The 54th Annual Islamorada Sailfish Tournament kicked off at Whale Harbor’s new banquet facility hosting 72 anglers, plus friends and family. Great sailfish action continued over the next three days. Captain Steve Leopold of the Yabba Dabba Doo led anglers Robert Richardson Sr. from McKinney, Texas and Robert Richardson Jr. of Pilot Point to the winners circle with a total of 14 sailfish releases. The team would take home great Pasta Pantaleo sailfish art sponsored by Tackle Center of Islamorada. 137 Sailfish were released out of the 165 called in hook ups with over $60,000.00 going to the winners.
The first day of fishing greeted anglers with beautiful conditions and it didn’t take long for Prime Time to call in the first hook up. Junior angler Shawn MacMullin from Key Largo, FL would release the first fish at 8:37.
Day two produced 56 sailfish releases. Blue Heaven and Kalex each had six releases that day. The Relentless added 8 to their total for a 4 fish lead, with a total of 13 over the Blue Heaven who had released 9 sails.
The final day of fishing Yabba Dabba Doo hooked a triple and released all three fish by 9:36am plus another double header. This would put the Yabba in second behind the Relentless with both teams having 13 releases.
At 2:45 with 15 minutes left in the tournament the committee boat radio erupted with hook ups for Yabba Dabba Doo, Relentless and the Contagious. At 2:47 Yabba called in the release and the team was in the lead. The wrong species hooked on Relentless placed the team in second receiving King Sailfish trophies sponsored by Yamaha Outboards. Anglers Steve Messing from Jupiter, FL fishing aboard the Kalex with Patrick Nutt from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Brian Ponykaez of Stuart, FL and Nick Caito from Davie, FL took home the Mangrove Mike’s Café and Catering sponsored third place King Sailfish Trophies with their 12 sailfish releases.
Robert Richardson Sr. released a total of 10 aailfish for the high point angler award sponsored by Caribee Boat Sales. Robert was also awarded the Bill Hirni high point angler perpetual trophy. Captain Steve Leopold would win the Captains Export donated bronze sailfish statue for top captain. As the team came up for their awards mate Shannon Attales came springing around the corner dressed as Fred Flintstone and the crowd went crazy.
Junior angler Paul Ross Jr. would release 3 sailfish for the top junior angler trophy. 2nd place junior trophy went to Shawn MacMullin with 3 sails and also the Largest Mackerel award with a 13.7lb King Mackerel. Angler Debbie David received a Pasta Pantaleo print for top lady angler. Most tagged fish trophies would go to team Challenger with 6 of their 8 releases being tagged. Most Outstanding Catch award went to Matthew (Gunner) Guthrie for a 37.1 lb cobia caught aboard the Challenger. The largest Tuna to Jorge Piedra fishing aboard the Rockstar at 29.8lbs. Tyler Valles fishing aboard the MDALA won largest Dolphin award with a 7.1 lbr.
The Islamorada Sailfish Tournament is the first leg of the Florida Keys Gold Cup Sailfish Championship. The next leg of the series is the Islamorada Fishing Clubs Sailfish Tournament on January 25th 2018 and the champions will be crowned at the Cheeca Lodge Presidential Sailfish Tournament January 26th thru the 28th.
“Whale Harbor served up another great event,” stated tournament director Dianne Harbaugh, “everyone loved the new facility and the food.” The silent auction on Thursday night raised much needed money for the Charter Boat Association’s IRMA relief fund, raising money for local captains and mates in need. The Islamorada Sailfish Tournament is the primary fund raiser for the Islamorada Charter Boat Association.