Great job by Joe & Chuck and everyone else that pitched in for putting together the Habs Fall Classic. You could easily see how happy and impressed John JR and Jess were at the wrap up party last night :btu: . I'm willing to bet the Johnny Habs would have been impressed too with so many of his friends attending and keeping those blueberries honest.

Great time, and great seeing so many people come from near and far to tip a pint in his honor :btu:

Fishing was interesting, far more blues partaking than the bass but the first Habs Classic did have several respectable basses entered.

John & Jess - again, thank you for all you do :btu:

(Good :eyes: everyone yesterday too)

A big :thanks: to you John ,for doing the online registrations that allowed far away people to register ,and thanks to all who helped with the mechanics of the tourney, donations, and participated in it !
For myself,it gave me the opportunity to fish with John R on Friday and Crazy Alberto and DannO ,aka Surf Pirate...ALL of Sat night.No fish but 2 very good experiences that would not have happened if not for this event. See ,it's not all about cathching the fish.;)
The gathering at the awards was a blast .Mike Laptew's video of a younger HABS fishing made me feel like he was in the room with us. Jess and Jr there and Jr selling the next generations of HABS Custom Plugs ,the torch being passed, was also a nice aspect of an event that was much more than just some people getting prizes for catching a fish.
I hope everyone had a good time and some nice refections on Johnny Habs. Now let's go out and finish the fall run and as John used to say.......... " get a bend in the rod." :fishin:

sounds like it was a great success! and a good time had by all! well done...

any pics? :)

It was indeed a wonderful time. Though I'm somewhat of a lurker, I was fortunate enough to join this super groups of folks last night.
So many of the good fisherman on Striped-Bass put out their hands to introduce themselves......and NO egos here ! Just a bunch of friendly social people who clearly enjoyed each others company.
Lucky me, I met Jessie, who is such a friendly, down-to-earth lady; and John Jr., a gentleman.
Wonderfully organized. And for a great cause. Mike

Last night was a great get together for those who attended... I met some great guys, threw back some nice blueberry beer, talked fishing with some of the elite anglers around... Everything was done PERFECTLY for a memorial tourney like this! I can't wait till next year.

The raffle was great with a HUGE assortment of plugs, photos, clothing being given out... and as fortune has it, i walked with a NICE set of Pt. Jude's assortment of tins, couple plugs and most prized two prints of early 1900's photo prints of Striped bass fishing.

For all of those who put this together, Joe + Chuck jess and JR. and many others - FANTASTIC JOB!!

Kevin Costello

Great time. Really glad i stuck around for it. John jr. is getting really good with the paint gun - great to see him keeping the business going. Joe, Jeff, Dennis, Chuck, etc. did a great job with this thing. The opening meet and greet was fun too (I think those Clam Cakes at Flo's are the most unhealthy thing that I've eaten in my life, they're good though).

I had a great time, thanks again to Joe & Chuck and everybody else that had a hand in it, first class job :thanks:

So, who was 1,2,3???

I had a good time nice meeting a few new people.And the trophies were the best I have seen.Those hab a narrows(sp) were sweet looking for sure.

great job guys

its only going to get even bigger next year


good seeing everyone and meeting some new guys

Blueberries were great. Nice seeing everyone and thanks again to the Martins Chuck and all else involved, job well done.

I 'd like to thank everyone who made the first annual Habs Fall Classic a success.

For those of you who fished the tourney, you know how tough the fishing was all over - and the winning fish was a fat beauty under difficult condions. I'm going to get in touch with Scott who took 1st Place and see if I can get a shot to post here.

For me, personally, it was what I had wished it would be and it was as nice a gathering for the Awards Ceremony and Raffle and as fitting a tribute to John as anyone could have possibly hoped for.

Mike Laptew's compilation of clips that he did was pretty moving and at one point I just had to go outside for a smoke and sit for a bit. I know it touched everyone in the room.

You know, I joked with Joe that it was the kind of tourney that only a pair of Portagees like us could come up with - no rules other than shore fishing only and the only divisions were 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place. Period. The K.I.S.S. principle at it's finest - I just wish the action had been a little better for everyone, but like Joe said, it was about a lot more than the fishing.

I want to say thanks to Joe, Jeff, JohnR, and everyone else who helped to get it rolling along the way it did. It turned out pretty well I thought for an event that was executed in almost 30 days flat and that was only with a lot of work and generosity of spirit for John and his family.

To those of you who donated to the raffle for The Tomorrow Fund for critically ill children, I don't know what to say beyond thank you all so much. The donations were generous and heart-felt - I never cease to be amazed at the way the members of S-B.com come together when they're called upon and I'm proud to be a member here. It's a damned fine family.

Myself, I'm still pretty crisp - me, Joe, JohnR and Kevin took The Long Walk ;) Friday after the Meet and Greet and then I followed that up with an eel-slinging marathon by myself from just before midnight on Saturday to almost 9 the next morning on Sunday.

Somewhere around 4 in the morning I ended up in a spot you've probably seen in some of those old photos I have and got to watch an orange moonset between the Beavertail and Pt Judith lights. A small coastal freighter was leaving the bay in the foreground and when the big light in the sky went out, the stars came out even brighter than they had been before. I kept casting for the horizon and a warm gentle swell surged in and out around me. And there wasn't another living soul anywhere around but me.

I never did get the bass I had hoped and worked for. Like I told Clammer, I didn't end up getting what I wanted but I'm pretty sure I got what I needed.

Thanks again, you guys - you really are the best.

See you all again next year.

Oooops - forgot to mention that Iron Mike handed me his camera at one point and I went around and started blasting away trying to get as many people and hijinks as possible :hihi:

Mike gave the camera to Pete afterwards to download the images and as soon as I get the CD I'll post them for you all to see -

Good times! Thanks guys for the hard work to put this thing on. Had a great time meeting a bunch of new guys, and talking some fishing. Although the fishing was slow, we had a great time.

Like Jim said it will double the size next year.

Thanks again guys

Everyone. Thanks for a great time. The tournament gatherings were almost as much fun as hooking my fish. You all went a long way to making my son and I feel welcome. He still has a great big smile thanks to all of you who contributed to his tackle bag. I look forward to future events with such an outstanding group of anglers. Attached is the picture of my fish. 36.44lbs, 44". Looks bigger but that is cuz she was beautifully perportioned.

V/R

Scott

Great fish and congrats! Welcome to S-B!:wave:

For me, personally, it was what I had wished it would be and it was as nice a gathering for the Awards Ceremony and Raffle and as fitting a tribute to John as anyone could have possibly hoped for....

I never did get the bass I had hoped and worked for. Like I told Clammer, I didn't end up getting what I wanted but I'm pretty sure I got what I needed.


Well said Chuck, and Job Well Done!

Everyone. Thanks for a great time. The tournament gatherings were almost as much fun as hooking my fish. You all went a long way to making my son and I feel welcome. He still has a great big smile thanks to all of you who contributed to his tackle bag. I look forward to future events with such an outstanding group of anglers. Attached is the picture of my fish. 36.44lbs, 44". Looks bigger but that is cuz she was beautifully perportioned.

V/R

Scott


Ahhh - that was you - Congrats :btu: