This year, the Stuart Sailfish Club combined its Annual Ladies Tournament and Small Boat tournaments into the Fishing Classic on Fathers’ Day weekend – June 15th and with 53 anglers on 20 boats, fair winds and blue skies did not disappoint.
Tournament participants fished for sailfish, dolphin, cobia, kingfish and wahoo using their choice of dead or live bait. Interestingly, for a summer event, all species were caught except for dolphin.
Joining anglers this year were all five 2013 scholarship recipients; Greg Cusel and Ashley Meade on “R KA NU” and Victoria Caba, Brisley Lopez, and Jennifer Guerra on “Unicity”.
In all, 15 sailfish were released, 12 on live bait, 2 on dead bait and 1 on a J hook. The J hook was the first release of the day and credited to Brisley Lopez, who was fishing offshore for the very first time.
The Friday night captain’s meeting, held at Sailfish Marina, included BBQ and live entertainment. An awards dinner, featuring a traditional New Orleans Crawfish Boil, took place at the Fish House Art Center in Port Salerno, and included a 50/50 raffle, silent auction, and Chinese auction.
Tournament proceeds fund Stuart Sailfish Club’s college scholarships for Martin County high school seniors pursuing careers in the marine industry.
Tournament committee members, Liz Cordier, Gary Greenfield, Tish Gelineau, Erika Long, Don Wilson, Brett Schaming, Jim Weix, Bill Whippen, and Martin Kurtz wish to recognize and thank the many volunteers who generously gave their time to make this tournament a success, as well as the sponsors who make the club and an annual events possible.
The Stuart Sailfish Club’s next tournament is the Junior Angler Tournament, which takes place on August 10th. For more information, call 772-286-9373 or visit www.StuartSailfishClub.com.
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