[Reel_Blessed II]

I was watching ESPN2 last Sat morning and saw this on for the first time. The tournament was in Feb and they headed out of Ketama Park in Galveston. Any of you Houstonians fish around there? It was cool to see a red fish tournament on the air. I think a Texas coastal fishing show would draw a good audience. There's plenty of coast line to do some good shows. I would think Fox Sports SW could carry that. There may actually be a show already but I've never come across it. Any TV producers in the house?

 

[Freshwaterman]

It was the last weekend of May and it was out of Kemha, which is the worst place to have a tournament launch on the Galveston Bay complex. Water conditions were horrible and it turned many, many people off to Galveston Bay. Now everyone from east of Texas (on the Gulf Coast) thinks Galveston Bay is a sh** hole. They coulda picked a better time of year to hold the tournament. Don't know if any of y'all keep records, but look back over the years at the last weekend of May and the first weekend of June and let me know how often you fished those weekends.

After all that's said, I thought it was very cool seeing the Bay I've fished my hole life on ESPN. Keith Warren has also down at least two shows in Galveston Bay; one on the ship channel for reds, and one on Hannahs (i think) for trout.

 

[Salty Techsan]

Rhetorical Question:

What good is this "Bassmaster Style" hype and television around Redfish doing for us.. the average recreational bay/flats fisherman?? anything at all?? or just allowing the bay boat manafacturers to sell a few more boats?? and at what cost?? I like to watch it.. but for the good of the resource I hope they never air another show again.. just a thought.

 

[NaClH2O]

There is a show on Thursday nights at 10:30 and a repeat of it the following morning at 6:00 (I believe) called the Soutwest Outdoors Report on FSSW. It is aimed at forecasting the upcoming weekend's fishing prospects. It's only a half hour so it's hard to focus on one specific area when you're trying to cover four states. There is usually a blurb about fishing the coast, but it's not more than a minute or so and doesn't get very local. They will have a guy talk about upcoming conditions from Rockport, or Baffin Bay, or POC and use that as their forecast for the entire coast. Their main focus is on the lakes in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas and will usually give some hot spots and tips for one lake per show. It is a good show, but it's too broad to be used as an effective fishing forecast in my mind.

 

[Reel_Blessed II]

I think this was in Feb because it was like 55 degrees and they had to cancel the 2nd day of the tournament because of weather and so they cut to the top 5 teams for the final day and 2 pro bass fisherman won it. It was their first redfish tournament. They fished the jetties.

Is Kemah where the Cruise lines go out of? I went last year and it didn't look familiar...

 

[Saint51]

Kemah

The cruise lines would have a hard time getting past all of the **** traps in the bay just off Kemah.

 

[Team Ranger Bob]

Rfc

The tournament was held on April 30th, May 1st and 2nd.
It brought in much needed attention to our bay and some of our local fishermen as well as helping the local economy.
The increased interest in Redfish will also serve to take pressure off of our Trout fishery.
Many of the competitors from Florida commented on how good our Trout fishery really is.

Our area and our fishery will continue to benefit from more tournaments of this kind that will be held here next year.

Ranger Bob

Team Ranger Bob proudly supports these fine sponsors.

 

[Sow Trout]

Attention?

Why does our bay system need more attention?

 

[kenny]

Sow Trout,
That's a good question. It can't possibly help the resource, only the sponsors and related business and tournament fishermen. IMHO
Now, if they gave part of the money to say SCA or at least airtime for conservation spots, it might be different.

 

[Team Ranger Bob]

Kenny if you cant figure out how it helps the resource then I probably wont be able to explain it to you.

I have already heard these stories and know where this is going, if SCA or CCA need air time let them pay for it.

The CUP bleeds conservation with a catch and release format.

These guys all buy liscences and buy products here that are taxed and that money ends up in the pocket of T.P.&W.

Why should out of towners be any different than you or I ?

If you leased a home on Clear Lake for two weeks to some of these guys you may feel different. Most of these guys were here for a week or even longer.


These people support conservation in their own systems and came here and spent their money in ours.

Conservation is more in need of a change in mindset and attitude than money.

My self I am proud of the fishery we have and do not mind in showing it off, our water is not as pretty as what they have in Florida but we have a much larger and healthier Red fishery than they do and thats a fact.

Kemah was the nicest venue that the Cup stopped at all year long and frankly we as Texans should be proud.

Ranger Bob

Team Ranger Bob proudly supports these fine sponsors.

 

[Freshwaterman]

Sorry about being wrong about the dates. Go ahead and look back on your records for the last weekend of April and first of May. J/K

 

[grinderman]

I'd like to see the RFC Port Aransas tournament. Any idea when it may air again? A buddy and I fished that Saturday and Sunday. The weather was terrible. It rained and lightning the whole time, but we did manage to catch a bunch of trout on Sat. and a limit of trout on Sun. We didn't know the tourny was that weekend but everytime a thundercell and lightning would get close, we would go hide. We kept wondering why these two colorful triton boats trolling the shoreline would not stop fishing. Then, we found out about the tourny. I'd just like to see some of the areas I grew up fishing at on TV. Heck, I may even learn a new redfish area.

 

[kenny]

Ranger Bob,
Sorry if I upset you, I don't have an agenda.

 

[Bryant]

Scrolling forward on my DSS program guide, it shows Redfish Cup will be on again at 5:00am CST on ESPN2. Time to set the TIVO.

 

[Sow Trout]

Ranger Bob

Your thought processes are very different than mine. The biggest problem our fisheries have is too many fishermen. The pressure is just too much for the
resource. Consequently, "just deep five". The reason our fishery is so much better than that in Florida is they have too many people fishing for too few fish. I am, also, very proud of what we have, but let's keep it to ourselves. We don't need any more onslaught from the East Coast than we already have. That is unless you are selling something. Are you?

 

[Team Ranger Bob]

When I was in Florida the area that we fished, Punta Gorda did not have anywhere near the pressure that we see on Galveston.

And yes as a competitive fisherman I try to sell myself it is the only way that I can afford to travel to Florida and Louisiana, it was 1100 miles one way to Florida and when we got there it was like stepping into another world.



Ranger Bob

Team Ranger Bob proudly supports these fine sponsors.

 

[Reel_Blessed II]

you're right. I checked it out. Take care.

 

[JHB]

More Folks On The Bay

I'm going to have to agree with Ranger Bob on this one. Come on guys - at least those that get angry every time a tournament is held on the bay, or those that blast folks for putting a picture of a limit of fish up on the board - just how many of those guys that came here from Florida, Louisiana, or from down the coast or going to sell out and run as fast as they can to Galveston Bay because of one televised tournament or some publicity on TV. That goes for the folks watching the shows. The people that watch, most of them, already have their home waters to fish, and those that don't are gonna be the last ones we'll ever have to blame for a decline in our home fishery. We should take a lesson from the folks that embrace tournaments like BASS, and the FLW when they come to their home lakes - they know first hand that these events benefit the economy and give them a chance to showcase what they have, but they know that when the tournament's over the people are going to leave and go back where they're from, with only a few rare exceptions - but when the water gets salty and there's any publicity around a tourney, a lot of coastal fishermen become what my fishing buddies and I call 'haters' and that's not the way to be. Whether we agree or disagree, we all still have one common bond - our love for the outdoors - and let me tell you guys it won't be long before we're going to have to worry about a lot more than our fellow fishermen and outdoorsmen ruining that for us - we're all in this together.

Learn To Fish - Fish To Learn
JHB

 

[Salty Techsan]

My concern surrounding this new found attention to our fishery has more to do with this: Your average Joe thinks whatever he sees on TV is cool, sad but true.... A lot of weak minded individuals will actually buy whatever you put in front of them given that it is marketed well.. and the RFC Tourney is indeed marketed well. The ESPN folks do a great job of editing and producing the video they capture during this tournament series.. its very well done. I'll give them that. My concern is that a lot of these "average Joes" that are sitting in front of their TV on Saturday AM are now going to wind up on the bay in their new Triton Bay boat as opposed to on a local Bass Lake in their new Triton Bass Boat two weeks after the local boat show. The last thing we need is more jack arses on the bay in shallow draft boats buzzing shorelines, chewing up sea grasses, cutting off waders and clogging Sunday morning boat ramps. I am not afraid of the amount of fish they are going to harvest, and in the big picture, the additional revenue they would add to the resource in the way of expenses and fishing license etc might be beneficial. But that is not a trade off I am wanting to gamble with. Our resource is precious as you know and more people utilizing it won't make it better, period! Our waters are a big part of my life, and I only want to share them with people that will treasure them as you and I do. We must protect them. Sorry for the poor writing here.. no coffee yet. ST

 

[Mike in Friendswood]

Any Positive exposure is good exposure

Times are changing, and anything good about fishing that is seen by the general public is good for the sport and more importantly good for the future of OUR sport. There are a lot of people out there with a lot of money that would love to take away our right to hunt and fish. The Redfish Cup puts a positive spin on fishing, and adds enough glitter and "sideshow" to make it interesting to folks that would not otherwise give it a second look. Yes, they may "sell a few more boats", but that is the cost of getting a positive message to John Q. Public. Somebody has to pay for the air time. I would rather put up with a few more dimwitts now, than watch from the sidelines in the future.

Lastly, if you don't think our right to fish may be in peril, check out what happened in England. Hundreds of years of tradition gone in one afternoon as the British parliment voted to abolish fox hunting. How did this happen? A bunch of tree huggers that have never seen a fox in the wild, got elected to office........