Paul Resendez of Port Lavaca – Winner in the Texas Ford Dealers Tagged Redfish Division of the Texas Angler’s Rodeo (STAR). Paul’s weigh-in station was Indianola Fishing Marina.

The 22nd Annual CCA/Ford/Tilson Homes State of Texas Angler’s Rodeo came to a close at 5:00 p.m. on Labor Day (Sept. 5). We saw some interesting action the first three weeks in the Texas Ford Dealers Redfish Division!

Tagged redfish were being reported at a rate averaging one caught every thirty hours for the first eighteen days! We are still dumbfounded that out of the TWELVE total that were caught, only THREE are lucky enough to be winners that will be driving home the awesome Ford F-150 Texas Edition truck with a Haynie 23 BigFoot boat, Mercury 150 OptiMax motor and Coastline trailer package. Sadly, there were NINE unfortunate anglers who lost out on prizes to the tune of about $35,000 – $70,000 each!!! Other exciting highlights this year were in the Trout and Offshore Divisions. A seven year old boy landed the biggest speckled trout overall winning the Lower Coast Trout Division with a 9 lb. 3 oz. beauty… way to go Nolan! Robert Kirschner of Galveston managed to break last year’s 80 lb. 15 oz. Ling record, with an 84 lb. beast!!! Just when we thought we had seen the heaviest fish ever to be weighed in the history of the tournament, we stand corrected… way to go, Rob!

This year’s tournament offered over 120 fabulous prizes. A total of 108 prizes were claimed and the 23 top prizes were awarded to the winners during the CCA State of Texas BBQ and STAR Awards Ceremony on Oct. 6th at the Houston Farm & Ranch Club. These are the lucky winners in each division:

StarKids Scholarship Flounder Division – In its seventeenth year, the StarKids Scholarship Flounder Division will provide a young angler between the ages of six and ten with a college scholarships totaling $50,000 for catching the largest flounder. This year’s winner is Tabitha Rowland, age 10, of McAllen – 3 lbs. 8 ozs.

Houston Community Newspapers StarKids Scholarship Sheepshead Division – In its seventh year, 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 Aven Campos, age 10, of Orange – 8 lbs., 7 ozs.

Fox Sports Houston/Fox Sports Southwest StarKids Scholarship Gafftop Division – In its fourth year, the Fox Sports Houston/Fox Sports Southwest 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 Camden Ritchey, age 8, of Houston – 7 lbs., 7 ozs.

Academy Sports and Outdoors StarTeens Scholarship Trout Division – In its thirteenth 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: Sterling McIntosh, age 14, of Houston 7 lbs., 9 ozs.

Middle Coast: Benjamin Koehler, age 17, of Marion 7 lbs., 5 ozs.

Lower Coast: Carter Goyen, age 13, of Alvin 8 lbs., 6 ozs.

Time Warner Cable Sports StarTeens Inshore Scholarship Division – The Time Warner Cable Sports 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: Christopher Ford, age 15, of Galveston 5 lbs. 3 ozs.

Sheepshead: Robbie Laskoskie, age 17, of Kemah 8 lbs. 15 ozs.

Gafftop: Brittany Leatherwood, age 14, of Nederland 7 lbs. 6 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 college scholarships to $4,345,000!

Texas Ford Dealers Tagged Redfish Division – We have THREE confirmed winners in the ever-popular Texas Ford Dealers Redfish! These three winners will be presented with a fully-loaded 2011 Ford F-150 “Texas Edition” truck and Haynie 23 BigFoot boat, Mercury 150L OptiMax motor and Coastline trailer.

David Holt of Denison – Tag #TA329 caught 6/2/11

Paul Resendez of Port Lavaca – Tag #TA263 caught 6/4/11

Zach Crawford of Rockport – Tag #TA326 caught 6/11/11

Trout Division – These registered anglers brought in the largest trout for Upper Coast, Middle Coast and Lower Coast each received a Shoalwater 22’ Legend, Mercury 150L OptiMax motor and McClain trailer:

Upper Coast – David Elmore, of Baytown – 9 lbs. 3 ozs.

Middle Coast -Michael Leach, of Corpus Christi – 8 lbs. 14 ozs

Lower Coast – Nolan Casey, age 7, of South Padre Island – 9 lbs. 10 ozs.

Offshore Division – In the Offshore Division, the following anglers who hooked the biggest kingfish, dorado and ling (cobia) were awarded with an Explorer by Dargel 216 Bluewater Series, Mercury 150XL Optimax outboard plus a McClain trailer:

Kingfish: Barry Shaneyfelt Jr. of Dickinson – 55 lbs. 7 ozs

Dorado: Darrell Rittiman of Cypress – 44 lbs., 12 ozs.

Ling (Cobia): Robert Kirschner of Galveston – 84 lbs. 0 ozs

Inshore Division – These Inshore Division winners took home a Blue Wave 180 V-Bay with a Mercury 90 ELPT OptiMax engine and McClain trailer for hooking the largest flounder, gafftop and sheepshead:

Flounder: Robert Goode of Alvin – 7 lbs. 2 ozs.

Sheepshead: Ramon Zapata of Baytown – 9 lbs. 4 ozs

Gafftop: Jerome Ard of Lumberton – 8 lbs. 4 ozs.

Special Drawings – The Early Bird Grand Prize, New Tide Scholarship and Member Bonus Drawing winners were announced at the Oct. 6th STAR Awards Ceremony and posted on the STAR Website.
It has been another great year for CCA Texas and STAR. Many thanks to our fine sponsors, weigh stations and tickets stations, and to the many volunteers for their hard work and dedication to enhancing our marine resources. Of course, without YOU there would be no STAR, and we are most grateful to you… especially those who added kids to their fishing experience.

For more information, including a list of weigh-in stations, instant-entry registration locations in your area and weekly leader board updates, go to http://www.startournament.org