18th State of Texas Angler’s Rodeo Comes to a Close

The 2007 CCA Ford-Texas State Bank-Tilson Homes State of Texas Angler's Rodeo ended on Labor Day at 5:00pm. It has been another great year for CCA Texas and STAR, thanks to our fine sponsors and to the many volunteers for their hard work and dedication to enhancing our marine resources.

STAR experienced record numbers with over 44,000 participating and 12,000 NEW members joining. The leader board stayed active down to the wire with new and impressive catches grabbing the lead in the final days. As always, the Texas Ford Dealers Tagged Redfish Division highlighted the event and saw the lady anglers taking over the division. And of course, there were still those unfortunate anglers who forgot or neglected to sign up this year and it cost 6 "unlucky" anglers dearly to the tune of about $50,000! That brings our total reported tagged redfish catches to 9 for this year's event.

Of the 115 prizes we will give away this year, a total of 24 top prizes were awarded at the CCA Texas State BBQ and STAR Awards Ceremony on Oct. 4th at the Edwin Hornberger Conference Center in Houston. These are the lucky winners in each division:

Columbia Sportswear StarKids Scholarship Flounder Division Columbia Sportswear will provide a young angler between the ages of six and ten with a college scholarship totaling $50,000 for catching the largest flounder. This year's winner is Sam Wittman, age 7, of Houston - 3 lbs., 14 ozs.

Houston Community Newspapers StarKids Scholarship Sheepshead Division The Houston Community Newspapers StarKid Scholarship Sheepshead Division will provide a young angler between the ages of six and ten with a college scholarship totaling $50,000 catching the largest sheepshead. This year's winner is Ben Ibarra, age 7, of Baytown - 8 lbs., 14 ozs.

StarKids Scholarship Gafftop Division The StarKids Scholarship Gafftop Division will provide a young angler between the ages of six and ten with a college scholarship totaling $50,000 for catching the largest gafftop. This year's winner is Jarren Mahon, age 8, of Hamshire (Winnie area) - 7 lbs., 6 ozs.

Academy Sports and Outdoors StarTeens Scholarship Trout Division - In its sixth year, the Academy Sports and Outdoors StarTeens Scholarship Trout Division was open to all New Tide/STAR members ages 11-17. These fisher-teens with the largest speckled trout in each region -- upper, middle and lower coast will be awarded a $20,000 college scholarship:

Upper Coast: Britney Halewyn, age 17, of Alvin 7 lbs., 3 ozs.
Middle Coast: Travis Corporon, age 17, of Palacios 7 lbs., 9 ozs.
Lower Coast: Nicholas Joiner, age 17, of Robstown 8 lbs., 3 ozs.

Time Warner Cable StarTeens Inshore Scholarship Division The Time Warner Cable StarTeens Scholarship Inshore Division was open to all New Tide/STAR members ages 11-17. These fisher-teens with the largest flounder, gafftop and sheepshead will be awarded a $20,000 college scholarship:

Flounder: Cory Gagliano, age 11 of Portland 6 lbs. 5 ozs.
Sheepshead: Michael Lee, age 12, of Sugar Land 8 lbs. 3 ozs.
Gafftop: Lance Knox, age 11 of Rosenberg 7 lbs. 11 ozs.

Awarding these ten scholarships is truly the highlight of the year for STAR and makes a serious statement toward getting kids on the water. We couldn't be happier for these kids and their families. The kids are really what the tournament is all about. They are the future generation that will keep the vitality of our precious marine resource going for years to come. This brings our total awarded scholarships to $3,185,000, a milestone for CCA Texas/STAR as we cross the $3 million dollar mark!

Texas Ford Dealers Tagged Redfish Division We have three confirmed winners in the ever-popular Texas Ford Dealers Redfish. The following winners will be presented with a fully-loaded 2007 Ford F-150 "Texas Edition" Super Cab truck and 22' Blue Wave 220 Super Tunnel boat, 150hp Mercury outboard motor and a Magnum galvanized trailer.

Deborah Alston of Crystal Beach
Orlando Perez of La Porte
Karen Whittenberg of Port Mansfield

Trout Division These registered anglers brought in the largest trout for Upper Coast, Middle Coast and Lower Coast will each receive a Shoalwater 22' Legend Boat, 150hp Mercury and McClain trailer:

Upper Coast Kegan Campbell, of Conroe 8 lbs. 8 ozs.
Middle Coast Norman Frankum, of Sweeny 9 lbs. 0 ozs.
Lower Coast Bryan Tucker II of Corpus Christi 8 lbs. 14 ozs.

Offshore Division - In the Offshore Division, the following anglers who hooked the biggest kingfish, dorado and ling (cobia) will each be awarded with a 21' Contender Open Fish with a 150hp Mercury outboard plus a McClain trailer:

Kingfish: Rodney McWhorter of Angleton 55 lbs., 9 ozs.
Dorado: Alan Latham of Rockport 46 lbs., 10 ozs.
Ling (Cobia): Chris Jacobs of Sweeny 75 lbs. 3 ozs.

Inshore Division - These Inshore Division winners will take home a 18' Scout 180 Bay center console rigged with a 90hp Mercury outboard and McClain trailer for hooking the largest flounder, gafftop and sheepshead:

Flounder: Jason Waldrup of La Marque 7 lbs. 14 ozs.
Sheepshead: Ramon Zapata of Baytown 10 lbs. 14 ozs.
Gafftop: Michael Darder of Beaumont 8 lbs. 1 oz.

Special Drawings - On the night of the STAR Awards, the drawings will be held for the New Tide Scholarship and Member Bonus Drawings. These winners along with the Early Bird Drawing winners will be listed in the next issue of CURRENTS.

Major sponsors for the 18th annual CCA Texas/STAR Tournament include:

Ford, Texas State Bank, Tilson Home Corporation, Texas Ford Dealers, Mercury Marine, Academy Sports & Outdoors, Columbia Sportswear, Napa Auto Parts, Houston Community Newspaper Group, Time Warner Cable, Whataburger, Nestle Pure Life, Forestar Real Estate Group, NRG Energy, Blue Wave Boats, Shoalwater Boats, Contender Boats, Scout Boats, Texas Fish & Game Magazine, Texas Marine, Texas Oilman's Charity Fishing Tournament, Magnum Trailers, McClain Trailers and Mt. Houston Marine.

We appreciate your support of our sponsors because they make the STAR Tournament possible. Please keep them in mind when making your purchasing decisions.

Immense thanks to our official STAR Weigh Station friends that do such a tremendous job for us each year:

Bridge City Bait in Orange; Stingaree Marina on Crystal Beach; Marburger's Sporting Goods in Seabrook; Anita's Bait, Tackle & Seafood on the Texas City Dike; GYB Marina Bait & Tackle in Galveston; Scotty's Seafood & Bait in Galveston; Bayview Marina in Galveston; Gulf Coast Marina in Freeport; Sargent Beach Bait & Tackle in Bay City; Russell's Bait & Tackle in Matagorda; Fuzzy's 1 Stop in Palacios; Indianola Fishing Marina in Indianola; The Fishing Center in Port O'Connor; Seaworthy Marine Supply in Fulton/Rockport; Hampton's Landing in Aransas Pass; Woody's Sports Center in Port Aransas; Roy's Bait & Tackle in Corpus Christi; Harbor Bait & Tackle in Port Mansfield; Jim's Pier on South Padre Island.

Please keep them in mind when planning your next trip on the water and thank them for their participation.