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Fishing Tourney Called Success In First Year

Mark Schantz/SUNCOAST NEWS

Fishing guide Capt. Tommy Mahinis, left, and Nick Gerakios show some of the awards anglers receieved at the first Yianni Patterson Memorial Snook Fishing Tournament, held July 19.

By Mark Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: July 26, 2008

TARPON SPRINGS -- Late last Saturday afternoon, the Yianni Patterson Memorial Snook Tournament was being heralded as a success with bittersweet overtones.

One tournament competitor, Nick Gerakios, was a cousin of the late Yianni Patterson. Patterson was a homegrown guy and avid fisherman, Gerakios said. Like Gerakios, many of the tournament's anglers took a moment or two from the day's excitement to remember their late friend.

Patterson died last year of a heart attack at the age of 37. He had been managing construction of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral Parochial School.

Capt. Tommy Mahinis of Tarpon Springs-based Finatic Inshore Charters, a member of the Anclote Key Anglers, said this tournament was named in Patterson's memory to help raise funds for the Tarpon Springs Boys and Girls Club and the parochial school.

The Anclote Key Anglers and the Boys and Girls Club helped organize the tournament and hope it will become an annual event.

About 108 boats participated in the all-night, all-day snook tournament, in which anglers ventured from Madeira Beach to Homosassa, Mahinis said. It was a catch-and-release event in which the competitors brought back photos of their catch.

The evening ended with a barbecue at the Girls and Boys Club.

Tournament winners

1st place - Bob Ulrich, with a 43-inch catch, $3,000 prize.

2nd place - Saki Halikos, 42 inches, $1,500

3rd place - Mike Wells, 38 inches, $1,000

4th place - Dave Mize, 38 inches, $750

5th place - Lee Krieg, 36.5 inches, $400

6th place - Steve Brownlee, 36.5 inches, $125

7th place - Mike Ferguson, 36 inches, $100

8th place - Tim Sullivan, 36 inches, $100

9th place - Ron Kirkland, 35.5 inches, $100

10th place - Louis Garcia, 35 inches, $100