Hello Captains,
The 4th Annual
GollyWhopper Classic in Mexico Beach had a record turnout and new tournament
records were caught for both Red Snapper and King Mackerel. The federal season
for Red Snapper was not set until early May and there was very little time to
plan this year's tournament. A new location was also needed for the
tournament to take place during Federal Season. The tournament was minutes
away from not taking place in 2015 before Kimberly Shoaf of the Mexico
Beach CDC volunteered their support and use of the Mexico Beach
Welcome Center for the Captain's Party and Weigh-in. Kimberly joined new
Tournament Director Lee Cathey and founder Josh Bloodworth and went to work
planning and preparing for a successful tournament.
The tournament was
held on June 6th with the weigh-in and Captain's Party at the Mexico Beach
Welcome Center. There was a great turnout for both events with 62 boats
entering the fishing division for the biggest Red Snapper and King
Mackerel. The tournament cost $150 per boat to enter and pays out over
100% of the entry fees to the winners. There were an additional 12 divers
that entered the spearfishing division ($35/each) and 10 individual youths
($25/each) 14 & under in the youth fishing division. A group of
sponsors created bonus categories for this year's tournament and agreed to pay
a $1,500 bonus to the first King weighed in that was over 50lbs and $1,500 to
the first Red Snapper over 30lbs. By the time all of the fish had been
weighed and the winners were paid on Saturday afternoon, $11,865 was paid out
in cash prizes.
The waters off of
Mexico Beach are known for world class Red Snapper fishing. The Mexico
Beach Artificial Reef Association has deployed over $1,000,000 of
artificial reefs and continue to make it even better and better. With so
many big Red Snapper being caught, many people said the winner would have
to get lucky and bring in the biggest snapper ever caught in the
tournament. While this proved to be true, the 2014 Red Snapper winners
proved it's about more than luck. Each of the winning
teams placed again in 2015. Despite fishing against almost twice as
many competing boats in 2015, Captain Don Spillers and Team Perfect Bite from
Fort Valley, Georgia have won the Red Snapper Division in 2014 and again in
2015. Don's son Trey was the angler that landed the winning fish this
year. The custom trophies were made and donated by Brian Cathey of Cathey
Construction.
Captain
Stephen Price of Port St. Joe has entered the smallest boat in the
tournament each of the last 2 years. He was only one tenth of a pound from
winning first this year with his 25.15lb pound fish. Stephen and his
19' Cape Horn finished 3rd in 2014 and were only .06lbs pounds from
2nd place which was won by Team SouthPaw. Team SouthPaw with
Captains Steven Childs and Landin Marzolf from Bainbridge, Geogia
placed 3rd this year with 20.45lbs. Captain Spillers' 25.25lb fish
beat his own tournament record for a Red Snapper caught on hook and line that
was set in 2014 at 23lbs. Dennis Menard from Lenox, Georgia won the
spearfishing division with a stud 25.15lb Snapper. The tournament record
for largest Red Snapper ever speared or caught is still owned by Regina Capps
who speared a 26.72lb fish in 2014. Youth participants can weigh
either a King or Red Snapper and the winning fish in 2015 was 19.6lb Red
Snapper caught by 11 year old Alec Bloodworth.
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Captain Jackson Krause
and Team Flippin Out fishing out of Cordele, Georgia set a new tournament
record as well. They are also back to back champions winning the
King Mackerel division each of the last 2 years. Their 53.75lb smoker
earned them the $1,500 bonus and a total first prize of $3,825. Team Salt
Life and Captain Craig Bishop from Panama City placed 2nd with a very
respectable 40.6lb King and Team Catchulater and Captain Joe Rodgers from Moultrie,
Georgia finished 3rd with 37.3lbs. Team Flippin Out and their winning fish
are pictured below.
Thank you to all of
the volunteers, sponsors, and participants that helped make the tournament such
a fun and successful event. The tournament has seen a nice increase in
participation each of the first 4 years and went from 50 total entrants to
84 in 2015. We look forward to continuing to grow the event and
will plan to have the tournament in 2016 on the first Saturday of Federal Red
Snapper Season. Here's a link to see more pictures of the tournament
on the GollyWhopper Facebook page. We hope
you will support all of the local fishing tournaments. The Big Bend
Saltwater Classic is June 19th-21st, Mexico Beach Offshore Classic is July 24-25th,
and the MBARA Kingfish Tournament is set for August 29th. Below is the list of
boats and captains that entered the tournament along with the divers.
David Byrd
|
Milk Money
|
John Davis
|
D-Light
|
Brad Benners
|
Paydirt
|
Clint Brownlee
|
Chinatown
|
Roger Bradley
|
Team Beach Realty
|
Cale O'Neal
|
Key Lime
|
Mark Moore
|
Sea Hunter
|
Don Spillers
|
Perfect Bite
|
Aubrey Singleton
|
Whoo-Dat
|
Steve Newman
|
Big Fish
|
Todd Armstrong
|
Cat-Ching2
|
Tracey Weldon
|
Holla@Cha
|
Finley Cook
|
Garfin
|
Brent Griner/Tommy
Dunn
|
N/A
|
Jeff Barber
|
Last Call
| Landon Marzolt |
Southpaw
|
Randy Raffield
|
Team Booyah
|
Lee Cathey
|
Lyndsey Marie
|
Blake Anderson
|
Salty Mule
|
David Traylor
|
All's Aboard
|
Terry Voyles
|
Mighty Whitey
|
Will Jones
|
Keepin Up
|
David Nunnally
|
Reel Skills
|
Brad Ellis/Ronnie
Lape
|
N/A
|
Stephen Price
|
Cape Horn 19
|
Danny English
|
Why Knot
|
Clay Crosby
|
Cloud 9
|
Emmett Yancey
|
Got Wood
|
Joe Sapp
|
Fishical Therapy
|
Josh Bloodworth
|
Xtreme
|
Mitch Coleman
|
Floridaze
|
Steve Dillard
|
Chaos
|
Wade Guilford
|
Captn Morgan
|
Ryan Kelley
|
Southbound
|
Chris Hatcher
|
Rehab
|
Jackie Fleetwood
|
Sea2
|
Greg Davis
|
Simple Interest
|
Coleman Tatum
|
Sonny Days
|
Jason Knight
|
Stretched Out
|
Scott Collins
|
School Bus
|
Darrell Key
|
Low Key
|
Daryl Rudd
|
Its Electric
|
Grant Terry
|
Phish Pharm2
|
Craig Bishop
|
Salt Life
|
Harold Cawthorn
|
Jawbreaker
|
Drew Cook
|
Garfin
|
Randy Hatcher
|
Fuel $urcharge
|
Chris Hays
|
Grass Cat
|
Todd Hornsby
|
Reel Southerner
|
Josh Conyers
|
Long Shot
|
Mark Brannen
|
Birds Nest
|
Jackson Krause
|
Flippen Out
|
Kyle Conlan
|
Rod N Dirty
|
James Bloodworth
|
Olde Hickory
|
Gordon Hutchins
|
Screaming Eagle
|
Eric Richardson
|
Cluchy II
|
Joe Rodgers
|
Catchalater
|
Jeff Schneider
|
Strike Zone
|
Keith Carraway
|
SeaMent
|
Greg Gaskin
|
Anna Kate
|
Allen Pitts
|
Plan B
|
Rusty Brogdon
|
Georgia Pride
|
SPEARFISHING
DIVISION
Regina Capps |
Blood, Sweat, &
Spears
|
Doug Wiggin
|
Blood, Sweat, &
Spears
|
Clay Crosby
|
Cloud 9
|
Richard Harris
|
Cloud 9
|
Dennis Menard
|
Got Wood
|
Emmett Yancey
|
Got Wood
|
Bob Cox
|
Bobcat
|
Brian Higdon
|
Bobcat
|
Kimberly Higdon
|
Bobcat
|
Brant Bushnell
|
Bobcat
|
Ron Childs
|
Alleycat
|
Jimmy Nicholson
|
Alleycat
|
Cheers,
Zach Childs
Broker/Owner 98 Real
Estate Group
#1 Producing
Realtor-2013 & 2014-Mexico Beach/St. Joe Beach/WindMark
Cell: 850-819-0833
Fax: 888-382-9608
WWW.MEXICOBEACHSALES.COMFax: 888-382-9608
WWW.98RealEstateGroup.com
