[pohocker]

We had the first-ever event on 7/16. Pickings were slim for the 33 entrants. The million boats of tourists, stained water, 20K S winds didn't help much. A lot of guys caught nothing, some caught upwards of 16 TB's w/o any keepers. My partner and I fished the inlet, all of the East channel, the west channel by Stinky Beach, all of the Thorofare, chasing the tides each place, which means we were back and forth to each spot several times. I stuck my nose out at the inlet but it was pretty lively out there so we decided to stay inside. Live spot only got me an 18" striper at Stinky Beach. We caught maybe 7 tb's all day. Around 2PM, we were about ready to throw in the towel but made one last attempt in the east channel during the outgoing. Nothing on spot, minnows/squid. I stayed w/minnows but cut a tapered piece of Saltwater Gulp to use in place of squid, and next thing you know, had a 19 1/2. This held up for a while in the standings, but a guy nailed a nice 23" not long before lines-out at 3:30 and took first place, bumping us to 2nd. A 19 1/4 finished 3rd. Harbor Tackle was the official weigh station. It was nice to finally meet Bev, who was very helpful and friendly.