September 2015

Fort Myers Beach Tarpon Hunters Club
TARPON TALES
Club Member Newsletter
www.fmbthc.com
September 2015
2015 OFFICERS
PRESIDENT:
MATT PONZIO ~ 239-549-3474
Well August started off just like July, no winners at the make-up
hunt or at our all night hunt. Now it’s time for the “Second Season” to
begin and starting it off is the Reed’s, Bob caught another one so he has
3 now and Nicole caught a measly 4 MORE! Bring her total up to 10 for the
season! Between the two of them they have caught more than a third of
the clubs total!
Speaking of the second season I have been hearing reports of fish
off the beaches and plenty of bait, if you check out our historical catches
that is were they should be right now! And no better way to kick-off the
season than with a three day “Money Hunt” we will have the captains
meeting at out next meeting for the hunt this Labor Day weekend, if you
were in the last hunt the entry is $20.00 if this is your first one then it’s
$40.00 bring the entry fee to the meeting and the money will be on the
dock at Monday’s weigh-in!
Banquet time is almost here, ours will be Nov 7th and the Cape
Club’s is Oct. 17th back at the Elk in Cape Coral. I will have more info at
the meeting.
Try and make the weigh-ins it is a great time to meet and socialize
with other members and it doesn’t matter if you caught a fish or not, so
come out to the next one and eat, drink and be merry with the rest of us!
If your going fishing alone give one of our Rookies a call and see if
they want to join you, several are still looking to learn how to catch that
first Tarpon and they are worth 2 captains points!
fmbtarponhunters@gmail.com
VICE PRESIDENT:
KEVIN VERTESCH ~
239-425-5672
SECRETARY:
KIM OWENS ~ 239-209-4555
TREASURER:
JOHN JAY ~ 239-466-7624
WEIGHMASTER:
CARL KEUTGEN ~
239-471-9218
2015 BOARD of DIRECTORS
MIKE DREXLER ~
239-940-0027
RICK (RD) DuJARDIN ~
239-910-4308
RAY LISTER ~ 239-850-3275
CRAIG (KEG) McLUCAS ~
239-848-6349
BOB REED ~ 239-344-6697
JERRY STEPHENSON ~
239-463-1745
GARY DANIS ~ 239-848-5370
Remember if you do catch a fish call in or text in a fish Carl Keutgen
at his new # is 239-471-9218! You must get that fish called in within 3 days
to Carl or another board member for it to count and be sure your update
your catch card at the weigh in or the next meeting.
Lastly I would like to ask everyone to keep our members who are going through some challenging
health issues right now in your prayers.
Tight Lines
Capt.Matt
2015
FORT MYERS BEACH TARPON HUNTERS CLUB RELEASES
Rank
Club members name # of tarpon Date last tarpon
Time of first fish
Date of first fish Captains pts.
1
Nicole Reed
10
8/22
7:15am
4/25
0
2
Jerry Stephenson
5
5/10
11:00am
4/4
0
3
Warren Teigen
4
5/13
4/13
0
4
Rick DuJardin
3
6/27
12:18pm
5/9
0
5
Bob Reed
3
8/22
6:30pm
6/4
2
6
Les Boyle
2
5/7
12:00pm
5/7
1
7
Don Cook
1
5/9
9:15am
5/9
0
8
John Mcdaniel
1
4/14
10:50am
4/14
1
9
Gary Reichart
1
6/27
8:20am
6/27
0
10
Craig “Keg” McLucas
1
6/28
10:45am
6/28
0
11
Jeff Doyal
1
7/18
9:30am
7/18
0
Total
32
4
Please Check the Standings for Accuracy and let us know if any changes need to be made. Thanks
Be sure to visit our Sponsors and let them know we appreciate all they do for us!
A Special Thanks to Bill Semmer for his continued hospitality for letting us meet at Bonita Bill’s.
Historical Catch Locations for the Month of September
Thanks to Don Taylor
It’s time to help out a fellow Tarpon Hunter!
For those of you that don’t know Craig “Keg” McLucas has
been diagnosed with cancer.
One of the first people I met when I joined our club was Keg,
he made me feel welcomed right away and I have enjoyed
many years of friendship with him, I’m sure anyone who’s ever
met him feels the same way. If you ever needed a favor or even
the shirt off his back he would be there for you.
Now I’m going to ask you all to do me a favor, even if it’s
just a small amount let’s chip in and give Keg a little financial
help, a friend of his has set-up a Go Fund Me account to help
offset his medical expenses, you can easily access it from our
facebook page or just type the following into your web
browser: www.gofundme.com/c44m7ydqr8
Thanks in advance
Matt
The Day I nearly Died on the High Seas
“A mostly true story”
It all started during the Make-up hunt (who suggested that one?) While anchored up at Don’s hole my wife proclaimed this is
boring, so I did what any fisherman would do I handed her a sabiki rod and let her catch some bait, the bait of the day just
happened to be small catch fish (perfect Tarpon sized) as she would catch one I had her swing it into the boat and I would drop it
in the bucket. It seamed like the perfect bait catching assembly line up to the last catfish, that one decided to de-hook itself while
being swung into the boat and while doing a back flip landed straight into the top of my foot. Do you know how sharp those
spines are? Let me tell you the spine entered the top of my foot through my shoe and exited the bottom of my foot, yep straight
through. The good thing was he continued to flip and pulled the spine straight out, the pain was excruciating and blood was
everywhere.
This got me thinking what if something really serous happened to me would the passengers on my boat know what to do?
Would the passengers on your boat know what to do? Yes if we are in cell phone range they could call 911, but when asked where
are you what would they say?
As a Charter Captain this is something I think about all the time, but as a boat owner this is something we all need to think
about whenever we take someone out. Is the person we are taking out knowledge as to how to drive a boat? Are they familiar with
area we are fishing? Would they know how to get the boat back? What if it was something life threatening? What would they do?
Many newer VHF radio’s now have a Distress button built in (under that little red flap) but your radio must either have a built in
GPS or be attached to a GPS and you must register your radios MMSI number which can be done easily and FREE through
BoatUS. This will automatically call the coast guard and report what your boat looks like and your location.
One of the great advantages we have as a club is many times we are fishing near each other so make sure you let everyone on
your boat know who is around you so if an emergency happens at sea they can at least wave their arms and signal for help.
Our annual awards Banquet will be held on Saturday Nov. 7th from 5:30 pm until
10:00 pm at The Moose Lodge on San Carlos Blvd. The Banquet Hall is located right
next to the Lodge just before the Bridge.
We will have private room. Entry will be through the door in the parking lot.
Here is a rundown of the menu we selected:
5:30pm Reception & Appetizers: Shrimp Cocktail, Veggie Tray, Chicken Wings, Deviled Eggs,
Crab Cakes, Chicken Fingers
6:45pm-8pm Dinner: Caesar Salad Beef: Bacon Wrapped 6 oz. Filet Mignon, Chicken: Grilled
Boneless Breast Marsalis, Fish: Mahi, Grilled Vegetarian, Baked Potatoes, Green Beans,
Honey Carrots, rolls and butter Beverages (water, milk, coffee, tea and soft drinks included.)
Dessert Plate
8p-9:30pm Award Presentations and Raffle Prizes: We should be out the door by 10pm.
Cost : $ 32.00 per person
Because this is a buffet style dinner and to insure we have enough of each entrée to serve
everyone what they want All reservations MUST be in advance, there may be a limited number
of tickets available at the door.
Name ________________________________________________________________
How many will be in your party ____________
Entrée Choice Quantity
1) Filet
2) Chicken
3) Mahi Mahi
______
______
______
Amount enclosed @ $32.00 per person $_____________________
Please return this before Oct. 24th via mail to: Matt Ponzio,
16970 San Carlos Blvd, Ft. Myers,Fl 33908
Keep in mind this is a buffet style so if your late and the entrée you preferred is gone you’ll
have to take your second choice.
Thanking you in advance , Matt