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Smaller-than-expected weigh-in at
tourney
Published November 12, 2006 Saturday afternoon I visited the
weigh-in area for the Brandon Backe Fishing Tournament,
which was still in progress. Not surprising to anyone,
the weather handicapped results. The leader board
reflected smaller-than-expected flounder, and the other
categories of fish were a bit lighter than last year as
well.
While mingling around, I had the pleasure
of visiting with Brandon Backe, sponsor of the
tournament, and enjoyed a short conversation with him.
Brandon’s father, Harold, had an integral part in the
tournament and was busy getting the awards ceremony set
up. Official results of the tournament can be found on
the front of the sports section.
The tournament
afforded me the opportunity to chat with some
interesting anglers, who, like me, were watching for a
big “saddle blanket” to arrive at the weigh-in. Among
the serious fishermen in the crowd were Vincent Rinando
and his fishing partner Robert Harvey. At the time,
Rinando’s stringer was in the lead. Vincent fishes the
San Luis Pass area, and the two anglers caught their
fish wading the shallower waters near the Pass. During
our conversation, I commented on the ill effects of the
weather on the tournament, and Vincent had a good reply
to that comment: “If you wait on the weather around
here, you’ll never get out.” With those words of wisdom,
let’s take a look at where the fish came
from.
Based on my survey of several participants,
it appears that fish were brought in from all around the
Galveston Bay Complex, from the San Luis Pass area to
Trinity Bay. A number of nice specks were caught in
Trinity Bay, from the area around some Exxon Wells. Reds
were generally caught in the shallower waters from all
over, and I was not able to get a grip on where the
flounder action took place.
Saturday’s beachfront
pier reports indicated slow action, with a few bull
reds, croaker, whiting and sand trout making it to the
decks.
With the lack of other reports, let’s take
this opportunity to hit some trivia. How about
discussing the origin of the word knot? The knot is used
as a measure of speed and originated back in the 15th or
16th century. Obviously, ships did not have speedometers
back then, and the criteria for determining speed was
releasing a long line with a water-filled bucket
tied-on, and knots tied at set intervals. I do not have
information as to the exact distance between knots. By
counting the number of knots that went out in a specific
time period, the speed of the vessel could be
determined. Today, when you hear that a boat is
traveling or the wind is blowing at 10 knots, that
translates into about 11.5 miles per hour.
Let’s
hope to hear more fishing reports today and “knot” more
gusty winds.
To get your catch in the Reel
Report, phone Capt. Joe Kent at 409-683-5273 or send an
e-mail to reel.report(at)galvnews.com. There’s no charge
for this service.
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