West End Anglers Big Trout Fishing Tournament Attracts Over 100 Anglers
GALVESTON - The West End Anglers had over 100 anglers take part on their 2nd Annual Big Trout Tournament Saturday as their organizations popularity continues to grow.
Things got going early as contestants hit the water for a 6:00 a.m. start time. Fishing boundaries limited the anglers to West bay and other areas in the Galveston West Bay area. The area is known for coughing up some nice size trout in the winter months and that left everyone fairly certain there would be some nice size fished weighed in.
As the day got started, Winds were rather lite but the tides were very low. This provided some challenging conditions for anglers as they looked to find some spots that might produce some good fish as they waited for the tide to push some water back into the bay.
The tide stay relatively low for most of the day and the wide picked up significantly as the fishermen looked to string up their three nicest fish and make their way back to the West End Marina for a 4:00 p.m. weigh in time. It would be well after 4:00 p.m. before most of the anglers would make it back in and by that time a pretty good crowd had gathered in anticipation of some nice stringers hitting the scales.
Several respectable stringers showed up early on before some double digit catches showed up to make things interesting at the weigh in table. Before it was all over five teams weighed in double digit stringers but some jaws dropped and many spectators were in awe of Daniel Popovich when he showed up with his catch,
Popovich reached in his bag and pulled out three impressive trout as the team of Havens and Renteria watched their days effort ( 15.3 pounds) slide back a notch to second place. With the live fish bonus of one half of a pound per fish added to Popovich's trio of fish, he was the new leader with an impressive weight total of 18.5 pounds. It was enough to hold up as he took first place and earned a nice pay day of $2006.09.
"I had all my fish by 11:00 a.m.", said Popovich, "I started out in one of the coves here in West Bay and stayed there pretty much all day long". His patience paid off and you can bet it will be a lesson to many other anglers as they look to come away with a win in the future and learn from the best.
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2011 FWE Big Trout Results
1. Daniel Popovich - 18.5 (3 live fish)
2. Havens / Renteria - 15.3 (3 live fish)
3. Team Battistoni - 14.2 (2 live fish)
4. Rippin' Lips - 11.9 (3 live fish)
5. Nut Deep - 10.3 (3 live fish)
6. Saltwater Assault - 9.9 (3 live fish)
7. Therapist - 8.5 (3 live fish)
8. Tran Sport - 7.7 (3 live fish)
9. Andco - 7.1 (3 live fish)
10. One More Cast - 6.5 (3 live fish)
11. Waist Deep - 6.4 (0 live fish)
12. Half Taco Supreme - 5.8 (0 live fish)
13. Saltwater Soul - 5.5 (3 live fish)
14. Therman - 5.5 (3 live fish)
15. Aquaholics - 5.4 (2 live fish)
16. "Speck" Tacular - 2.9 (1 live fish)
Side Pot - Renteria $680
1st- $2,006.09
2nd - $1,203.65
3rd - $802.43
4th - $401.22
5th - $200.61
