Redbone Celebrity Tournament Series
Redbone ~ Celebrating the Adventurous Lifestyle

2014 Golden Isles Red*Trout Celebrity Classic

From the standpoint of angling, it would be hard not to place the Rich Products Corporation Golden Isles Red-Trout Celebrity Classic in the top echelon of Redbone Series tournaments. Year after year the fishermen have caught and released staggering numbers of redfish and seatrout in this event.

A "bad" year in this competition on the Georgia coast yields in excess of 400 fish. Several editions of the event have broken the 1,000-fish mark. The bottom line is, a lot of fish are taken in this tournament.

The 13th annual Golden Isles tourney was no exception. By the time lines were out of the water on Saturday, the brine around Cumberland, Jekyll and St. Simons Islands had given up 393 seatrout and 249 redfish during the 32-boat event.

It also seems as though the anglers in this tournament are not satisfied with simply setting records for fish caught. The 2014 competition also reached a new mark for funds raised in the Rich Products sponsored event. The final tally showed over $120,000 added to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation coffer to “Catch the Cure” for CF.

Day one of the fishing got off to a blistering pace. Leading the way was the team of Teddy Elrod and Brian Harmon fishing with Capt. Rob Aldridge. Between them the anglers boated 30 redfish and 21 trout for a total of 4,950 points. Elrod also claimed the Top Rod Day One honors with his 2,700 individual points.

The nearest team to the leaders was in the boat of Capt. Bobby Burgess, where John Charles Campbell and Bill Gowen registered 2,800 points for 36 trout and 3 redfish.

Day two saw Elrod and Harmon slacken their pace with just 18 trout and 12 redfish. However, the balanced catch piled up a lot of slam points that stretched their lead. At lines out they had 11,650 points for a runaway Team Grand Champion victory, as Capt. Aldridge’s angling duo claimed six of the 17 awards up for grabs.

Elrod had the Most Redfish Releases, won the Artificial Lure Division and Grand Champion Angler title to go with his Day One Top Rod. Meanwhile, Harmon was the Runner-Up Grand Champion Angler.

The team of Campbell and Gowen with Capt. Burgess came on strong during day two with 32 trout and 13 redfish to run their total to 7,600 points and claim the Runner-Up Team Grand Champion award. Bill Gowen had the Most Trout Releases and won the General (Bait) Division, while John Charles Campbell was Top Rod Day Two honoree.

Other winners were Amanda Willadsen for the Biggest Trout. She brought her 20-inch fish to the boat of Capt. David Edens. The Biggest Redfish was hooked by Polly Dean while fishing with Capt. Mike Evans. That 46 1/2-inch monster was the largest red ever taken in the history of the Golden Isles tournaments.

Winner of the Fly Division was 2014 CF Ambassador William Collier. The 13-year-old angler brought 10 redfish to the gunnel of Capt. Scott Wagner’s flats boat. The Grand Champion Lady Angler was Diane Rousakis, fishing with Capt. Charles Griffis. Claiming the Grand Champion Celebrity Angler title was outdoor journalist Polly Dean in Capt. Mike Evans’ boat.

For more information on the tournament, contact Amanda Gilbert at agilbert@cff.org or 404-325-6973.

Polly Dean fishing with Capt. Mike Evens with the largest redfish ever caught in the tournament.