Duke of Fluke 2017, a shirt, some dinner, and a band, by Alexi

   "If I keep trying, chances are I'll win by the time I'm 70"  I said to myself at the start of the day.  I hadn't gotten much sleep, and wasn't really sure I was going until I went.  In the truck,  I spilled my coffee before I even had a sip.  I thought I had to be there by 7, but really 7:30 would have been fine.  I had brought some killies along with me, and bought more at Sterling Harbor.  I had everything else I needed.  (pre-tied dropper loop leaders, bucktails, some gulp in varying stages of decay, one fresh pack of gulp swimming mullet (small)  and all the other junk I always drag out with me including the kitchen sink.)

truck life

   The kayak division for this tournament is weird.  The calcutta is OK, an extra 25 dollars goes to the biggest fish, I think there was about 800$ in the pool, and there is a nice trophy.  But really it's about the food and the beer and the T-shirt.

  Now to the fishing and the plan.   I decided to go a different way than last year, same launch, different area.  I wanted to maximize my fishing time, so I just drifted with the incoming tide.

n. wildwood/ grassy sound area

Instead of going down towards Jenkins Channel, I went towards Grassy Sound and under the big bridge.  I didn't start catching Fluke until I was on the other side of the bridge.  Then it was non-stop 12-16" fish.

a million of these little guys

   I was getting really tired, the tide was switching, and I was really not expecting to catch a keeper.  I decided to switch tactics, so I put on a bucktail with gulp, and a gulp on a hook on the dropper.  Because it was near slack I was casting it up drift and jigging it back, along the sod banks.  Not long after this switch in tactics I had a few shorts, and then a nice 19 to 20" fish.  I didn't think it would win, but maybe it would be a runner up for third place or something.

I continued to fish back to my truck, got caught in a storm, and made it back to Sterling Harbor by 4 for weigh-ins.

could have been dinner, but instead it's science

I wasn't sure that I was in the running, and one thing I wish they did was to have a leaderboard up, but anyway, by 5 I glanced at the sheet, and thought, maybe I should weigh it in.  It was 2.9lbs.   Then I realized they were taking my fish for science.    

the tournament scene

Team Dan Schafer got this little blue:

not a fluke

So by the end of the night I was completely delirious with exhaustion AGAIN.   Everything seemed to really drag out forever between 5 and 8.  I should have taken a nap, but I didn't.  Instead I drank cheap (free) beer.  In the end, all I got was No fish, No 3rd place.  Just a shirt, some dinner, and a band.

the end

addendum: 

Sometimes I really hate tournaments. I come away with a very negative feeling.  I feel like I would have rather just fished, and not had to deal with the competitive element.  And then I think, 'would I have even fished that day if there was no tournament?' and 'Would I have fished as hard?'  Who knows?  I did meet some nice folks this time, which was a good thing.  But really, I can do that just fishing.