IB Hooked - Aug. 8, 2007

My oh my what a weekend with lots of pretty boats around the Sandspit.
Papa Ben and the Mechanical Men continued to play the alpha males of the
pack fishin‚ the Hoover/Diane, them boys have won a Poco and now two Glenn
& Linda Putnam Memorial perpetuals. The first Putnam Trophy was first won
by Chuck Bennett back 1996 aboard Heldter-Skeldter, Papa Ben and his gang
of politicos took it in 1997 with a big ass mako and three blues released
on Camels Head. The trophy is named for two mighty fine folks that have
passed on, it‚s one of Kent Ullberg‚s better sculptures and considered the
prestige award of TIFT‚s offshore division since it‚s awarded to the top
boat in the tournament he has now won it back to back. A surreptitious
shot of Papa Ben accepting it hopefully appears on this page.

Another big winner was Doug Dunkin fishin‚ with Bryan Ray aboard Master
Plan, they got‚em a 58.5 pound sail that finally got a Dunkin name on a
perpetual cuz up to this point all they did was bankin‚ and hostin‚
corporate retreats at the infamous Dunkin Lodge on the ditch. A shot of
him and his buddy Mitch Hideyohammer my appear on this page complainin‚
about a tab at the Coral Reef where they did some semi-serious celebratin‚
before the screechers or ululators cranked up. Got lots of good stories
from this years TIFT unfortunately most ain‚t fit to print in a family rag
like this but shock of shocks, ran into Spinner Kim Summers whom I hadn‚t
laid eyes on since she slung suds at Dolphin Cove a decade ago. She and
Erik now have a whirling dervish by the name of Betty but she also snagged
a Larry Haines painting for the biggest Texas Speed Perch. Speakin‚ of
dolphins, fortunately for Canadian Bob NOAA Fisheries Enforcement weren‚t
around when the snowback cut up a couple of dorado at the dock. He
recovered nine Kemp‚s Ridley critters in various stages of decomposition,
cute l‚il devils about two inches in diameter.

This weekend we got the LKT and I got a special message from Murray the
mullet and his brethren, welcome back ladies they‚re lookin‚ forward to
this years version of moons over the Laguna Madre.