Ruff Rider Live Report - Salmon Slam - 2014 Aug 1-3

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Nice fish guys! All of u! So do we think we know where they are for tomorrow?

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Fish are out there! Some worked 100fow, some 200fow, and others 600fow.

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A glimpse into tomorrow's Salmon Slam prize tent...

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Let's go fishin... with a little help from some friends!

Let's get these Vets on some fish boys!!!

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310 dipsey goin!

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Team Mudflat took a nice one!

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Small laker tossed back

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250 dipsey rippin with the ITO SBHW salmon slam fly!

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Dropped it. Took a shot on an nbk 80 rigger too.

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Back at home base, the trophy and prize tables are being setup!

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90 rigger goin

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Our first Atlantic in years!

Edited August 2, 2014 by Ruff Rider

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90 rigger SCREAMIN!

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Nice king! 110 rigger going now.

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Monster steelie on green dolphin!

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With 15 mins to go, even Tavion is calling for a fish to hit!

[leadhead]

Scottie watching the scotty?

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[bout time]

Nick/Theresa

Just wanted to say what an absolutely wonderful job you both did again this year. Everything was great and the event ran smooth. As you know this event holds a special place in my heart with my dad being a vet and watching him exchange stories and just hanging with the other vets. Fishing regardless how good or bad it was did not matter everyone I talked to had a great time and can't wait to do it next year. Thanks again for everything you both have done and please know from the bottom of my heart and many more it was truly appreciated

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

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Close! Schnauzer watching for schalmon

Full write up on the tourney tomorrow!

Grand Prize : SoSaarie

1st Place King: Appleboy

1st Place Steelhead: SoSaarie

1st Place Brown: Reel Outlaw

Biggest fish on ITO SBHW fly: Stress Reliever

[ryonybony]

Thanks again Nick for putting on a great tournament. It was a lot of fun and the vets seemed to have a great time. Keep it up...looking forward to next year already!

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Close! Schnauzer watching for schalmon

Full write up on the tourney tomorrow!

Grand Prize : SoSaarie

1st Place King: Appleboy

1st Place Steelhead: SoSaarie

1st Place Brown: Reel Outlaw

Biggest fish on ITO SBHW fly: Stress Reliever

Sorry going to be a bit longer on the write up.... post tournament duties and work travel arent giving me much free time!

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Thanks again Nick for putting on a great tournament. It was a lot of fun and the vets seemed to have a great time. Keep it up...looking forward to next year already!

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Thanks Ryan, but this tournament couldnt happen without volunteers like you!

[flyak]

Uv gator green fly

Did you steal that schoolboy outfit from Angus of ACDC?

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Haha I was cold so I tossed a sweatshirt on.. I never realized how stylish it looked lol

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2014 Aug 1

On Friday, August 1^st 2014, twenty-two teams participated in our Big Fish Friday (BFF) 50/50 event to benefit the Sodus Bay Healing Waters Salmon Slam tournament that would be held the following day.  The BFF event cost $50 per boat and the team that caught the largest salmon or trout would walk away with 50% of the entry fees, while the other 50% would go towards supporting the Salmon Slam event on Saturday.

 

 

 

At 6am, we left the dock on the Ruff Rider team and were greeted with a flat calm lake and sunny skies.  We were catching salmon and steelhead pretty consistently, but struggled to find any of the big bruisers we were looking for.  We managed to pull in one mid-teens king on a Dreamweaver gator spin doctor pulling a green ITO fly over 140 feet of water.  Our fish was good enough for 4^th place.

 

 

Team Predator took an early lead with a 21lb Chinook Salmon.

 

 

Team Fishin Magician then took a commanding lead with their 24.5lb Chinook Salmon and we thought we may have found our winner.

 

 

However, Team Roll With It was able to beat Fishin Magician’s catch of the day.  Roll With It squeaked out a narrow win with a 24.8lb Chinook Salmon and went home with the $550 prize!

 

 

The Big Fish Friday event was followed by our Salmon Slam Dinner.  The dinner is a chance for our boat Captains to meet some of the Veterans, Servicemen, and Project Healing Waters Coordinators that they will be fishing with the following day.  This year’s dinner was held at Abe’s Waterfront in Sodus Point, NY.

 

 

 

Over 62 in total, Captains and their families, Veterans, and Volunteers, joined us for prime rib, chicken french, and all of the fixings.  After dinner, the Veterans were able to walk across the street to the Sodus Point Lodge where they would spend the night in anticipation for the Salmon Slam tournament in the morning.

 

8/2/2014 Salmon Slam

We awoke in the morning and began to prepare for the Salmon Slam tournament.  The Veterans and Captains were registered and each received a gift bag containing items donated by our many generous sponsors.  Within each gift bag there was also one special fly.  It was an ITO SBHW Salmon Slam fly and each boat received an identical copy.  The biggest fish caught on this fly during the tournament would win a special prize.

The Veterans joined their Captains and boarded the boats.  Everyone gathered in the bay, where to their surprise, the Sodus Point Coast Guard, Sodus Point Sherriff, Sodus Point Fire, and North Rose Fire boats were waiting to provide an honorary escort out to the lake!

It was a stunning morning, with the type of hazy sunrise that can only be seen over Sodus Bay.  We lined up behind the escort boats and all 25 tournament boats began to head through the bay towards the lake.

 

 

Once we were through the pier heads, the escort boats peeled off to each side and the tournament boats took off at full speed to seek our their fishing areas.

 

 

Teams began setting their lines and it didn’t take very long for the first of many fish to start coming aboard!

 

 

The VHF radio came alive with boats calling out to other boats that they were catching fish:  where, how deep, and on what lures.  You see, the Salmon Slam isn’t like many other tournaments where communication is shunned and fish catching secrets are held between tight lips… the Captains in the Salmon Slam understand this tournament is about teamwork and getting our Veterans hooked into some fish!

 

 

 

Excited calls on the radio came out with teams catching Chinook Salmon, Brown Trout, Steelhead Trout, Lake Trout, and even a rare Atlantic Salmon came aboard the Ruff Rider boat!

 

 

The Ruff Rider team also picked up one stowaway, which sneaked aboard on the side of a Chinook Salmon… a lamprey!

 

 

Dave’s Chinook Salmon aboard Team Ruff Rider was big enough for a 4^th place finish.

 

 

Team Green Dolphin’s Veteran is shown holding one of the beautiful Steelhead Trout he boated.

 

 

After a fun day of fishing, on a flat as glass lake, the tournament teams returned to port for the weigh-in ceremony.

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Back at dock, the teams lined up and began weighing their fish and crossing their fingers that their fish would be big enough to take home a trophy that day!

 

 

Our barbecue was also in full swing as the teams waited to weigh-in and the food donated by R.F.H’s Hide-A-ay restaurant was being gobbled up quickly by our hungry anglers.

 

Nearly every team managed to catch a few fish during the tournament and everyone was grinning from ear to ear while taking their team photos.

 

 

Team Stress Reliever boated the largest fish on the ITO SBHW Salmon Slam fly and took home a nice ProTroll dodger pack.

 

 

Team Reel Outlaw won 1^st Place Brown Trout for the second year in a row.

 

 

 

Team Apple Boy took 1^st Place Salmon

 

 

 

Our big winner, Team SoSaarie took 1^st place in the Steelhead division and also won the Grand Prize Tournament trophies with their 23lb Chinook salmon!

 

 

 

Once the trophies and top prizes were handed out, every Veteran and Captain was entered into prize drawings for the great donations many of our sponsors provided.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could not have asked for better weather this weekend and we certainly could not have had more worthy guests.  With over 100 fishermen, 30 Veterans, and countless volunteers, this year’s tournament more than doubled our inaugural event held just two years ago.  I’d like to personally thank everyone who has helped to make this event possible.  We could not do it without all of your support and generosity.  I hope to see many of you next year, so please mark your calendars for Saturday August 1^st, 2015 for our fourth annual Sodus Bay Healing Waters Salmon Slam!

 

 

Edited August 12, 2014 by Ruff Rider