HI FIVE: TC RESIDENT AMONG STAR TOURNEY GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

TEXAS CITY RESIDENT James Johnston was one of five unofficial winners of the 2019 CCA/Texas STAR Tournament that concluded on Labor Day. Johnston caught one of the tagged redfish on August 10 while fishing at GYB Bait and Tackle in Galveston. For his effort, Johnston is eligible to win one of the grand prizes, a 2019 Ford F150 Texas Edition XLT Super Cab connected to a Haynie 23 Bigfoot with a Mercury 150 L Pro XS Optimax and Coastline Trailer. Pending the outcome of the required polygraph, Johnston will take his place among this year’s winners during an awards ceremony that will be held next month. Projected to join Johnston at the ceremony will be Dominik Lopez, who caught a tagged redfish on June 8 at Roy’s Bait & Tackle in Corpus Christi; Luis DeLeon, who caught his on June 29 at Roy’s Bait &Tackle; Fernando Gutierrez of Chula Vista, CA, who reeled in his tagged redfish at South Shore Bait & Tackle on July 13, and Jerry Smith of Port Aransas, who recorded his memorable redfish on July 22 at Woody’s Sports Center. In all, there were 10 tagged redfish caught from Opening Day on May 25 to the conclusion on September 2. However, five were ruled ineligible. Overall, more than $2 million in prizes were awarded, including over $300,000 in college scholarships for STARKids ages 6 thru 17. While this young man was a wee too young to win one of the top prizes of the 2019 CCA Texas STAR Tournament, he obviously had a great time pulling in this fish. Five people, including a Texas City resident and a visitor from California, were able to win the grand prize during the event, which concluded on Labor Day.