Bragger’s Rights Fishing Contest
by Chuck Ehrhorn
The weekend of May 4 & 5 saw the 9th annual running of the Bragger’s Rights Fishing Tournament, held this year at Malaekahana State Park. For the second year in a row, this event was expanded to cover both Saturday and Sunday. An “easy” paddle out to “Goat Island” was held on Saturday followed by a nice evening of camping, eating and telling fish stories, enjoyed by fishing and non-fishing enthusiasts equally.
Sunday morning came with the usual diehards hitting the ocean early. The weather was sunny but with the usual “victory at sea” wind conditions of 20+ mph, although still not as bad as previous years.
The contest itself ran from 7:00am to 2:00 pm when the weigh-in occurred, followed by food and refreshments organized by Tim Sawyer and Lois.
Despite a terrific effort by those fishing, very few fish were caught compared to previous years.
This year’s bragger is Chuck Ehrhorn who landed a 2.7 lb papio . “I had been flogging the ocean all day and was just a couple of hundred yards from shore when the fish hit”. Persistence and patience sometimes pays off.
Special thanks go to Tim Sawyer who, as last year’s winner had the honor of organizing this year’s event. He did a magnum job of organizing, including getting camping permits, prizes, food (with Lois’ help) and setting the rules.
Next year the Bragger’s Rights fishing tournament will be run by Chuck Ehrhorn. He has dubbed Arlen Meline, avid fresh and salt water fisherman, as his assistant. Together they are looking for a new contest location which will be announced later. Others will also be “tapped” in recognition of the special skills that they bring to the fishing community.
MAY THE RIGHT TO BRAG CONTINUE!
Chuck Ehrhorn