DUCK KEY, Fla.
— Tough luck at competitive bass fishing prompted Scott Meyer to fish harder for different fish. This weekend Meyer was the local guide who helped Miami Dolphins quarterback John Beck earn a second consecutive Celebrity Grand Champion award at the Redbone Sunrise/Sunset Tarpon Tourney at Hawk’s Cay. Beck landed two tarpon on Day One of the tournament to defend his title. Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs caught one tarpon on Day Two, finishing second among the celebrity/athletes who competed in the charity event. The Redbone charity event eventually will be televised as part of the ESPN Outdoors Saltwater Series presented by TakeMeFishing.org on ESPN2. Proceeds from the Redbone Series benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. From 1997 to 2000 Meyer competed in BASS Invitationals, with a best finish of 57th at the Virginia Invitational in 1997 at Buggs Island Reservoir. He never finished in the money, and he knew after three years of trying that it was time for a change. He calls Lindale, Texas, home, but he is a charter boat captain in the Florida Keys for a sizeable chunk of the year. From left: Capt. Scott Meyer guided Justin Varner and Miami Dolphins quarterback John Beck during the Redbone Sunrise/Sunset Tarpon Tourney. Meyer put Beck on two sizeable tarpon, good enough to defend Beck’s title as Celebrity Grand Champion. “I guide here for sharks, bonefish, permit, tarpon, redfish, snook, grouper, snapper,” Meyer said. “Pretty much everything. I like the competition — just like today in this tarpon tournament. I don’t like to be beat, so it makes me want to try even more, especially when these are guys who are colleagues of mine. I always want to be better.”
For three months in late fall every year, Meyer returns home to run a bass fishing and duck hunting charter business on and around Texas’ Lake Fork. He also runs a saltwater charter out of Sabine Pass in Port Arthur, Texas.