Innovative Fish Chum Helps South Florida College Student Win Major Tournament and Earn Respect From the Old Time Captains

Talent, Persistence, and Fish Chum leads young angler to a tournament win.

Carlos Hechavarria Jr has made his mark in the south Florida fishing community. His first place win with the entrance of some very nice mangrove snappers and yellowtail snapper drew the acceptance and congratulations of some very experienced locals.

On December 8th 2012 the Spartan Fishing Tournament took place in the south Florida fishing mecca of Islamorada. Captains in boats ranging from multi-million dollar battle wagons to small bay boats made preparations to search for those trophy fish to show off back at the dock and compete for the top prices. In the money no object world of south Florida fishing, many times the advantage goes to those who can afford all the newest and greatest products. Younger angler Carlos Hechavarria Jr in his modest 20 foot center consol boat and limited gear chose to take something new . He took some fish chum. he had received as part of a sample pack sent to him from a fish chum manufacturer in the central Florida area. With the fish fish chum, a passion for fishing and the self taught knowledge need to catch fish in south Florida waters, Carlos set of to fish south Florida and show the old timers how the young guys do it.

The conditions for the tournament were less than ideal. the wind howling and the seas pretty rough. Knowing this, Carlos made his plans to look for pelagic species in the morning and then place his efforts on reef fishing in the afternoon.

As conditions declined for offshore fishing , Carlos anchored up in 70 feet of water and pulled out a dry fish chum called yellowtail up, mixed the ingredients in the chum bag and hung it over the side. …and the rest are his exact words. "It didn't take more than 10 minutes to have the yellowtail show up. We started filling up the cooler with some nice sized yellowtail when suddenly we saw a big red ball show up behind the boat. It was the Mangroves! Now, usually the bigger mangroves are smart, but they were in such a frenzy that they almost didn't let the baits flow back to reach the yellowtail ! These Mangrove snapper where big. We caught one 22 inches! and most were in the 15-18" range! We limited out on Snapper in an hour! The snapper came in clutch and in this point system tournament. We won first place!! Never seen big snapper come this close to the boat and be so aggressive."

Back at the docks , Carlos received his trophy as well as some respect from those fisherman in some very high end fishing vessels.

The ability of Carlos to find the fish combined with a innovative new fish chum proves that determination and innovation is a winning combination.

Carlos is currently attending college in South Florida and will soon attend Palm Beach Atlantic University perusing a degree in pharmacological medicine. Currently he is regarded as a top expert in the highly sought after but hard to catch hogfish. He has recently attracted the attention of Aquatic Nutrition Incorporated… president Cheryl Pawlak and been asked to aid in further development of their fish chum called Super Shrimps for use as a key in the recreation catch of hogfish.

We will be looking for Carlos on the fishing docks after the next fishing tournament . Just look for the younger guy with the cooler full of fish and the ear to ear smile on his face….you cant miss him!

Congrats Carlos… Keep those fishing pros scratching their heads!

Fishing Chum is a great way to attract fish to your location . Fish chum many times is the difference between success ( or a tournament win) and failure.