Catching up, so much news, Gold Cup results,

I know it’s been a while since I updated these pages, but I’ve been fully immersed in the Gold Cup and consequently have had no time to update these pages. This will improve.

Prior to the tournament, I had a few great days fishing with John O’Hearn, then some time with Simon, then a last day with John and Ted Margo before my prefishing with Doug Kilpatrick began.

I’d like to begin this report by posting a serious hats-off to Thane Morgan and Captain Dustin Huff, who bested the competition after a tough three day start by catching three weight fish and several releases. Runners-up were Captain Jared Raskob and Mark Richens, followed by Captain Scott Collins and Greg Smith. Largest fish went to Captain Andy Thompson and Ned Johnson, with a 129 pounder caught on the first day.

As for our own fishing, I’m cautious to discuss the things that nearly happened: the point of a tournament, after all, is to separate clearly what could have been from what actually was. In our case, what we had for our scorecard was a weight fish on the first day (an 87 pounder) and a burned strap from a fish that came close to the 70-pound minimum. As such, that’s what we did, and any discussion about what we almost did detracts from what the people that beat us actually did.

On a related note, I’d like to congratulate Dustin Huff and Thane Morgan on an incredible victory. Those guys put out a serious effort on the last two days, and watching Dustin accept the perpetual trophy that bears his father’s name was a moment that I felt privileged to watch. I spoke to Steve after the awards ceremony, and listening to him talk about how proud he is of Dustin made me even happier for their victory.

Here’s a photo from one of our prefishing days, with John and Ted, which shows a fish that tried every trick in the book not to be caught:

I’m already looking forward to the Gold Cup next year, and I will be doing everything I can to give a good account of myself.

Regards,

n