Running March 1-Nov. 30 we seek to promote the release of flounder 20 inches or better so they can spawn and help grow the population. Each month anglers using our documentation system enter their released flounder and the biggest each month gets a fiberglass replica of their catch. This year seven anglers earned replicas and one angler in particular won a much bigger prize.

The angler with the most flounder donated earns our "Flounder Angler of the Year" award which includes a custom trophy, a feature profile in Texas Fish & Game magazine and a $1,000 tackle prize package.

We had serious, serious competition going to the last day of the tournament and had two anglers with the same amount of donated fish (4) in which case we go to the most total inches of donated flounder.  The winner for the initial season of the Flounder Revolution competition is.....

Chris Dial, 2009's "Flounder Revolution Angler of the Year"


Entering his first fish a couple of weeks ago with a fat, wide 23-incher that won the November replica, in the last few days he entered three more fish totaling 87.25 inches. Dial reported having anglers think he was crazy for releasing the big fish but stood strong and set a good example for other anglers. In the next couple of weeks we will meet up and give him the prize package and interview him for a feature in Texas Fish & Game magazine.

Our runner up is....

Thomas Barlow


Barlow won our September replica program and his wife won October and they both have made great contributions to the flounder fishery in general. He also donated four fish with a total of 83 inches. Thomas receives an awesome prize package of soft plastics and the new Badonk-A-Donk topwaters provided by Bomber Saltwater Grade as well as the Saltwater Texan series of prints provided by renowned artist Don McQueen. To show what a great guy Thomas is, he has offered to donate an oxygen system to the 2010 Flounder Angler of the Year. The Revolution is off to a great start for 2010 and we're not even there yet!

In addition to these angling awards we are also beginning awards for achievement in conservation and stewardship.

Flounder Conservationist of the Year---This one goes to Bryan Treadway who has done an amazing job of spreading the Flounder Revolution vision throughout the Galveston Bay complex. By using the tournament he organizes at Lutes Marine on Chocolate Bayou to help get donations of flounder for Sea Center Texas as well as taking the time out to catch fish himself he is more than worth of this honor.



Flounder Steward of the Year---It is important to pass on the heritage of flounder fishing and help others become better anglers. That is why our Flounder Steward of the Year award goes to Phil Ortiz of Flounder Pounder lures. Phil has always been very open and honest about technique and sharing the joy of flounder fishing with you. This year he has provides lures at several tournaments and share important information. He is also a tackle innovator and someone we can all appreciate for his contributions in helping us catch more fish.



Youth Flounder Angler of the Year---The point of the First Flounder program is to create the next generation of flounder conservationists but the fact is we already have one in the making: Cameron Johnson. Turning in his first flounder catch to us this spring he also attended seminars about flounder and asked very important questions about conservation. He also made a vow to let game wardens know when people are poaching flounder. Kudos to Cameron. We have great hope in you and your generation.



Flounder Catch of the Year

This one goes to Thomas Barlow for the super cool catch of a rare piebald (calico) colored southern flounder. It is truly rare to catch one of these unique mutations and we salute Barlow for not only catching this cool fish but sharing with Flounder Revolution viewers earlier in the year.



This year has been an amazing one with the Flounder Revolution taking off in amazing ways. The good news is the best is yet to come as we have some incredible things to show you in the next few weeks and a huge announcement to make January 1.

Congratulations to all of the winners and to everyone who participated in 2009. We are going to see a full-on recovery of the southern flounder and ensure our children's children will get to enjoy this wonderful resource.

God bless,

Chester Moore
Founder
Flounder Revolution