Sold Out Cheeky Catch And Release Tournament Huge Success
Dean Clark, Cape Cod, Massachusetts:
Two hundred and forty dedicated fishermen descended on Cape Cod to take part in a 100% catch and release striped bass fishing tournament organized by Cheeky Reels. The Cheeky Schoolie Tournament as it bills itself took place the weekend of May 20th and is a wade and fly fishing only competition. There is no fishing from boats and only fly fishing is permitted. Two person teams combine their catch of their four largest fish and vie for thousands of dollars’ worth of sponsored prizes: Thomas and Thomas rod, Yeti coolers, Simms waders and Fish Pond tackle organizers are but a few of the winnings.
The night before the one day fishing event everyone gathered at the Swan River restaurant in Dennis for the “Captains” meeting which was hosted by Costa Sunglasses. Ted Upton of Cheeky Reels welcomed everyone and briefly went over the rules explaining that this is a fun tournament with various winning categories. In addition to vying for the largest fish there were prizes for the team that caught no fish, a winning category for the team that recorded the smallest fish and another for the team that covered the most miles in pursuit of the schoolie stripers that have invaded the Cape waters.
The next day started early with the distribution of contest kits which included an ID disk to be present in the photos of entered fish along with a ruler which also had to be in the photo of the fish. Included in each anglers kit was a Stripers Forever Tee-shirt which was graciously donated by Black Eel Outfitters of Dennis, MA.
At the Awards event Ted thanked all the generous sponsors and informed everyone that Cheeky is proud to sponsor the Stripers Forever Release a Breeder Club. In the name of conservation he reminded everyone to let the bigger bass go so they may continue to reproduce as the life-blood of the species. Stripers Forever wishes to thank both Cheeky Reels and Black Eel Outfitters for their generous and continuing support of our efforts to conserve wild striped.
