Hold'em Hook Offshore Fishing Team Results   Enjoy the music. ____________________________________________________________ Kingfish Masters 3/ 2008 This weekend was the Kingfish Masters out of Miami. I had commitments on Saturday, so my teamate Marc, along with his wife Debbie and and Tom went out first. They caught several kings the biggest being 16+ lbs. My boys and I went out sunday to see it we could find a big'un. We fished hard, but the bite was slow. We did end up catching a few small kings and a keeper cobia. I also got to remove a hook from my boys finger. Pushed it through and cut the barb. He was a champ. Now they know what to do if it happens again. Ended up of the leader board, but went home to a nice cobia dinner and the boys are ready for the next one. ______________________________________________________ Ft. Myers King Fling 10/2007 It was boys day today. My son Colin and Greg's two boys headed out of Ft. Myers beach looking for kings. First spot we hit was 20 miles offshore and ended up getting covered up in cudas and caught a keeper Gag grouper. After an hour or so we headed back in to fish the beach. We found lots of action inside. Sharks, bonita, spanish and some kings. The action was steady and made some fun for the boys. At the Weighin, Colin ended up with 1st place junior and Chase with second place. It was a great day on the water. Always good to have lots of bites when the youngs ones are on board. ____________________________________________________________ St.Coleman Walk on Water 2007 Today, Louis "my good friend and sponsor"  www.bluemarlinchronicles.com headed out in search of wahoo, kingfish, dolphin, or tuna. This tournament is a rodeo style weighing 3 fish / species. We headed north of Hillsboro inlet and had our lines in at 7. However, we did not get our first hit for an hour. We ended up in a decent king bite and weeded through some smaller fish until we had some decent fish. Then we switched up and started targeting wahoo. We had a nice screeming run that I thought would be the one. After a few minutes, another 20 lb class kingfish come up, so we let him go. Headed back to the scales to see where we would end up. There was some impressive dolphin catches today by some of our competitors. We ended up taking third place overall and first place kingfish . Had a lot of fun today. The weather was beautiful and the fishing was good. __________________________________________________________ Ft.Pierce SKA July 07 This was a one day tournament. Today it was myself and long time fishing partner Greg. Our goal was to get our third fish for Div-10 and secure our qualification for Nationals. We started off South of St Lucie inlet and worked our way north during the day. During our first hour we had good action, however, our good fish "about 30 lbs." ended up getting eaten 10 minutes in and right under the boat. That put us behind where we wanted to be. We hit about three other spots and all produced fish, but too small. We went to one more artificial reef for the last hour and more little fish. I just called up my buddy fishing next to and told him we would not be weighing in. As we were pulling in our baits, our last rod goes off. Greg is on and I start chasing. About 10 minutes later we boat a decent points fish and we rush off to the scales. The bite was off that day and we ended up in tenth place. Never thought we would make the leader board, but that's fishing. ______________________________________________________________ Saltwater Slam-June 2007 It was my three boys and myself today. We had a decent bite in the morning, catching several kings, getting hits. Largest one just over 20lbs. We just missed placing in the PeeWee by 2 lbs. Boys all caught fish and had fun. I love it. ____________________________________________________________ Saltwater Shootout- May 2007 Today it was my 9 and 13 year old boys and myself. We were all looking forward to fishing this tournament. We started off in a decent king bite having 4 lines going off at once. About 30 minutes later we got a nice Blackfin which I lost at the boat. Ouch! The bite in our area shut off, so we moved 40 miles north for the afternoon. We caught about 8 kings, bonito, and missed some more. We ended up taking 3rd place in the pee wee for my 9 yr old. __________________________________________________________ Kingfish Masters SKA - March 2007 David, Mark, Steve and I teamed up for this event. Day one, we decided to make a big run south to find tha special fish. Once we set up, we found blue water with little current, and few kingfish. Day two, we fished our home waters, looking for a decent points fish for the division. We ended up finding a 27.9 lb kingfish and multiple dolphin. We just missed hitting on a couple calcuttas and ended up 16th out of 94. Even with the rough weather, this event pulled in 94 boats in its first year. The parties were great and we look forward to fishing it again next year. ________________________________________________ Hogs Breath SKA- Jan 2007 Marsad, my Dad "Walt" and myself were ready for the season opener. Day one we ran over 150 miles in seas up to 6 ft. but were not able to weigh a fish. Day two had a terrible forecast so we decided to fish close. About 11:00 our efforts paid off with a decent Kingfish weighing 44.95 lbs. This tournament produces many good fish. We were just able to stay in the money with a 14th place finish out of 164 boats. This was this first time my Dad fished a tournament with us. A good time was had by all. ____________________________________________________ Saltwater Showdown-August 2006 Our team has participated in this championship tournament 4 years in a row. Today it was my son Colin, Marsad and myself. The conditions were perfect. We led the pack to the grounds and in no time we were hooked up. Our main goal was to have Colin finish well in the PeeWee division. He spent a lot of time on the rod today. Our day went well. We were in a good kingfish bite and it did not take long for us to limit out. The bonus of the day was a 44.9 lb wahoo. We ended up winning 1st place PeeWee, 1st place wahoo and finishing 4th place overall. What a nice way to finish the summer season. Special congratulations go out to our friends on team PumkinEater who finished 1st place overall. ___________________________________________________________ Saltwater Slam-June 2006 Today was kids day. My son Colin 9 and our friend Jessica 11 were going to catch all the fish today. Carlos and I were going to be the crew. The day started out slow, but later in the day we found plenty of fish. Kingfish, Bonito, Barracuda, and Sailfish were caught today. Our Anglers did a great job. Colin ended up finishing 1st place Peewee and Jessica finished as the 5th place junior. What a great day on the water.    ____________________________________________________________________ Naples SKA- March 2006 Our hopes were high after winning the Marco Ska 2 weeks earlier and coming off a hot streak of placing in 3 consectutive SKA tournaments. But likes all streaks, ours came to a halt. The seas were large and we were not able to fish were we wanted. But we ended up in decent water as we were in a pack of five boats and saw the winning fish gaffed on day two. That's fishing. Gotta love it. _____________________________________________________________________ Marco Island King Fling- March 2006 This was are first Div-11 SKA event and Marc, Greg and I were excited to fish out of Cedar Bay Marina in Marco Island. We decided that we would run far if the weather allowed us to do so. As we cleared the Inlet, we were pleased to see favorable seas. We knew our first stop would be some 110+ miles away. About 2 hours after the Bimini start, we were the first boat to arive at our area. After 1 1/2 hours we had no bites, so we decided to try another nearby spot. Once again, another hour passed with no strikes. We had to make a decision to fish on the way back home or try another spot 20 miles further from the scales. We decided to run out further, even though it would make or run back tougher. 20 minutes after we set up we got a nice bite. We knew it was a king. The fight was longer than usual. I knew this would be our only chance of the day. After 35 minutes, Greg brought the fish up and Marc got the gaff shot. We packed up to make the 130 mile trek home. Our fish ended up weighing 39.9 just holding on to first place by a few tenths. This was the furthest we have ever run in one day and our first SKA win. Our Mercury powered 34 Fountain performed better than I could have imagined. What a ride. _______________________________________________________ Ft. Lauderdale Billfish- February 2006 This tournament, we fished aboard my teammate Greg's tournament rigged 35 SeaHunter. We won the one day slam last year and were looking to defend our title. Greg's wife Yolanda ended up catching 3 sails and we caught countless dolphin. We ended up with the third place sailfish and 2nd place funfish for our dolphin. As usual, I had a great time out on the water. _______________________________________________________ Hogs Breath-January 2006 This tournament usually consists of great fishing and rough weather. This year was no exception. Marc, Wally, Scott, and I traveled far both days looking for the big one. We never found that special fish, but we did find a 42.7 lber that landed us into 13th place out of a field of over 150 boats. ________________________________________________________ Sailfish Kickoff 2005 Today I fished aboard my teamate Greg's 35 Seahunter. Our goal this tournament was to go after lady angler with his wife Yolanda. Little did we know what we were going to experience. It turned out to be a record sailfish bite with over 400 fish caught in two days. The fishing was off the chart. I believe we ended up with 12 fish, just one short. So close. ________________________________________________________ Grouper Grab- August 2005 Today was new for the Holdemhook Team. First Grouper Tournament. The Grouper Grab out of Cape Coral, Florida. I fished with a great group of guys today. Rick, Scott, Mike, Wally, and I had a lot of fun. We caught fish all day. We did have some opportunities at some real nice fish as well.  This tournament was a blast and very well run. I look forward to fishing here again next year. ____________________________________________________ Saltwater Showdown- August 2005 This is a championship tournament that we have qualified for every year we have participated. Three years in a row. I have been happy to sponsor the Pee Wee and Junior divisions for the second year. The day started off well with a weigher king in the boat in the first 10 minutes. But then it quickly slowed for us. At the end of the day we found a decent school of fish, but it was not enough for us to place. ____________________________________________________ Redfish Tour- Ft. Myers Open-July 2005 Today I was invited to fish a Redfish tournament with my Brother Wally and his partner Scott. The target was two slot redfish. Needless to say, I was very inpressed with the homework these two did in finding the right fish. We ended up finishing 1st. place and had a great time on the water as well. Thanks. ____________________________________________________ Saltwater Shootout-June 2005 This tournament is out Pompano Beach Florida. We fished about 50 miles from the dock today. We caught 3 weigher kings that put us in 16th place out of 94 boats. ____________________________________________________ PBOA Dead Bait Battle- June 2005 This was the first tournament I fished with my three boys. Just the four of us. The day started out nice but the seas soon began to build. The boys were getting weary, but wanted to stay out a little longer to get a decent fish. On our last drift My oldest son Quin (11 years old) caught a nice king that would end up winning him top junior. Not bad for 2 hours of fishing. I had a blast fishing with my boys. _____________________________________________________ Stuart Kingfish Brawl - May 2005 Greg, Kevin, and myself went out searching for that last quality kingfish to qualify our team for Nationals. It was a sloppy start in 3-5 foot seas. But the Fountain ran great. We were leading the pack south to the grounds. Our first drift yielded several small kings and dolphin. But nothing big. So we reset to a different area. After a few minutes we were hooked up on a good fish, then a double. After 20 minutes, we saw the big one. Itr was the largest kingfish I have ever seen and for the first time is was nervous on the gaff. First shot got it and our fish came over. She weighed in at 56.7 lbs. which landed us in second place. What a great fish. _____________________________________________________________________ Ft. Lauderdale SKA - May 2005 Today I was the team photograper. My eight year old recieved his First Communion and he was very cute. I did make to the weigh in. It was nice to meet people and take photos. Mark, Greg, and Carlos went out searching for the big one. They caught Kings, Cobia, Blackfin, pulled the baits away from several sailfish. With 20 minutes left in the fishing day, they had a 30 lb class kingfish eaten by a shark 15 feet from the boat. Only ended up with a 15 lber. to weigh. But have a great story to tell. _________________________________________________________________________ April 23 2005 "Ft. Pierce SKA" This was our second tournament in Div-10. We fished about 40 miles south. Day 1 we caught 3 fish over 30 lbs. with our biggest being 36.82 lbs. Day 2 the bite shut off and we only caught fish in the teens. The team and boat performed great. We finished about 20th out of 170 boats. __________________________________________________________________________ February 2004 " Hogs Breath- Key West SKA" This is the first tournament of the Division 10 SKA schedule. The tournament was held at Murry Marina. We ran about 55 miles to fish and we caught kings solid for two days. We did not place, but we did get a 31 lber. which is a decent points fish. A few more of those and hopefully we will be off to Biloxi. __________________________________________________________________________ January 2004 " PBOA Sailfish Tournament" We went out looking for sails and kings. We unded up catching about 10 kings, but no sails showed up for us. The bite was off. Nearly 80% of the boats had no sails. We did catch the 3rd largest king. I like to congratulate my friend Randy who tied 1st. place with 2 sails. Nice job. _________________________________________________________________ December 2004 " Sailfish Challenge" Today our team consisted of Billy, Brad, Liz, and Myself. Our goal today was lady angler. We set up in a hot area with sails being caught aroun us. The day started off well with Liz catching a sail on our second drift. Two drifts later, she gets another one, but Billy is hooked up also and his fish running the other way. We decided to chase Liz's fish, but he was not cooperating. Billy's fish gets cut off by a passing boat just before we released Liz's fish. Unfortunately, that was our last sail hit of the day as bite shut off. We ended up missing the the lady angler by one fish. Liz was soooo close and she did a great job fighting her fish. Next time! ___________________________________________________________________ November 2004 " Ft. Lauderdale Billfish" I was invited to fish aboard Keep'in it Reel. A tournament rigged 25 contender. We fished the One day slam. The sailfish bite for this tournament was non-existant. We ran to an area that has been holding fish, but no sails. We were cacthing a few kings.  With 1 1/2 hours left, we hook up and Eric is on the rod with a hot sail. He notices a follower and Greg hooks up. I clear the deck and we chase the fish. After about 15 minutes, we release both fish cleanly. Those 2 fish were enough to put Keeping it Reel in 1st place and our kingfish also took largest king. I'd like to thank Greg for inviting me to fish. Eric and I had a great time. ____________________________________________________________________ October 2004 " Pompano Beach Offshore Angler's Fall Fish Off" The fishing was decent today and the seas were a little rough.  We caught dolphin, kingfish, cudas and others. Had a couple nice wahoo bites as well. We ended the day being good enough for the 2nd overall boat and 1st place kingfish. _______________________________________________________________________ August 2004 " Saltwater Showdown" The Mercury/Seavee Saltwater Showdown is a championship tournament featuring the best teams from South Florida. It has a high level of competition. Our team finished 12th with an aggregate weight of 72 lbs. of kingfish just missing the top ten. The fishing was good for us most of the day with quality kingfish caught on our first four drifts. I would like to thank the tournament director Jamie Bunn for another fine season. I look forward to participating in the Pompano Beach Saltwater Circuit again next summer. _______________________________________________________________________ July 2004 " Walk on Water" Today the day started off beautiful. Good weather and friends going out for a day off fishing. We started off catching some small kings, but not what we were looking for. After recieving a tip, we decided to run, making us the furthest boat from the dock. With 45 minutes left of fishing time, we finally found a school of decent size kings. We caught our tournament limit and hurried back to the scales. As luck would have it, we had to run through two squalls on the way back. The crew and the boat were great. We ended up 2nd overall and 1st place calcutta. But, the big winner was the special olympics of Broward County. They received a check for around five thousand dollars. ________________________________________________________________________ July 2004 " Saltwater Shootout" The team put forth a good effort. We ran far and had some chances at some decent fish. We brought several Dolphin and Kings to the scales, but not enough to place.  _____________________________________________________________________ June 2004 "Saltwater Slam" This was the first tournament that my 7 yr. old Colin decided to fish with us. This turned out to be good furtune. The boat did not weigh enough to place overall, but Colin did come in 4 th place PeeWee bringing home his first plaque and gift certificate. Congratulations Colin! March 19, 2004- "Ft.Myers SKA" The Hold'em Hook fishing team fished aboard the MIS Max during the Ft. Myers SKA. The Mis Max is a custom rigged 34 Sea Vee. We caught 4 weigher kings during the tournament with our largest king being 27.12 lbs which was good enough for 24th place. I would like to personally thank Steve for the invitation to fish on his boat during the tournament. We had a great time. ___________________________________________________________ February 2004 " Mayors Cup" The Mayors Cup was held at the Miamimarina. This is a two day sailfish tournament. Our team was placed in the Pro division due to past performance in other tournaments.We went 1/1 on sailfish during the event which "believe it or not" put ahead of 25% of the pro boats and almost half of the amatuer boats. The conditions were slow for this time of year with no bite to speak of. The winner was Bouncer's Dusky with 5 fish. _____________________________________________________________ October 2003 "Darkside of the Moon" Tonight we had an unpecidented 8 swordfish bites. What a night! We never went more than 30-45 minutes without a knockdown. This tournament is a weigh tournament with a higher than legal minimum. Which I am in favor of. All of our fish were small with the exception of one than we fought for 50 minutes. This fish would could have been a money fish. We got a good look at him at the boat before he came off. _____________________________________________________________ August 9 2003 "Saltwater Showdown" My goal over the summer was to qualify for this tournament, which we did. This tournament is invitation only and features most of the best teams and boats around.  We were fishing in a great area and had lots of bites. Sailfish, kingfish, amberjack, wahoo, and the ever present bonita. However, most of our kings were too small and we lost a wahoo 15 feet from the boat. We had a good summer overall,  and I can't wait for the next one. That's fishing. _____________________________________________________________ July 12 2003 "Saltwater Shootout" The pressure was on. We needed to finish in the top 30 teams to qualify for the Saltwater Showdown fish off. On our second drift we caught a nice Blackfin tuna. After this we decided to stay in this area the rest of the day. It paid off. We ended up catching 2 Blackfin Tuna and 2 Kingfish to weigh in. We placed 9th overall and qualified for the finals. ______________________________________________________________ May 31 2003 "Saltwater Slam" This was our second tournament of the season and hopes were high. This changed quickly as we lost most of our bait early in the day in the baitwell. We did not recover after that and had no fish to weigh in. ___________________________________________________________________ May 2003 "The Bodine"  We fished the Bodine tournament out of Hillsboro inlet. We caught many fish including Sailfish, bonita, sharks, barracuda, dolphin and kingfish. However, only the two kingfish could weigh in and we did not place.