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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
Anglers take home trophies, bragging rights
By Nathan Hague
The Baytown Sun Published November 12, 2009 Just call them fishing magicians.
Three fishermen – young and old alike – from the Baytown area monopolized the top spots in the sheepshead categories of the State of Texas Angler’s Rodeo and turned their hard work into nearly $100,000 of prizes.
All those hours on Trinity Bay finally paid off for 10-year old Matthew Moser of Baytown and 16-year old Nicholas Pantoja of Highlands, who landed the big sheepshead catches in the youth scholarship divisions of the summer-long contest put on by the Coastal Conservation Association and co-sponsored by Ford and Tilson Home Corporation.
Moser won the Starkids Scholarship Division for youngsters aged 6-10 and a $50,000 scholarship. His winning catch was a 9-pound sheepshead caught with live shrimp.
Pantoja won the Time Warner Cable Starteens Scholarship Inshore Division for youngsters aged 11-17 and a $20,000 scholarship with a 9-pound, 4-ounce catch.
David Martin, 35, a Baytown process operator, won a boat, motor and trailer worth about $18,000 for catching the biggest sheepshead – it weighed 10 pounds, 3 ounces – in the adult competition.
David Moser, Matthew’s dad, finished second in the adult competition with a 9-pound, 11-ounce catch. Martin’s son Kaleb, 8, finished second to Matthew Moser in the Starkids competition with a 9-pound catch.
Baytown fishers dominated the list of those weighing in sheepshead, bottom-feeders also known as “convict fish” and marked by vivid black and white bars, large sharp spines and jutting teeth used to graze barnacles and small shellfish, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Web site.
Taylor Kotlarz, 6, Camryn Kotlarz, 9, and Emmanuel Martinez, 10, all of Baytown, finished third, fourth and fifth behind Matthew Moser and Kaleb Martin in the Starkids sheepshead division.
Baytown’s Tyler Thomas, 17, finished second to Pantoja in the Starteens division and Steve Ocanas and William Ray, both of Baytown, finished third and fourth behind David Martin and David Moser in the adult contest.
Although the competition wrapped up on Labor Day, results were not declared final for several more weeks, pending polygraph tests for the winners, and awards were only recently presented.
Reeling in a 9-pound fish wasn’t easy for the younger Moser.
“It was like trying to pull in a truck that was trying to drive the other way,” Moser said. “But once I finally got it, it was worth it.”
His dad, David Moser, says the two of them went fishing at least once a week and Matthew had caught several big fish but not quite as big as the winner that day.
“Matthew is a good fisherman,” David said. “It was great to see him win. We were all proud of him.”
Even though the two of them had gone out a lot before that, Matthew said it was the first time to fish at that particular spot.
“That was our first time there. We saw some big fish, so we decided to try it there.”
Pantoja also used live shrimp to catch the winner.
He said he was at the spillway, on the water for about two hours before his big catch.
“I didn’t even know what a sheepshead was at first,” he said.
When the fish finally came, Pantoja said it wasn’t easy to reel in, but it wasn’t as hard as he had anticipated it would be.
“I thought it would suck at first, but it really wasn’t that bad.”
Pantoja’s dad, Tommy Pantoja, said the day his son made the winning catch was the first time in a long time the two of them had gone out together.
“Nick goes out all the time, but that was my first time to go fishing in about a year,” Tommy said. “We just so happened to take the boat out that Sunday morning before Nick caught the fish.”
David Martin said he and Kaleb spent many of his days off from work fishing the upper Trinity Bay together.
“We spent 10 to 15 days out there grinding away,” the father said. “My whole family loves to fish, but this was only the second year we entered the tournament.
“That day (when David Martin caught the tourney’s biggest sheepshead), Kaleb said he didn’t feel like going. I think he was worn out. He was playing two or three Little League baseball games a week and fishing three or four days a week.”
The Baytown Sun Published November 12, 2009 Just call them fishing magicians.
Three fishermen – young and old alike – from the Baytown area monopolized the top spots in the sheepshead categories of the State of Texas Angler’s Rodeo and turned their hard work into nearly $100,000 of prizes.
All those hours on Trinity Bay finally paid off for 10-year old Matthew Moser of Baytown and 16-year old Nicholas Pantoja of Highlands, who landed the big sheepshead catches in the youth scholarship divisions of the summer-long contest put on by the Coastal Conservation Association and co-sponsored by Ford and Tilson Home Corporation.
Moser won the Starkids Scholarship Division for youngsters aged 6-10 and a $50,000 scholarship. His winning catch was a 9-pound sheepshead caught with live shrimp.
Pantoja won the Time Warner Cable Starteens Scholarship Inshore Division for youngsters aged 11-17 and a $20,000 scholarship with a 9-pound, 4-ounce catch.
David Martin, 35, a Baytown process operator, won a boat, motor and trailer worth about $18,000 for catching the biggest sheepshead – it weighed 10 pounds, 3 ounces – in the adult competition.
David Moser, Matthew’s dad, finished second in the adult competition with a 9-pound, 11-ounce catch. Martin’s son Kaleb, 8, finished second to Matthew Moser in the Starkids competition with a 9-pound catch.
Baytown fishers dominated the list of those weighing in sheepshead, bottom-feeders also known as “convict fish” and marked by vivid black and white bars, large sharp spines and jutting teeth used to graze barnacles and small shellfish, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Web site.
Taylor Kotlarz, 6, Camryn Kotlarz, 9, and Emmanuel Martinez, 10, all of Baytown, finished third, fourth and fifth behind Matthew Moser and Kaleb Martin in the Starkids sheepshead division.
Baytown’s Tyler Thomas, 17, finished second to Pantoja in the Starteens division and Steve Ocanas and William Ray, both of Baytown, finished third and fourth behind David Martin and David Moser in the adult contest.
Although the competition wrapped up on Labor Day, results were not declared final for several more weeks, pending polygraph tests for the winners, and awards were only recently presented.
Reeling in a 9-pound fish wasn’t easy for the younger Moser.
“It was like trying to pull in a truck that was trying to drive the other way,” Moser said. “But once I finally got it, it was worth it.”
His dad, David Moser, says the two of them went fishing at least once a week and Matthew had caught several big fish but not quite as big as the winner that day.
“Matthew is a good fisherman,” David said. “It was great to see him win. We were all proud of him.”
Even though the two of them had gone out a lot before that, Matthew said it was the first time to fish at that particular spot.
“That was our first time there. We saw some big fish, so we decided to try it there.”
Pantoja also used live shrimp to catch the winner.
He said he was at the spillway, on the water for about two hours before his big catch.
“I didn’t even know what a sheepshead was at first,” he said.
When the fish finally came, Pantoja said it wasn’t easy to reel in, but it wasn’t as hard as he had anticipated it would be.
“I thought it would suck at first, but it really wasn’t that bad.”
Pantoja’s dad, Tommy Pantoja, said the day his son made the winning catch was the first time in a long time the two of them had gone out together.
“Nick goes out all the time, but that was my first time to go fishing in about a year,” Tommy said. “We just so happened to take the boat out that Sunday morning before Nick caught the fish.”
David Martin said he and Kaleb spent many of his days off from work fishing the upper Trinity Bay together.
“We spent 10 to 15 days out there grinding away,” the father said. “My whole family loves to fish, but this was only the second year we entered the tournament.
“That day (when David Martin caught the tourney’s biggest sheepshead), Kaleb said he didn’t feel like going. I think he was worn out. He was playing two or three Little League baseball games a week and fishing three or four days a week.”