REEL LIFE FISHING TEAM

For the first time, Captain Hugh Kesler volunteered his boat and time to fish the 1st Annual Wounded Warriors Tournament at Ft. McAllister Marina in Richmond Hill, Georgia.  Joining him were crew Brandon Howard, who’s fished some this year, and Hugh’s Father-in-Law, Archie Bauer, a Veteran of over 35 years served!  The Tournament Committee matched Soldiers with Captains and most boats carried at least 2 wounded soldiers inshore and offshore fishing.  Team Reel Life carried their team offshore about 20 miles for a wonderful experience on both ends…an experience they will never forget!!!  As admirable and appreciative as we are for our Military and what they do, the graciousness and thanks they offered to us was a real tear-jerker!  It was definitely a day to remember and a tournament we will be forever committed to, year after year!!!

In early August, we fished the Golden Isles Kingfish Classic!  What an awesome two-day venture on the calmest seas we’ve ever seen!  The first day was great weighing in two nice king!  The second day…even better!  You know it’s a great day when you arrive at your location and bam, bam, bam!!!  From start to stop, we were on the fish all day long!  And good fish, king and all!  We never even had lunch until we were gettin’ ready to head back in!  Once again, Papa’s Hole was where it was at!  We returned that afternoon for the weigh-in, weighing in two more nice king!  They were not the size we needed to place, but they were big enough to secure our points and advance us to Nationals!  What a joy it was seeing some of our good buddies take home prize money…Double Jay took the Triple Threat Award…Speedgoat placed in their class and won in Lady Anglers….and Monster Energy placed as well!  Congratulations to you all!

There’s nothing better than knowing you’re gonna weigh in a fish, even if it’s not the ‘big one’!  This past weekend we fished the Capt. Hap’s Kingfish Bash on the Bluff in Darien, Georgia and had a great day, weighing in a 20.36 lb. kingfish!  After the weightless trip to St. Mary’s, Team Reel Life began studying the seas, talking to other fisherman, and making a plan…a plan that turned out good!  Hugh Kesler, Jr. (father of Captain for Team Reel Life) was an avid angler in his day and having fished many tournaments his own self, he had some old numbers and they had been passed on to us!  We found a U.S.C.G. conversion program (converting Loran numbers to Longitutde and Latitude) and began plotting.  We decided we would go with the numbers that were noted “2nd place king tourn.”.  With extra gas and a ride to about 50 miles offshore, this was where it was at…”Papa’s Hole”…Bait-Man named it!  The king were hungry and so were we!  We reeled in two nice ones and as the day ended, we headed back to shore.  Team Reel Life place 2nd in the 23′ and under class and 3rd in the Kingfish Calcutta and Tyler Kesler placed 1st in the SKA Junior Anglers, making him 1st place in the SKA Division 4 overall seat right now and Team Reel Life 6th place in the SKA Division 4 overall seat.  This was an extra special trip as the Captain’s Uncle, Greg Waters, was able to fish with us for the first time!  Way to go Team Reel Life!!!

“They said the seas were bad…they never said the fish weren’t biting!”

     Spending 2 days in St. Mary’s was a blast!  It was a mini vacation for all team members!  Friday was a rough day and those that fished all agreed…it was rough!!!  Saturday was expected to be the same.  With a choppy ride out and an overcast sky, the day began grim.  It didn’t get any better once we realized the bait was nowhere to be found!  So off we go…lines in the water…no fish…an hour later…no fish, not even a bite!  The team made the decision to head to another spot…no fish!  As the day drew to an end, we loaded up and headed back to shore, straight into a severe thunderstorm.  We stopped in the channel and geared up in our rain-suits to embrace the pins and needles that came flying at us!  Besides the beanbag investments, those rain-suits sure did come in handy!  At the sight of the dock, we all agreed “a bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work!”  Better luck next time and at least we all had fun!

Tyler Kesler weighing in at 3rd Place!

Congratulations to our Junior Angler, Tyler Kesler, who finished 3rd in the Two-Way Sportfishing Club’s 25th Annual Kingfish Tournament.  This was the Team’s first SKA tournament of the year.  Team Reel Life placed 10th overall in the 23′ and under class!  It was a great day fishing, with good seas, good bait, and good fish!  View our photo gallery for more pictures and visit the SKA website at www.fishska.com to view more photos from this tournament!