Pompano Fishing Rodeo

I have been fishing the Pompano Beach Fishing Rodeo on our family boat Frick and Frack for nearly thirty years. It is a great family oriented tournament. We have enjoyed great success over the past few years with two second and one first place finish over the large field of boats. This year would be much more challenging as the weather was calm and the fishing slow. The first day started very slow and we didn't have a single eligible fish until James got a nice tuna just before noon. There were a few boats catching fish, but nothing was happening for us and I knew we had to do something. I decided to make a long run south where a friend had been getting some nice fish. As we made the nearly forty mile trip the conditions went from bad to worse and I felt as if I made the wrong move. Finally we found some good water and with less than an hour left in the day we had to fish fast! We got our limit of kingfish and Greg got a nice tuna just before lines out and we were still in the running. With the long run back to port, we ended up being the very last boat to weigh our catch and had to wait in line as forty other boats weighed before us.

Day two of the tournament has shorter hours and lines are out at noon. I decided to fish a spot off Fort Lauderdale where I fished a lot with my dad, brother, and grandfather and always had good success. Day two was flat calm and made kite fishing nearly impossible. With my long time friend Mike Welter running the flat lines and everyone working together we had a great day. We got some nice kings and a tuna right away and everyone was confident. The whole team worked great together and we ended up with a limit of tuna and limit of kings and even a big snapper for Laurel just before lines out. As soon as the tournament ended we reeled up everything and raced for the weigh scales. Today the Frick and Frack would be the first boat to weigh in and there was no waiting in the dreaded weigh in line. Our second day catch gave us the top overall boat for the day and two hundred thirty-four total pounds. We finished second place overall in the tournament missing first by only three tenths of one pound. James was awarded top junior angler, Laurel got third for small fry and we ended up as third place family. It was another fun and successful family fishing tournament!