The Strathmere Fishing and Environmental Club held the annual Last Cast Tournament over the Thanksgiving Weekend. We want to thank Rob Coffey for once again organizing this great event, as this marks the 13th consecutive year of the tournament. “13” didn’t turn out to be completely unlucky, as thankfully some fish were caught but weather conditions were challenging. Friday fishing had extraordinary cold conditions for November.
First Place went to Pat Barney who caught a 25.3 lb. Striped Bass “at the lump off the Spinnaker” in Sea Isle. Pat caught his first-place Bass on Saturday in Rob Coffey’s boat. Second Place went to Jimmy Cannon, his short-bass was landed Friday night on the Rush Chattin Bridge and measured 23.5 inches. Jimmy, a long-time SFEC member, fishes in all of our tournaments and in recent years seems to always catch and enter fish – Good Job Jim!
All totaled, there were 15 who entered the tournament and fished the Last Cast. A good crowd of close to 30 attended the SFEC Meeting and Last Cast Awards Dinner. In our continuing effort to patronize local businesses, we were treated to a delicious assortment of sandwiches and various samplings of chicken tenders from Boyer’s Market, located in Ocean City. It was a great spread of food enjoyed by all. In addition, Club members also made soups and chili for all to enjoy.
Once again, a-big-thanks goes to Rob for chairing the Last Cast Tournament. We also need to recognize our talented artist, Carol Ferguson, for her very realistic paintings of Striped Bass that was part of the First Prize package. Thank you Carol for your donating your time and your contributions to SFEC. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all those who braved the colder-weather and fished.