On Sunday Seaside Heights will host the largest purse surf fishing tournament in the United States of America, according to the organizers. It's called NJ SAT FEST 2024, SAT short for surf angling tournament. According to the press release there was no 2023 $15,000 winner which was billed as the inaugural event, which means first, even thought the prior year, 2022, was the first year it was held and had a winner who took home $10,000. I started to wonder what this tournament was all about. You know how I feel about striped bass tournaments, I'm just not a fan. Tourneys have been around since the beginning of fishing and give bragging rights, and a chance at some cool prizes or cash, to the winner. Most of the tournaments have been catch and kill but we have evolved into a more civilized beast and now a lot are catch and release.
I'm not picking on spin and bait soaking fishermen, okay I am, because while the fly world has their fair share of tournaments I just put us in a different category when it comes to say fishing, and fishing mortality. Hey, that's not to say fly fishing tournaments don't increase fishing pressure on any said day or weekend, like the Cheeky Schoolie Tournament up on the Cape, or even the One Bug on the Upper Delaware River. You can put them wherever you want, they're still fishing tournaments.
While I may come off as a tournament hater, which I'm not, well maybe I am, it's more about the species that is targeted and when. Historically there have been tourneys held that were catch and kill, like the big tarpon or bonefish tournaments held in warm weather fisheries, but those have evolved into more sustainable catch and release events. The ones that interest me are the ones that target striped bass which is a fishery that is in danger of collapse and one that anglers and fisheries managers are trying to protect.
So this piqued my interest. Why? Well it's held in New Jersey and targets striped bass. This years event is being held in Seaside Heights and will run from 7a - 12 noon on Sunday November 24th. There's a $20,000 cash prize to the winner, which is a lot of money. When I first saw it I wanted to look into how and what rules will be applied to the participants. Will it be catch and release? Will they use an honor system based on catch, photo, and release with a supplied tape measure or "gang sign" proof about when the fish was caught? So I had to check it out.
As you know the coastwise slot for striped bass is 28 -31". While that may seem like easy parameters to have for a tournament finding slot sized fish isn't easy, and from shore can be very difficult. One, the fish have to be on the beach, and within that size limit. So maybe, of course, it is tournament looking for the longest fish, or an over slot, to put you in the running for the top cash prize? Nope, it's a catch and kill event where, according to the rules, all fish that will be entered have to be in the slot. So, we know already, that the winner will be entering the largest 31" fish that can be found along the Jersey Shore, because the fish have to be weighed, or measured, in Seaside Heights. It still baffles me.
There are 20 line items under the rules portion of the website. You can see them HERE. #3 states "All fish are measured. Length determines the winner, not weight". And, "All participants shall stay with the IN BOUNDS line while fishing!", but where is that?
#16 states, All fish must be ALIVE at the time of measurement by a qualified judge"....what? Do surf anglers have live wells on the front of their beach buggy like they do on those BASSMASTER boats? And, I guess after we saw guys stuffing weights into their fish in tournaments in recent years, but this isn't a weight thing, rule #29 states, "All participants agree to be subjected to a Lie Detector Test"? What is this like a Maury Povich maternity test show? Do they have a booth set up on the boardwalk before they hand over the brown burlap bag with the prize money in it? They say, "Tournament tickets are LIMITED so make sure you get your tickets as soon as possible!"
Alright, how do I get in? Well the entrance fee, just about every tournament has one, is $185 and payment can be made online directly to Jimmy Elmore. Who's Jimmy Elmore? I don't know, maybe a great guy, but what I found is he connected with a company called REELMAXLIFE. I only know this through a Google search and was looking to see if he popped up as a fishing related guy. But anyway, your entrance fee goes to him after you hit the Pay button online.
There's also a place to pay an extra $50 to be able to get a, "Beach Pass to Drive on the Beach". Cool, but what beach? South of the amusement pier or north?
Now I'm not doubting the legitimacy of this tournament. Online the website shows it has been endorsed by Congressman Jeff Van Drew, the State of New Jersey, as well as Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz. There's even a photo of the Congressional Proclamation, see below.
In the press release for the event it says, "Media attention for the event has been unprecdented, with over 38 million video impressions across the nation". This is starting to sound that it's as big as the recent Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight.
On their website they provide the link to their Facebook page which is set to "Private" so there's no access until you join the group. But if you are interested and want to sign up the website can be found HERE. Remember though, it's going to be a real tight window to win this thing. There are an unknown limited number of anglers who must "weigh" in live fish that must be between 28-31 inches, well, really it's the one angler that has the closest fish to 31 inches, right?
It's all fishing and in good fun. Good times with good friends just trying to win some extra dough around the holidays. If I lived down near Seaside I would love to sit at the judges shack and watch the drama unfold, or maybe the fist-a-cuffs. $20,000 ain't no joke and the organizers better have all their ducks in a row, and good batteries in that lie detector test.
