Harris, ACE Hardware, they gave us a, a grand prize of a Traeger Grill to raffle off at the, at the award ceremony. Wow. That's, that's gonna be the, uh, the grand prize. I believe it's in my garage. It's, it's just a Traeger. Just,
Speaker 1 (00:44:35):
Just a little guy. Do you even, can you even move in your garage right now? ?
Speaker 2 (00:44:40):
No.
Speaker 1 (00:44:41):
Lord, man,
Speaker 2 (00:44:42):
I moved the bunch. I moved, like, I moved a bunch of stuff in the house and, and I I I don't wanna go into that. It's
Speaker 1 (00:44:49):
No, yeah,
Speaker 2 (00:44:50):
No air face hardware, Traeger Grill donation, Salty's Pompano rigs. Unbelievable. A guy goes to the Bama Beach bum and the Bama, uh, outdoors store, the grand opening and he's like, I'm gonna raffle off a Van stall reel and just donate, um, the money to that to you guys. He raised $750 or $1,750 in one day. So he sends the money over. I've, I, I don't know, I don't know them. I don't know these people, um, sends the money over and I was like, look, Salty's Pompano, we're we're picking up your sponsorship. You're in. Um, so Salty's Pompano rigs and I, I'm fairly certain, uh, doc Demon might have a Salty's Pompano rig on it. There's a chance to see something. I don't know. Um, William, Justin, you're amazing. And then, um, another, another guy, another company, uh, finding demo Surf fishing podcast. What up? Right. is, uh, we, I think you were probably the first confirmed sponsor of the year. Yeah. Our, our relationship has expanded and grown and right off the bat as like, Brian, I, I need you, are you interested? And you were like an instantaneous Yes. Um, I said in no particular order, I left the best for last. Um, , thanks for being a sponsor, Brian.
Speaker 1 (00:46:14):
Anytime, man, you guys are doing so many great things and anything I can do to help move this needle in any way, shape or form is a super win for me. 'cause you're just doing so many great things for these kids and these families in reality. I mean, it's not just the kids. The families get a huge piece of this with getting that time with their fam their kids doing something other than the trampoline park ,
Speaker 2 (00:46:37):
Right? So before I leave the sponsors thing, I think it's important for me to say this is, is not only, uh, thank you for these people that contribute, um, but I'm a big believer in like brand loyalty. Um, the companies and the people that we're reaching out to are companies and people that we respect. And I just ask, you know, people that are watching this are people that are, are making decisions on purchases to think about these companies that, um, are pretty easy. Yes. When you ask them to help out these companies that I just named, they, they care about youths, they care about youth fishing, they care about the, the growth of sport. There are plenty of companies that do say no, and that's okay. I'm totally fine with that. Um, but these companies are the ones I'm supporting because they, they, they have a like-minded, um, belief and what youth fishing is. And it's amazing. I mean, I just listed off probably like 35 companies. Those are official sponsors. It's blowing my mind. So support these companies, support these people. Um, they're in it for the right reason.
Speaker 1 (00:47:44):
Man. My buttons aren't working for me. Hitting the wrong things. . Well that is a great list and there's gonna be so many things. I mean, you guys heard the names but you Alright, I'll bring it up for me real quick. When I got to the pre-party last year, everyone, uh, people were filing in. It was great. You know, Abby and I drove from Navar, we got over into Georgia in the evening. We got their just in time with, uh, chip and Barry. Uh, actually the whole crew was there. I was like, all right, cool. We got in. And then when we got into the whole area of hangout, it turned into even better. The kids started hanging out together, meeting each other, uh, barely. There was no drama. Uh, if there was, it was very minimal. That wasn't noticeable. There was plenty to do there.
Speaker 1 (00:48:26):
And then you got the silent auction table and everyone's kind of doing their little peeking. It's like, oh, you out bit me. Hold on, hold my beer. You know, everyone was getting through and, but people were meeting each other, having conversations, seeing names from the group. That was my favorite one. I was like, oh, I've seen you in the group before. Having conversations and building and doing great things. So all of this being tied back into this one is a phenomenal event. And, um, I'm gonna ask, I know the answer 'cause I'm staying in an Airbnb. Uh, what have you noticed also with the area is that a lot of availability for, uh, hotels, places to stay on the island?
Speaker 2 (00:49:04):
Yeah, there's no shortage of of places to stay. Obviously the Airbnbs and v RBLs are pretty popular. Um, there's a Holiday Inn and a, uh, home two on the island, a couple other small Inn and suites. Uh, village Inn Suites is a popular one. Uh, if you want to be on what we call the mainland, the Brunswick side, which is literally 15, 20 minute drive if that, um, by the I 95 corridor. You have eight or 10 hotels right here in Brunswick proper. There's no shortage of hotels. Uh, if you find yourself looking at Brunswick, proper hotels, don't lose any sleep about it. You're literally 15 minutes from the fishing zone and you might save yourself a couple bucks by being off the island. So there, there's no shortage, um, other than probably Airbnbs and vr, BS being a Columbus State weekend, I would, I would be jumping on those pretty quick.
Speaker 1 (00:49:55):
And I will say for the local food, a um, you guys know me, uh, a as Tom and I have said, we are medium extra Husky ish. Um, there's good food there. ,
Speaker 2 (00:50:08):
There's no shortage. I forgot, I forgot a sponsor. Oh, and I have because it's food. Who'd you forget? Um, fiddlers. Fiddler's on the island. Oh
Speaker 1 (00:50:16):
Yeah, that place was good.
Speaker 2 (00:50:18):
So awesome food. And it's really close to the Coast Guard beach. If you're looking for a place to go on Friday, Friday night, Saturday night, or sorry, sa you're gonna be at the welcome party on Friday eating Tempest barbecue. But Saturday Night Fiddler's is a good, good spot to go.
Speaker 1 (00:50:36):
Yes. So plenty of great opportunities for all that. And if you don't want to eat at the restaurants, there is grocery shopping all around there. There's plenty of things. It's a, it's a very booming area. So don't, don't fret. And if you run into a problem, I will say this 'cause I know you're gonna say it, but I'm gonna steal your thunder. Reach out to anyone in the group, especially somebody there, we, there's a network and it's already, and once you're part of the tournament, you're part of the network, you will be taken care of, you will be helped there. You we're not, no one's gonna make sure you fail. Everyone's gonna make sure you succeed. That is the key.
Speaker 2 (00:51:06):
Yeah. 100%
Speaker 1 (00:51:08):
Man. Alright, you've nailed just about. So we got all the sponsors, we got the times, we got the money in there. Uh, when is, actually we didn't talk about this. When is the cutoff for purchase? I
Speaker 2 (00:51:21):
Cutoff for purchases as soon as it hits 200. I'll go on the website and we'll lock down the adult registration and, um, leave the youth one open. So I've been pretty good on the, the, the Facebook group, which is St. Simon's Island running of the Bulls. Um, it's saying, Hey, we're at one 40. I'll get back on there and say when we're at one 50, and I imagine when I get within the last 30, the hesitant folks are gonna start popping up. We're gonna sell this thing out by mid-September. They're, you know, first week of September I think I'll be sold out.
Speaker 1 (00:51:59):
Well this air this episode is airing on the eighth. So when you guys see this, no, you're running short on time. Like it's gonna pack. It always does. Um, oh, one rule we didn't talk about, so the rod limit rule.
Speaker 2 (00:52:13):
Yeah. Uh, pretty simple. Two per person. Yep.
Speaker 1 (00:52:18):
There's gonna be a lot of people there. You'll understand when we're all out there and before anybody freaks out, like, oh, we're gonna be, uh, tied together. I saw it last year. Any fish that was caught, every angler around you will do everything to make sure you land the fish. Uh, I think we only had what, one break off last year. And it was completely, it was just a really weird situation anyway because I mean, hell, it was the king tide and it was just so many weird pieces that went with that break off. Um, that fish was caught about two minutes later, , which was really funny. But the, the two rods per person is more than enough guys. It really will be you. You're gonna see so many different pieces. Um, yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:52:58):
And people ask, you know, how far do the rods have to be apart? My answer is be respectful. Yeah. You know, I, you know, I, when I fish by myself, I set my rods probably 12 to 15 feet apart. Um, that's probably consistent with what you see in the tournament. Maybe 20. Um, just look around. There were fish caught in every single zone, north and south, far and wide. So my rule of thumb is, is fish swim. Um, I've caught fish in every single area of those beaches. Um, I don't have a favorite spot, so pick one that looks good and sling it. And, and, and a perfect example is, and guy Ronnie and his daughter Mia last year, um, new to surf fishing, I helped him pick out a rod in reel. And I'm like, find, find a good spot. I'm like, just find somewhere that looks right. Sling it. Next thing you know, shortly after eight o'clock in the morning, Mia's on a fish. And he's like, yeah, that worked. I'm like, see they the fish swim .
Speaker 1 (00:54:04):
It's, it is really true everybody. It's really not. It's gonna be fun. And we're gonna be very, very, very busy with Bull Reds this year. It's not gonna be like last year.
Speaker 2 (00:54:13):
I think the judges are gonna be very, very busy. The the tide is just, it's too, it's too good. Um, it's, it's perfect.
Speaker 1 (00:54:23):
And the good news also Ladies and gentlemen. So if you go to the Blue Carpet beach area that we were just discussing, the main drag, there is a bathroom there, there is a shower there, there are facilities available to you so the kids can go back to the bathroom there. It is walkable, it is able to get to, um, biggest ones I think for recommendations. If you're gonna fish it is mostly sunscreen, snacks, food, water shade, bring an umbrella 'cause it's, there's no escape out there. Um, what else do you think? What else do you think we need? I mean, good shoes for comfort. 'cause I mean, it's a, it's a hard,
Speaker 2 (00:54:54):
It, it is hard pack sands, so it does a different number on your feet. Um, you know, I I would say if you, if you feel that you don't wanna fish the whole day, go take a lunch break, go to a different spot. We have a lot of people that do that. And then they catch a fish three hours later and they repack up. Um, you know, let's get in the hooks a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:55:18):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (00:55:19):
Seven, eight and nine aught octopus circles. I exclusively fish Gamma atsu. Um, kind of across the board. I'm a hook snob. Um, there's plenty of other hooks that are great, but I, I buy Gamma Atsu. I like the seven quite a bit. Um, but Seth likes Seth Silverstein, the guy I fish with quite a bit. Um, likes a bigger circle, hook for those reds. Um, so make sure you got yourself seven, eight, or nine. I do a single drop. Um, I, I just think too, there's too much twisting and flipping. I, I'll, I'll fish a single drop, um, every single time, whether it's tournament or just out with me and the kids. And again, sinker guy, sputniks, I'm, I'm a big believer, you know, we'll, a pyramid, mid sinker work. Yes. But a stinker guy, Sputnik works better hands down. So those are a couple things you're gonna want and bait. I would say if you're fortunate to get into St. Simon's area early, go to the bait shop, St. Simon's Island Bait and Tackle, they're gonna be ready. Um, and if you can't get there Friday night, they're opening early for us. They're gonna open at 5:00 AM Um, they normally open at seven so you can get morning bait early and not feel like you're missing anything. So I personally, I I would say have your hooks, weights, and bait ready. So Saturday you don't have to make any stops and just go
Speaker 1 (00:56:50):
Bait recommendations.
Speaker 2 (00:56:54):
I, I'm gonna exclusively fish with mullet. And I'll tell you right now, last year I fished frozen mullet, um, because I ran through all my fresh mullet. So I went to St. Simon's Bait and Tackle bought the big, you know, those five inch, six inch mullet. I cut the tail off so the fork isn't flipping around in the surf and I chunk it up in fours. So I'm getting like an inch and a half to two inch bait. And, um, I played around using blue crabs. Um, I get impatient with blue crabs even though it's phenomenal bait, there's no doubt about it. Um, you're just gonna go through, uh, crab faster. Um, they break apart, they bust up. Maybe not in this year's surf 'cause we're, we got a pretty awesome surf. So crab might hold up a lot better on this surf. I'm fishing mullet. It's what I catch my bull reds on. I'm, I'm not gonna deviate from the playbook.
Speaker 1 (00:57:50):
And you will also have some setups available for people that do not have gear. I know that that was discussed last year.
Speaker 2 (00:57:56):
So, um, I've donated, like daily donate. I've given some rods and reels out to people to use. Um, they don't go a long way. Um, but if someone calls me up and says I want to compete, but I don't have that type of gear, kind of a first come, first serve kind of thing. I've done, um, with the hope that my f f p 6,000 doesn't get dunked in the sand and water . Um, but that's the kind of stuff we do. If someone says they want to fish and they just don't have the right type of stuff, or someone travels from out of state and snaps a rod, we're gonna, we're gonna get 'em covered. That kind of thing. That's what we do. Um, I guess I, I'd be remiss if I didn't say if you catch a whiting off the surf, you better use that whiting as bait whiting's phenomenal. Um, if a kid is using a Zev code dock demon and catches a whiting, I would do a bait check and swap out Whiting's. Phenomenal , um, you know, whatever your preference is. I'm using mullet
Speaker 1 (00:58:56):
Now with the tournament. Everybody, here's a couple things for all you Florida people coming up St. Simon's Island for Pompano is not a super common catch. Mm-hmm. Before you do anything with getting a Pompano gone, might wanna look into what the records were because the state records second place was tied last year. Yeah. There was also triple tail caught from the beach. And if you haven't heard the one it was, that was a good one. And if you haven't heard the episodes with Seth or Brian, if you go back and listen to those episodes, the, and oh geez, my wife had a third one. Oh my gosh. Oh, I'm brain farting. I can see his face and I can't say his name. Oh,
Speaker 2 (00:59:40):
Dylan.
Speaker 1 (00:59:40):
Dylan. Thank you Dylan. Sorry dude. my brain like, oh God, I see his face. I, I can see him looking at me going, you know me. Um, if you want to hear in some info on St. Simon's Island fishing and you want to get a little leg up on some stuff, go back and take a look at those episodes. There's some stuff in there that might be useful to you, but there's gonna be fun fishing going on. So then there's a lot to do.
Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
So what was awesome about those episodes is Dylan was factually accurate. Seth was factually accurate, but different in approach and style. Yes.
Speaker 1 (01:00:13):
Two different
Speaker 2 (01:00:14):
Types. I'm different approach than Dylan and Seth and my method works. Um, so I would listen to both those episodes. You will come away with some tips and tricks that are certainly gonna work for the tournament. And um, I guess the one thing I would say is avoid the prettied tourist rigs. If you're coming to this tournament with novice experience, reach out to me. I have people that tie rigs. I will get you a quality rig with a quality hook and a quality Sputnik and get you to where you're not gonna lose a fish from clamps breaking or crimps breaking. Do, do not buy a Walmart Taurus rigs. Don't buy 'em. Use something that somebody hand tied.
Speaker 1 (01:01:03):
There will be plenty of people there with spares. We, we pro, I mean, yes. Don't, don't you, I'll worry if you break something at the beach. Um, I will say for me, I'm gonna go ahead and volunteer this. If you see the finding demo surf fishing flag, which will be flying, you'll find it, it'll be up there. You can come over and talk to me. Uh, and I will have gear, I will have things that I can happily say, yes, go use this. Go use this. Um, you'll, the Fish Bites team will probably all be very closely proximity together. There will be some things there to go come take a look at. The sinker guy will probably be within shooting distance, so we'll bury . So we'll catch 'em up with Colin. They're,
Speaker 2 (01:01:41):
They're really easy to find. Just look for the flags whipping in the wind.
Speaker 1 (01:01:45):
Yes. We, we are weird. We fly our flags way at the beach. So we, we like for you all to come find us if there's a problem. By all means come. We, we have all the, we have the contacts of whoever we need to. If something's funky, we will help you out. I know it'll be, it'll be fine. Everything's gonna be just fine, we promise. Right. Uh, and I'm not even running things, I'm just there. But everything will be just fine.
Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
You, you hit the nail on the head though. If you have a question, get on the Facebook group. Ask. We got you covered. Like, you, you won't be without a shortage of experts probably phishing three, four groups down from you. Um, nobody's gonna get left hanging for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:02:22):
Well, I am excited dude. I can't wait to see you again and I really can't wait to fish. Uh, well, AJ's been going nuts. She's like, come on, are we going? I'm like, I told you we're going, we bought the tickets a month ago. Oh, okay. But we're really going right. Oh my God. Yes. My love. We are going, I promise. So yeah, I know. She's ra she's razed for it. I know. Cullen's like, yes. I can't wait. Those two me are on messenger all the time. They're talking about the tournament. Uh, there's gonna be a lot of fun stuff and I'm, I'm just so excited and thankful that you've done this. I'm thankful for the foundation for building what you guys have built. This is gonna be a phenomenal tournament. So many great things, lots of great memories, lots of great laughs. And hey, who knows the, the bull monster could be a 50 inch or, I mean this could be the, this could be some big fish Be ready
Speaker 2 (01:03:08):
Or maybe this guy
Speaker 1 (01:03:10):
Or hey, 13 inches. That's the goal. 13 inches, dude. And we joked about that too. I mean, that, that was the funny thing. Like, you even were like, what the hell? I'm like, I don't know. I mean, and we were like, I hope that this doesn't climb the ladder. This better not make it to
Speaker 2 (01:03:25):
The top. No, no. Were you not the first on the board?
Speaker 1 (01:03:28):
I was And
Speaker 2 (01:03:29):
It held for good hours.
Speaker 1 (01:03:32):
Yeah, we were free. I know. We were like, Uhuh, no, this better not hold. But on the same one last year that that king tide, the storm that had come through, so many bad factors were just all against us. And we knew the fish were going, we saw them running. But I mean, to me that 13 intro was an exact moment of you never know what's going to grab your line.
Speaker 2 (01:03:54):
They're there. So my biggest has been 47. And last year on my birthday, October 23rd, Caroline and I are fishing. And I did not have a tape. And I'm fairly certain Caroline caught a close to 50 inch red. Ooh. Yes. And it, and it wa it was one, it was just one of those goofy shaped all belly long tail monster. And, and I did not have the tape in my bag. And of course I like get the fish in the water. I, I'm fairly, I'm fairly certain she broke my 47, um, because she looks tiny next to this thing. Um, it was big fish. So they're, they're out there. So in getting on your 50, to me catching a 50 is like shooting a hole in one. Um, there's, there's several caught a year, but to me a 50 is like my target. Like if I catch a 50, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna go nuts. And they're in there. Um, I've seen pictures of them on St. Simon's and Jekyll. They're far few between. Um, if someone catches a 50, you can pretty much guarantee you're gonna be walking home with some cash .
Speaker 1 (01:05:07):
Yeah. That's a big fish. That's a real big fish. Right. Um, other than that, man, anything else? I can't think of anything. We got all the questions nailed. We hit all the check marks and we've had some, had some good, uh, back and forth. I'm, I'm, I'm, like I said, I'm excited man. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
Um, you know, non tournament stuff, just everybody in the fishing community, it's a, it's a fishing family, um, that take care of us. Um, it, it's unbelievable. Um, you know, uh, Dan from, um, DW Lewis, literally my phone, uh, he popped up, he bought a tournament shirt. Um, because those are pre-ordered today. It just, the the people that are, that are helping us is just unbelievable. I would've never told you when I moved to Georgia in 2014 that I'd be organizing and helping my daughter run a national charity that has people from Washington state to southeast Florida to Maine supporting us. It, it's just incredible. And we couldn't do it without people that, that come to our tournament and support us in, in different ways. I can guarantee you if you come to the running of the Bulls tournament, you're gonna have a really good time. And, um, if anything, you're gonna meet some good people and have a really, really good chance of winning some prizes. 'cause my house needs emptied
Speaker 3 (01:06:21):
.
Speaker 1 (01:06:24):
Oh, I bet. That day.
Speaker 2 (01:06:26):
Yeah. Just thanks to everybody. We're, we're very, very, um, blessed and thankful and, and try to stay humble and, and keep everything real and, and open. And, and Brian again, you know, I guess probably you asked me on the first interview, where is this going? I think I still have the same goal. I'd love to see Caroline in her twenties running a, um, a charity that she envisioned at nine and a half years old. But for me, um, I know in my retirement I've got a whole new set of good friends all over the place. And I'm gonna have some amazing fishing adventures. Just the people that we've met have become really, really close friends. Um, and that's, that's I think what I'm liking the most now is that I'm, I'm meeting as an adult. It's hard to make new friends as a, as a big kid. Right. Meeting some pretty incredible new friends. It's, it's good stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:07:21):
Very true. Yeah. Well, thank, thank you so much for coming on here. Thanks for doing all this and I look forward to catching up with you and we'll catch up soon.
Speaker 2 (01:07:28):
All right. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (01:07:29):
Yes sir. Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Tournament's gonna be awesome. If you haven't figured that out yet, it's going to be a really good time. There's gonna be great fishing, great people. All of it together is going to be just a real, real fun adventure. So, uh, kids can fish.net. Go over there, take a look. You can get, uh, register for the tournament all through there. You can register for everything through there. Uh, you heard that the limit's coming up on the timeline, so when you hear this episode, it's real close. It's next month. So be ready to rock and roll. Uh, I'm excited. Alright. You've been listen to finding Dimo Surf Fishing. Thanks for sticking around. Take care of yourselves. I'm outta here.