Minutes of the Meeting:
The December meeting of the Pensacola Hawg Hunters was brought to order
at PoFolks Restaurant by our President Buddy Yates. We had 12 members
present.
Old Business
Minutes were read and accepted.
The Treasurer report was read and accepted.
The Booray Pot has grown to $660 for the elusive 5lb Hawg.
John Buck back from his annual hunting trip expressed his sincere and humble gratitude to the club on naming the Annual Fish Off tournament after him. We are just still trying to agree on an appropriate name. Last month we had a lot of suggestions thrown at the wall but not too many stuck. We are steering towards the “John Buck Pensacola Hawg Hunters Classic”. But the “Buck-off” has been kicked around some too. Like most club business it was tabled for later because as you know not even two fishermen can agree on anything let alone 12.
Awards Banquet
The “Awards Banquet" was a great success in you forget about our winning Angler of the Year recipient Randy Cole missing from the party. We all showed up to honor him for kicking our butts all year. He really showed us how to catch fish throughout the year including Bif Fish numberous times. But Randy decided to have knee surgery on the same day as the banquet. Randy achieved a 90.5% weigh-in success rate catching 77 out of 85 possible fish during the 12 month season. To top that off he weighed in over 100 pounds of fish. If we had it he would be entitled to a Century Club belt for the 2025 Season. He was the only member in the club to hit that milestone this season. Did you also know this is his first Angler of the Year title? Prior to this winning season his highest finish was a 3rd place during the 2024 season. A rising star and great friend to us all is Randy Cole your 2025 Season Fisherman of the Year!
2025 Angler of the Year
Randy Cole
In Second place, last year’s Tournament Director, Terry Smith also finished his best season yet. His highest finish prior to this was a 4th place accomplished during the 2003 season about the time he started fishing out of his own boat after being a co-Angler for many years. Terry’s success rate for weighing in fish was the second highest at 80%. He caught 68 fish during the 12 month tournament year weighing 89.64 pounds.
2025 Season 2nd Place winner
Terry Smith
Rounding out our Top Three Season Anglers was Mack Cramer who even though his missed a couple of tournaments managed to rise up and snatch the spot away from 10 other club members. Who needs participation points when you can rack up 4 wins, 2 seconds and one third place finishes in 10 tournaments fished. Mack has been no stranger the the Top Three Club. He’s been in it 12 times in the past 20 years racking up 3 Angler of the year titles, 3 second place and now 6 third place finishes.
2025 Season 3rd Place winner
Mack Cramer
We also had the honor of presenting our 2025 Season Slammer Award winner to Terry “Late for Weigh in” Smith. Terry won this award hands down with his spectacular absence to his very own weigh in as a newly appointed Tournament Director during the December Escambia River tournament. So late we had to put boats back in the water and send a Search and Rescue party to find him. When they found him still fishing he said his motion controlled wind up watch failed him.
2025 Season Slammer Award Recipient
Terry "Late for Weigh in" Smith
The other places 4th, 5th and 6th in the 2025 Season Year-end standings were crossed off by our recent rule change so not worth mentioning them here.
New Business
John Buck one of our Founding Fathers who have inspired our club to last over 50 years is taking his Tournament Director roll serious. He reports that all the room reservations for our two day trips are made. He even reserved us cabins for the yet to be named Fish-Off in October at Wheeler lake. Of couse it cost all us $100 for his service, I mean deposit. We hope we get to see more of you at these two day events as they are are great way to enjoy the fellowship of a great and long lasting club.
Not discussed at the meeting—but very much happening behind the scenes—our Webmaster has been quietly untangling and organizing our massive website to make it easier for everyone to use. And when we say massive, we mean it. The Pensacola Hawg Hunters website now contains 31,845 files spread across 1,117 folders, and a jaw-dropping 22,716 of those are photos. That’s a lot of memories hanging on the wall.
Over the past 20 years, our Hawg Hunter family tree has grown into a full-blown forest. The late Lifetime Member Jim Bailey Sr. tended the site in its early years before passing the reins to Dave “The Scribe” Bock, who has since taken it to an entirely new digital level. His latest creation is something special: the “Time Machine.” Think of it as a portal to the past—a museum of our club’s history, built on a solid foundation and designed to grow as history keeps writing itself. You are about to enter…well, not the Twilight Zone—but it sounded good, right? 😄
To access the Archive Gateway, here’s your invitation inside. Picture a three-story building where all our records are safely stored. Step into the lobby and you’ll find the Time Machine elevator, ready to take you to the Newsletters, Tournaments, or John’s Archive with just a click—or a tap if you’re on your phone. Yes, the Time Machine is fully portable. You can carry it in your pocket, on your tablet, or wherever you roam.
Archive
Gateway
Once inside, you get to choose your decade. Pick an archive, select a decade, and the elevator will whisk you away to the proper floor. When the doors open, you’ll find a hallway lined with clearly labeled doors—each one a year waiting to be reopened. But beware… once you step through those doors, you’re officially back in the past. Navigation wasn’t always as friendly back then. Some pages don’t have modern GPS (a.k.a. a navigation bar), and even if they do, they won’t take you Back to the Future.
If you feel yourself getting lost in time, don’t panic. The browser’s Back button should return you safely to the Archive Gateway, where a clearly marked Fire Escape will bring you back to present-day Pensacola Hawg Hunters headquarters. From inside the building, you can take the stairs between archives or hop back on the elevator to visit another decade. Either way, enjoy the stroll down memory lane—peeking behind doors, admiring the photos on the walls, and reading the newsletters written by club secretaries who preserved our legacy one issue at a time.
There are three ways to enter the Archive Gateway if you’d like a guided tour. Use the newly redesigned GPS navigation bar at the top of the screen and select any of the three Archives from the dropdown menu. Each comes with a complimentary ticket to the Time Machine and delivers you safely inside for a controlled visit.
For the brave souls who prefer to skip the ticket, direct links still exist that drop you straight into a specific year. Just know that sudden time-warp jumps can be a little…unsettling—and there’s no guarantee you’ll make it back in one piece. Ever seen Monsters, Inc.? 😬
The
December Club tournament was held close to home on the mighty Escambia
River at Swamphouse landing. Unfortunately I was not able to fish the
tournament but it looked like it was a great day. At the weigh-in which
I did attend there were the usual smiling faces we like to take
pictures of along with the long tough day faces. When the weigh-in was
all said and done we had 11 member catch 63 fish for a total weight of
82.93 pounds. Big Fish was caught by Dave Nason a 3.16 pound beauty.
Dave now leads the Big Fish of the Year contest. We had 3 fish over 16
inches with Dave, Mack and John Russell each catching one. We also live
released all the fish to be caught another day. Everybody survived the
day with the Pensacola Hawg Hunters even the fish.
Tournament Results:
| Place |
Hawg Hunter |
Total
Fish |
Total
Weight |
Tournament Winners:
1st Place
Dave Nason who hasn’t fished with us in some time came roaring back to claim the First Place Spot. His five fish limit toppled the scales at 9.30 pounds! That’s the 5th highest winning weight in 26 tournaments. This is Dave’s 6th win in the club and third time winning at Escambia since becoming a member in 2016.
Great Job!
Congratulations Dave!
2nd Place
Mack found a nice limit of 7.92 pounds to take Second Place. A great start to his season.
Great Job!
Congratulations Mack!
3rd Place
Jeff Weaver also starting his season strong with a Third Place finish here at the mighty Escambia River he fishes a lot since it’s close to home. His five fish limit weighed 6.76 pounds after he got rid of the crabs.
Great Job!
Congratulations Jeff!
AOY Analysis:
| Place |
Top Six Hawg Hunters |
Points |
Our Top Six out of 12 get mentioned here and in the table above. Leading this month is Kevin Izzi with 6 points over 2nd place Buddy Yates. John Russell, Terry Smith, Tom Buck and Roger Gomez all within a couple points of each other. It's still way to early to tell who’s going to be our next Anger of the Year. One thing that should be apparent is that if you don’t participate you are severely limiting your chances. Last Season we only had two members fish all 12 tournaments and they finished #1 and #2. Randy Cole and Terry Smith. Great job guys!
Check out this interesting pattern emerging....
For the Record:
Total Number Fished Tournament:
Total Fish Caught:
Total Dead Fish:
Total Limits:
Total Weight:
Big Fish:
For the Year:
Total Number Fished For Year:
Total Fish Caught:
Total Dead Fish:
Total Limits:
Total Fish Weight:
Big Fish:
Next Month:
Next month we are going back to Tensaw for our 57th tournament fished there since 2006. John Russell still has the largest winning weight there of 11.54 pounds and Dave Bock with the heaviest big fish of 4.7 pounds. Not to crush your dreams but the average fish count for a January tournament has been 2 fish per person. The weather and high water will have a big play on the results. Hope to see you there anyway on the 24th of January for another fun filled Hawg Hunter Tournament.
Hope you had a Merry Christmas. My best to you and your family for the upcoming New Year.
Meeting:
Location: PoFolks
Time: 7:00 pm
Tournament Site:
From the Daily Planner:
Full Moon:
Tides
Any questions should be addressed to:
Dave Bock
E-Mail the Secretary 
