39th Annual Stuart Sailfish Club Junior Angler Tournament a Success

The Club's 39th Annual Junior Angler Tournament started off very wet, with two inches of rain on the Friday evening registration of 77 young anglers from Boy Scout troops 888 and 840, Lahia House kids, Florida Sheriff Youth Ranch (FSYR) kids from Bartow and Live Oak and Stuart Sailfish Club members kids and grandkids. Everyone was huddled under a large tent at Sailfish Marina. The willing anglers met their Captains for Saturday's event and enjoyed pizza, hoping the skies would clear. Early Saturday did bring clear skies and 18 local fishing boats for the eager anglers. Boats that took some of the kids fishing were led by head boat “Safari 1”, charter boat “Wet and Wild”, brokerage boats from Sovereign Yachts and Marine Max and some private member boats like Dr. Paul Shoppe's “Fifth Day”.

The results were a mix of 15 species with everything from sailfish, dolphin, kings, grouper, porgies, large bonito, amberjacks, tuna and cobia, resulting in 40 trophies for the young anglers. The “Safari 1” had the wild finish with three big cobia, to 44 pounds. After an official weigh-in by Alicia Fischer, Marena and Kaysea Shoup, photographs were taken and anglers learned new fishing skills from Captains Chris Callaway and Richard Shoup before a BBQ lunch.

Every kid won a raffle prize that included 19 bikes and assorted sporting equipment, all donated by club members and sponsors to. Many of the local kids who won bikes donated them generously back to kids from FSYR and LAHIA HOUSE. A four horsepower Yamaha outboard motor, donated by Manatee Marine was raffled off and won by Jim Penix of Sovereign Yachts. The day finished with each kid receiving a rod and reel from Fish Florida.

Two thousand dollars of the tournament proceeds were donated to Florida Sheriff's Youth Ranch by the Stuart Sailfish Club. The primary sponsor of the tournament was Ted and Lynne Glasrud along with Sailfish Marina, Manatee Marina, Fish Heads, Whiticar, Shurhold, Lewis Marine, Ferreira Construction, Tentlogix, Marine Max, Fish Florida, Procedures Solutions Management, Carlson Enterprises. A team of 24 volunteers was led by Dave Powell, tournament chairperson for the ninth year in a row.

Significant catches

Austin Duvall(FSYR-Safari 1) - Cobia, 44 pounds

Andrea (FSYR-Safari 1) - Cobia, 31 pounds

Willow Rudge (LAHIA-Safari 1) - Cobia, 28 pounds

Zane Price (Daymaker) - Amberjack, 22 pounds

Kyle Hann (First Draw) - Tuna, 13 pounds

Annabell Begna (My Horse) - Kingfish, 11 pounds

Michael Hines (Blue Fins) - Dolphin, 10 pounds

Camden Konesco (Hope) - Bonito, 9 pounds

Connor Grout (Charlies Dream) - Sailfish release

Zane Price won this year's Ted Glasrud Perpetual Trophy for 2017 outstanding junior angler.

The Stuart Sailfish Club is a nonprofit 501c3 organization located in Stuart, Florida, the "Sailfish Capital of the World.” They are one of the oldest Billfish Conservation Clubs in the United States. For more information, call 772-286-9373, email sailfish@stuartsailfishclub.com. Visit their facebook page at Facebook.com/StuartSailfishClub and their website at www.StuartSailfishClub.com.