The Second Annual Redfishville Shoot-Out

October is a great month for targeting Redfish. The water starts to clear, the fish start to school up and the weather turns nice enough to fish all day. Every October there is an event held in Charleston that means a lot to a lot of people. The Redfishville Shoot-Out. This is a kayak fishing tournament held every October to raise awareness and funds for the South Carolina Chapter of Heroes on the Water or HOW. How is an organization that takes injured war vets and takes them kayak fishing to assist n their recovery and therapy. Our Motto is "Paddle. Fish. Heal." , through donations of companies, local like The Charleston Angler, The Dog and Duck and Time Out Sports, to national companies like March Brown fly rods, Yak Attack and Stearns, we are able to take our Heroes fishing with zero cost to them. Once a Hero is identified to us and he or she wants to fish, we take care of all the cost they would incur such as travel, equipment, licenses and meals. The Redfishville Shoot-Out refills our coffers every year and allows us to continue to help our Heroes recover.

The night before the tourney is the Captains meeting. All the anglers participating met up at the West Ashley The Charleston Angler and we ate, drank a little and went over the rules and procedures for the tourney. The Tournament is a classic "CPR" Tourney. The is Catch Photo and Release. Each angler catches their fish, photographs the fish with a special identifier then releases the fish, we'll most do but a few people do enjoy eating a fish or two. It is a one day event and the main goal is to raise awareness for HOW, raise some needed funds and to get as many kayak anglers together to enjoy fishing and teach some of the new guys a trick or two. The Dog and Duck in Park West provided the wings and food and The Pampered Palate provided our drinks for the meeting and the tourney the next day. The meeting ended with everyone headed off to rig up poles, select flies and get their last minute preparations together.

Saturday morning the dawn was met with fog and a slight breeze. Much warmer than last year, and as the light slowly came up the anglers started to launch. One by one they disappeared into the fog. The sun finally peeked over the horizon and the fishing was on. Within 30 minutes I got a text message of the first redfish of the day caught. A respectable 25" form Tommy "Too Busy" Samuels. As I paddled out to see if I could find a few fish and take some photos, I heard rumors of a 31" that was caught and I could hear people laughing and yelling back sizes of fish, " I got a 24 and a half!!" "Cool I got a 27", the banter back and forth was spooky at first as only voices could be heard and no one could be seen. I guess it is fitting for an October tournament. The sun crept higher and the fog lifted to reveal a beautifully lit up marsh bathed in golden light with pelicans and swallows flying around. Kayakers could be seen at every point of the compass. The sun burned off all the fog and revealed a beautiful day on the water. Bluebird skies and a slight breeze. We couldn't have asked for better. The day wore on and people started checking in their fish. All in all about 50 redfish were caught. All in all we had 30 Kayak Anglers fishing this tournament. I might add that was more than double of the IFA tournament in Georgetown a few weekends ago.

Our 1st Place winner was Phil Lowery with a 29.5” red who took home a 6’6” Med action HOW/TFO Casting Rod with reel, our 2nd Place winner was – John Chapman with a 28.5” red who took home a Shimano Scimitar rod and reel combo, our 3rd Place winner was Dave Jaskiewicz with a 28” red and he won the Z-Man Prize pack full of some new soft plastic baits and ChatterBaits. For our Fly Fishing division 1st Place went to Justin Carter with a 21” red and he took home a Custom Made 8wt fly rod as the only person to turn in a scoreable redfish on the fly.

I did just find out that in addition to the above prizes Phil will also receive a 2011 BassPass Elite, worth $200 and a $75 gift card to the Kayak bass Fishing Shop, John will also receive a BassPass Premium worth $150 and Dave will receive a BassPass Standard worth $100 so they will be able to freely compete in the online challenges of www.kayakbassfishing.com. A BIG Thank You goes to the Founder and Head Dude in Charge of KBF, Chad Hoover, for throwing those in for our guys!!!

Our Splooshers Cup was won by Tim Jones who turned in the last of 5 skunks for the day. Tim wins the coveted Splooshers Cup which contains some new tackle and a Free 4-hour guided kayak fishing trip, from www.kayakfishsc.com so he can learn some pointers about catching redfish from a kayak. CONGRATULATIONS to all our Winners!!!

This year's tournament is in the books, a great time was had by all and the preparations for next year's tourney are in the works. A few changes to the format and location but I think we'll have even more fun and hopefully a few more anglers and sponsors! Keep you eyes peeled for upcoming Heroes n the Water events and hopefully a Springtime tourney. Thanks again to all our sponsors and partners who made this event a resounding success!!!

The Charleston  Angler was an awesome Host and Sponsor!!

1st Place Conventional Phil Lowery

2nd Place was won by John Chapman who was not available for the photo.

3rd Place was Dave Jaskiewicz

and 1st place Fly Division was Justin Carter

Thanks you also to Austin Pritchard who supplied the award photo as well as photos number 1, 2, 10 and 12 above. Thanks Bro!!



Redfishville Shoot out new Information...

Well wea re slowly securing more sponsors and adding more prizes and struff to the prize dungeon. I really want tot hank all of our partners and sponsors... We have set the Capts Meeting will be on October 8th, at the West Ashley Charlston Angler, 654 Saint Andrews Blvd. Charleston, SC 29407 .

We are starting at 7pm, the shop will be open for a little bit for last minute purchases and stuff then we'll have some food and beverages, do a raffle or two, go over the rules and questions and then have a few more beverages We are gonna try and wrap it up by 9pm.

We will be doing a Best Dang Tackle Box and BD Fly Box raffle. These work like this:

Donate one NEW lure to the tackle box or a fly purchased or tied to the fly box and get a raffle ticket. End of the evening we draw a winner and you win all the lures or flies donated. ( you can only win what you donate to. If you drop a lure in the box and a fly you will get 2 tickets and COULD win both but each will be a seperate drawing.)

I will have other items to raffle off and I am working on Capts Bags for each registered angler. If ya'll have any quuestions hit me here or at

heroesonthewatersc@yahoo.com

I have also added a few new sponsors to our links.. please check them out and send them some of your business as they are a big part of keeping us up and running.

Ken

The 2nd Annual Redfish Ville Shoot-Out

What: The 2nd Annual Redfish Ville Shoot-Out.  Full Rules will be available soon.

Where: Copahee Sound, near Charleston SC,  aka Redfishville

When: Capts meeting 8 October Location TBD , fishing 9 October first safe light til.. depends on tide... Most likely about 5PM, you can "weigh in" earlier if you want.  ALL FISH MUST BE WEIGHED IN BY 7PM.  Any later and they will not count.  Winners will be announced shortly after 7pm.

Who: anyone with a kayak

Why: to support and raise awareness and funds for the SC Chapter of Heroes on the Water

How Much: $40 entry fee with other raffles and door Prizes, BDTB and BDFB ( Best damn Tackle Box and BD Fly Box) This works by you donating a new lure of fly to the box, you get a raffle ticket for it.  At the end of the night we draw a winner and they win ALL the lures or flies donated. 

Divisions: There will be a Biggest Redfish, 1st, 2nd and 3rd place

Biggest Redfish OTF 1st, 2nd, 3rd place

Depending on the trout bite there may be a trout division if enough prizes are available.

and the much anticipated "Splooshers Cup" for the biggest trash fish. This will be a travelling trophy much like the stanley cup

__________________________________________________________________________
If we have enough anglers we will have other catergories but the prizes should be pretty nice.... I still have to secure a few but the Fly division has a BEAUTIFUL custom 8wt 2pc rod with the HOW logo on it...

Artificials, live and dead bait can be used and this is a CPR ( Catch, Photo and Release) tourney.

Heroes on the Water is a non-profit orginzation that takes injured war vets kayak fishing. Your support keeps our Heroes fishing.

We still need sponsors for prizes so if you or anyone you know would like to donate please have them contact me. The Charleston Angler and Time Out Sports have already pledged to support us and help us out again this year. A BIG thanks to them.

I can be reached here, or at nikonjedi@yahoo.com or heroesonthewatersc@yahoo.com

I know there is a lot of contraversy about live or dad bait at tourneys, well this ain't the IFA or JAX, so they are allowed. This is not a big money tourney, it's a chance to support our Heroes, get out and fish, have a great time and win a few prizes but most importantly it helps us raise funds so when we have Heroes that want to fish they pay for NOTHING. HOW foots the bill for everything an injured vet needs to come fish with us including hotel, travel, licenses, meals, tackle, rods and reels, bait etc. HOW's mission is to get them fishing and help them with their recovery and rehabilitaion by giving them the chance to relax and enjoy themselves doiing what we love and getting the same relaxation we do. Imagine what a day of kayak fishing can do for someone who has just undergone months of physical therapy for injuries from a combat zone, stuck in a hospital NOW we let them go fish , get some fresh air and RELAX... it is priceless... The Main HOW web site is

www.heroesonthewater.org

Any support anyne can extend will keep our Heroes fishing.   if you are on facebook...

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=142323362444473

Welcome

Welcome to the "official" website/blog of the SC Chapter of Heroes on the Water.  This is a new place to post information and photoso of our Heroes fishing and as an information booth for anyone interested in support or fishing wiht HOW in South Carolina.   As the Chapter Coordinator for the SC CHapter I can be reached here or at   heroesonthewatersc@yahoo.com   Please look to the right and check out our Partners and Sponsors and shop with them as they are a big part of helping us take care of our Heroes.  About the entire orginzation....

Based in Texas, Heroes on the Water serves all military personnel who have been wounded, injured or disabled while serving on active duty, in the reserves or national guard.


The primary goal of the program is to assist these injured service members with their physical and mental recovery by introducing them to the therapeutic qualities of fishing from kayaks. The program allows the participants a chance to decompress from the stresses associated with combat and the physical rigors of rehabilitation. Participants enjoy these benefits while on guided fishing trips held at various locations around the country.

Originally developed for patients at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) on Fort Sam Houston, the program quickly expanded to Darnall Army Medical Center on Fort Hood, TX. Now, due to the programs unparalleled success, we are currently expanding operations to Madigan AMC on Fort Lewis, WA, Portsmouth Naval Hospital, VA, Ft Bragg, NC, Camp Lejeune, NC, Charleston AFB, SC, Tampa, FL, Jacksonville, FL, Great Lakes, Central California, Northern California, Houston, TX, Dallas-Ft Worth, TX, Austin, TX, Corpus Christi, TX, Rhode Island, Kansas, Knoxville, TN, and the new chapters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, Missouri, and the Emerald Coast - Alabama/Florida panhandle.

The program provides basic kayak fishing instruction, angling clinics and paddling classes for participants with skill sets ranging from beginners to the most experienced paddlers. The program also assists these personnel in adapting these newly developed skills to their new abilities. Adaptive kayaks, kayaking accessories and angling equipment will be offered on an as needed basis to accomodate a soldiers particular needs.

All kayaks, pfd's, paddles, fishing gear, meals and transportation are provided free of charge to every participant. Our volunteer staff and program coordinators consist of professional educators, counselors, licensed fishing guides, wildlife and aquatic biologists, active duty military, and experienced kayak fishermen, all of whom donate their time and expertise in support of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that we serve.

All Heroes on the Water activities are 100% dependent on your tax deductible financial donations, as directed in the provisions of Section 501(c)3 of the IRS code. We are actively seeking donations of both cash and materials to fund this program, plus we're always looking for licensed guides, property managers and camp supervisors who would like to donate the use of their facilities for our trips. If you are interested in contributing or becoming a volunteer, please send your questions to Jim@KayakAnglersSA.org for more information.