Tournament Promoters Stepping Up Their Game

It was but a few years ago, fishing tournaments were drawing criticism for the numbers of fish being hauled to weigh-ins up and down the Texas coast. That many of them were bona-fide trophy-class trout angered lots of sportsmen. The fact that most were brought in dead really riled them up. But that was the past and much has changed, thanks to tourney organizers like the team at Ron Hoover RV & Marine of Donna, TX.

The 2nd Annual Ron Hoover RV & Marine Fishing Tournament was held recently over the July 29-30 weekend at South Padre. Weigh-in was at Jim’s Pier, all other activities were staged at the South Padre Island Convention Center. Billed as an “open boat” event, all boat brands were welcome. The turnout was amazing; nearly 800 anglers, comprising 200 teams, competing for Calcutta cash pots and prizes totaling well over $150,000. Topping the prize list was a brand new 18-foot Majek M2 with 115 Suzuki outboard on a Coastline Trailer, and 2022 Viking Travel Trailer. Winning teams fishing from a boat purchased from Ron Hoover were awarded a $1000 bonus.

It was all about having fun on the water and spirited competition, all while promoting the sustainability of Lower Laguna Madre fisheries. Unlike the days when full-limit stringers of multiple species were flopped on the scales in order to crown champions, the Hoover tournament rules allowed only two redfish of 20- to 21-inches, and one trout measuring between 17- and 20-inches per team.

If you think angling for less than trophy-class fish is less challenging, just give it a go. Believe me, it ain’t all that easy. What it boils down to is that anybody can be a lucky winner and… the most-skilled anglers catching the most fish are most likely to reel in the perfect specimens within such narrow length slots.

As an incentive to keep their fish alive, contestants with live fish were automatically moved to the front of the weigh-in line, and bonus raffle tickets were awarded for a special premium ice chest prize presented to those who put forth the effort.

According to Dustin Hoover, “We saw a strong uptick in the number of teams opting to weigh their fish alive; more than 60 teams, double what we saw last year. We will continue the live weigh-in option next year, with even greater incentives to encourage participation.”

The Hoover tournament is gaining notice for its conservative format and overall quality of presentation. CustomCaptain.com, a Florida-based group, rate Hoover’s tournament second-highest among all saltwater fishing tournaments conducted in Texas. Quite impressive, given that this was only their 2^nd Annual event.

Activities at the SPI Convention were gala all the way. Friday night’s entertainment featured country music recording star Kevin Fowler. Saturday evening featured comedian Juan Villarreal. Food both evenings was catered by On The Grill – a popular Rio Grande Valley eatery.

Everybody that attended came away winners in one category or another, between door prize drawings, Calcutta cash payouts, and raffles. Eddie Rodriguez became the proud owner of the Majek 18M2 and Rosie Vallejo won the Viking RV Trailer. First class prizes!

A most generous donation of $18,865 was presented to Make-A-Wish Rio Grande Valley to enable them to continue their amazing work with terminally-ill youth in the community.

All in and all done, TSFMag awards kudos to the Hoover team for all their hard work in presenting a great event, and especially for the donation to Make A Wish. If you missed it, be sure to put it on your calendar for next year.