Striper Bowl Results: 

 

2008 StriperBowl

 

The 9^Th Annual TSBA StriperBowl was held Saturday, April 26, on Norris reservoir and Janine Johnson won the event with a total, two-fish weight of 24 pounds and 5 ounces.  Therefore, her name will be added to the coveted, traveling trophy which she will be able to display to her friends until next year’s StriperBowl.  A total of 15 anglers participated in this year’s event and five of them weighed in fish as shown below.  Other members caught stripers, but they did not weigh them in as they were not in contention for either the Big Fish money or the trophy.

 

Name                           First Fish      Second Fish      Total

Janine Johnson              16 lb 12 oz         7 lb 9 oz         24 lb 5 oz

Gary Harris                    12 lb 8 oz         10 lb 9 oz         23 lb 1 oz

Adam Bryant                 13 lb 11 oz         7 lb 3 oz         20 lb 14 oz

Doug Steffe                   13 lb 11 oz                                 13 lb 11 oz

Bob Rhea                      9 lb 8 oz                                 9 lb 8 oz

 

For 2008, the StriperBowl was changed to an afternoon event on Norris and the launch and weigh-in site was the free boat ramp just North of the 33 bridge.  The starting time was 3 PM with a weigh-in at 8:30 PM.  While most participants launched from this site, Janine and her fishing partner, Bob Leach, trailered to another location where they have had some recent success.  They had identified a total of three different spots in this general area to try.  At first, things weren’t going very well as it was a couple of hours into the tournament before their first line went down.  Things got real exciting as this fish refused to get close to the boat.  When it finally showed itself, they just held their breath hoping that it would not get off.  Finally, the almost 17 pound striper was safely in the boat and in the livewell.  Both Janine and Bob were glad that Janine entered the voluntary “Big Fish” contest as they were fairly sure this fish would win based upon what they had been catching in the last few weeks.  The task at hand now was to catch a second striper and try for the trophy.  This appeared bleak at first as it was approaching 7 PM, and they had to leave by 7:30 PM to get back to the weigh-in site before the 8:30 deadline.  They brought in their lines and went to their last spot.  Before their first bottle was hardly away from the boat, it went down and a seven-pound/nine-ounce striper was landed by Janine.  Fortunately for her, the total weight of 24 pounds and 5 ounces was enough to edge out Gary Harris by slightly over one pound.

 

Overall, the 2008 StriperBowl was a success.  Everyone had a good time, and a significant amount of money was raised for the Kid’s Day event on June 7. Hopefully, next year more members will take part in this event as they watch to see if Janine can defend herself and win for a second time.