Light Tackle Tournament & Pictures

Another successful year for the SSC Light Tackle Tournament and for the Bone Shaker and it's crew. Up to the minute results were posted in real time on our website (after a balky server gave us a rocky start on Day One), and Ed Killer did a fine job of daily summaries in the Stuart News. Boats, anglers, crews, and results are on the website, and now over 600 pictures are available in two albums under Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures on the Home Page. Click and enjoy.

Nice job, Cindy, Char, and all Club volunteers.

Sailing(?) the ICW

(Click on pictures to enlarge)

So, you're a little concerned about height on the ICW?? This boat came in last night at Vero Beach. It has an 80' mast and 7'10" draft. Each water bag weighs 2000#. It's been coming down the ICW. What a treat to watch the crew execute this maneuver. However, I can't imagine anyone with a boat that size, wanting to travel the ICW. They should be "outside" enjoying the ocean.
Malcolm

(Contributed by Tris Colket, www.lastmango-charters.com)

SSC Officers & Directors Annual Christmas Season Dinner

Even though schedule conflicts kept some away, those who were able to make it enjoyed a wonderful evening. Dave & Joyce Powell hosted an outstanding pitch-in dinner, followed by carol singing as Joyce played the piano. Weather was perfect, so the party spilled inside and out.

An album is available on Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures.

Ian and Skyler Wichers swordfished last Wednesday night (11/28) with Timmy Palmer and Dennis Roseman. The fish in the photo was approximately 350 lbs, the biggest one of the night. They kept several other ones and released everything under 100 lbs. They were kept pretty busy from 7:30 pm until 3:30 am. Needless to say, they had a great time and didn’t get much sleep. Good job, guys. (Hope you got up in time for school the next day!)

SSC Fall Cruise Actually Happened

After a couple of weather and scheduling delays, 4 boats, 8 people, and 2 dogs made a 3-day, 2-night trip to Sailfish Marina in Palm Beach Shores and Admirals Cove in Jupiter. R Ka Nu, Playmate, Coconut Express, and Cavalier carried the Powells, Guins, Wilsons, and Mills. Weather was great and facilities were excellent. An album can be seen at Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures on the website.

Great Swordfish Trip on Last Mango

October 22, Last Mango anglers hooked seven, landed four, and released one. Not a bad night of fishing. If you are looking for a charter, check out our Charter Boat members. They know where the fish are, and how to catch them. Click on Charters on our Home Page, call them up, and schedule a trip.

(Contributed by Tris Colket, www.lastmango-charters.com)

Stuart Sailfish Club Reestablishes Old Club Tradition

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1st Pin-Property of Curt Whiticar-Circa 1949

2nd Pin-Property of Max & Sally Glassburn-Circa 1980

3rd Pin-Property of MJ Grell - 2007

(Click on each to enlarge.)


Dating back to the 1940’s, the Stuart Sailfish Club has taken a leadership role in marine conservation. As early as 1941, the Club and its early members encouraged the release of sailfish. In fact, Curt Whiticar, when he wasn’t building boats or fishing, designed the first gold sailfish release pin to be awarded to those who released their catches. (From our website Home Page, see “About SSC”, then “Our History”, then “History of Release Buttons”.)

As recently as the 1980’s, the Club issued pins, although it’s unclear whether the tradition was continuous or whether it stopped and started up again. At some point, the awards were discontinued, because the cost of gold and the pins became too great for the Club to sustain.

Now, thanks to the interest and generosity of one of our current members who offered to underwrite the cost, the tradition has begun again. Club records were researched going back five years (as far as our records go on this issue), and at our Annual Awards Dinner on November 10, Andy Kubiak and Neil Subin awarded thirteen Club Members solid gold pendants recognizing at least 25 releases. They are:
Mary Jo Grell ...............Ian Wichers
Sky Wichers ................Rudy Polselli
Joe Lehner ..................Marshall Busha
Tommy Holder .............Vance Strausburg
Mark MacDonald .........Fritz Grell
Michael O’Neill ............Donnie Holder
Lorraine Francis

Guidelines for earning a Release Pendant are:
1. The Club will award a Pendant to any Member who achieves a total of 25 billfish releases during his/her tenure as a Member. Only those releases recorded with the Club as part of its annual release tournament are eligible, and all rules of that tournament apply. (Rules may change from time to time.)

2. Those Members who achieve release totals exceeding 25 are eligible to have a small diamond added to the pendant, each diamond representing the next increment of 25 billfish releases.

3. The Club will recognize and award these with a certificate which makes them eligible for the next level.

4. Pendants and diamond certificates will be awarded two times per year to those reaching increments of 25 releases during that period of time.

5. The Pendants will be provided by the Club, while any additional diamonds are paid for by the member angler.

2007 Members Tournament & Awards Dinner

125 members attended the 2007 SSC Annual Awards Dinner at Miles Grant Country Club. Members elected and installed new officers and board members, and Andy Kubiak, Tom Wichers, and Neil Subin presented Club awards for the tournament and annual awards. All enjoyed a great meal served by the gracious staff at Miles Grant.

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Fishing for the tournament, which had been delayed one week due to weather, was brutal with lots of heavy seas and few fish. But, for a few of the rugged anglers on 16 boats, there were some awards. Tournament winners were:

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Game Fish Category

1st Place Boat..................Papi Chulo

2nd Place Boat................Double Header

Bill Fish Category

1st Place Boat.................War Chant

2nd Place Boat...............Old Salt

3rd Place Boat................Dirty Laundry

Top Boat........................War Chant

Outstanding Angler.......Warren Landi

Outstanding Jr. Angler..Cody Gale

2007 Annual Club Awards - Billfish Releases

Ed Sellian Award (Sailfish caught on dead bait)....Ian Wichers, 33 Releases

Outstanding Adult Angler.......................Mark MacDonald, 31 Releases

Outstanding Junior Angler.....................Ian Wichers, 36 Releases

Member Charter Boat

1st Place...............Bone Shaker (Capt. Scott Fawcett), 60 Releases

2n Place................Finest Kind (Capt. Jake Farley), 59 Releases

Member Private Boat

1st Place.....Outlaw (Owner, Neil & Carla Subin), 69 Releases

2nd Place....Hotty Toddy (Owner, Mark & Virginia MacDonald), 62 Releases

3rd Place....Patience (Owner, Kurt Francis), 33 Releases

Adult Angler

1st Place..............Mark MacDonald, 31 Releases

2nd Place.............Michael O'Neill, 16 Releases

3rd Place..............Steve Butcher, 15 Releases

Lady Angler

1st Place..............Mary Jo Grell, 5 Releases

2nd Place.............Lorraine Francis, 3 Releases

3rd Place..............Jesse Rehe, 2 Releases

Junior Angler

1st Place...............Ian Wichers, 36 Releases

2nd Place..............Sky Wichers, 18 Releases

3rd Place...............Marshall Busha, 12 Releases

2007 Annual Club Awards - Top Catches

Adult Division

Tuna.......................Mark MacDonald, 28 lbs.

Kingfish.................Brad McClatchie, 20.5 lbs.

Dolphin..................Brad McClatchie, 41 lbs.

Wahoo..................Vance Strausburg, 44.13 lbs.

Cobia....................Lorraine Francis, 30 lbs.

Tarpon...................Barbara Clark, 80 lbs.

Snook....................Fritz Grell, 13.8 lbs.

Junior Division

Tarpon...................Sky Wichers, 80 lbs.

Wahoo...................Van Wichers, 18.3 lbs.

Cobia.....................Ian Wichers, 32 lbs.

Donna Detmer Wahoo Award....Vance Strausburg, 44.13 lbs.

In addition to these awards, a Stuart Sailfish Club tradition that was given up several years ago because of the cost, was renewed underwritten by one of our generous club members, Sailfish Release Pendants. A number of members were recognized and received gold pendants. Because of the importance and significance of this, details will be covered in a seperate posting.

To view the entire album of pictures from the Captains Meeting, Tournament, and 2007 Annual Meeting & Awards Dinner, click on Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures on our Home Page.

Members Tournament Postponed to Nov. 10

Rough seas dictated a delay in the Members Tournament to next Saturday, Nov. 10. Fishing teams can sign up until 6:00 PM Friday, Nov. 9 at the SSC office at Pirates Cove. Times remain the same. Point change is Sailfish-25 pts., White Marlin-50 pts., Blue Marlin-100 pts. All other rules remain the same. Questions...contact Char at the office.

2007 Junior Angler Tournament Great Success

What a time! Over 200 Jr. Anglers from ages 5 to 15 fished from 54 boats having a great time and winning many trophies. Thanks to all our sponsors, no one who wanted to fish was left out. (No, not everyone caught a fish, but that's why they call it fishing, not catching.) And, ultimately, every Jr. Angler got a prize. Our sponsors provided many great items for raffles and prizes, and most went home with a lot of neat stuff.

A couple of hundred pictures are on our website, and you can down load any or all. (See Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures.) Also, we'll keep adding them as they come in. If you have any you'd like to include, please send them in to dmills@stuartsailfishclub.com. We'll include all we can.

All winners will be added to our Jr. Angler Tournament page over the next few days. Keep checking http://www.stuartsailfishclub.com/ for more pictures and details. In the meantime, Ed Killer covered the tournament nicely in the Stuart News. See: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/sep/02/30sailfish-spices-up-record-junior-angler-by-ed/ and http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/sep/02/jat-turns-30-is-still-growing/.

Again, thanks to all our sponsors for making this the greatest Jr. Angler Tournament yet. And, to our patrons, please visit the tournament page, learn who the sponsors are, and patronize them. We all win.

Abacos Trip Update

THE ABOVE PHOTOS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND TOP DOWN ARE:

THE VILLAGE OF NEW PLYMOUTH ON GREEN TURTLE CAY. VIEW OF TH E SEA OF ABACO FROM THE PATIO OF THE BLUFF HOUSE ON GREEN TURTLE. BILL AND BETTY CORNELL RELAXING AT SPANISH CAY POOLSIDE. SPANISH CAY OFFICE, SHOP AND CAFE. THE BAYLEYS, CORNELLS, JODI MILLS, AND THE POWELLS ENJOYING LUNCH AND THE VIEW AT NIPPERS ON GREAT GUANA CAY. BLUFF HOUSE MARINA WITH POOL, BAR AND CAFE IN THE BACK GROUND. DOCKED AT SPANISH CAY MARINA - DESERT ROSE, R KA NU, MAGIC LADY AND CAVALIER. SIGN ON THE FIRST CARIBBEAN BANK IN NEW PLYMOUTH WITH WORKING HOURS.

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After delaying the trip from May to July due to weather, it went well and all had great fun. Following is a detailed report from Joyce Powell that was too good to not share completely. (Dave & Joyce, and kids, lived in the Bahamas for 14 years.) See Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures for an album of images.

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We just returned from a 4 boat...12 people trip to Abaco. Dave and I were the only ones who had been to Abaco before and I think it was my 12th time!!! There have been so many changes and there is a lot of development going on (we think too much) in the Bahamas. We talked with many people who have been there a long time as well as other boaters and fishing guys to get impressions. It was a great trip...really good weather for both crossings, enough rain to cool some days down but not enough to keep us from doing what we wanted to do and see and Dave and his buddies caught a bunch of black fin tuna so they were happy campers.

We spent the first two days at Spanish Cay because that is where you clear customs and immigration now since Walkers Cay has closed and shut down. Spanish use to be a private and EMPTY island and now there is an air strip, large marina, restaurant, pool, rooms to rent and homes on the island. However, because of the new Bahamian fishing regulations which border on ridiculous and the high cost of fuel, the boaters and fishing folk numbers are WAY down and we were the only people in the dining room that night for dinner. Friends say the Marina has been hurting all year. However, the Immigration lady was delightful---yes you heard right. She came down to our boats, was laughing and joking and welcomed us all to the islands and was very efficient. I complimented her and later learned that the Ministry of Tourism now requires a little bit of training for folks who meet with the tourists. The dock hands (Felix) were delightful and provided a jeep one morning to visit the beach on the other side of the island.

We left on the second day for Green Turtle Cay. We docked at Bluff House which was substantially destroyed by Hurricane Floyd, reinjured further by Frances and Jeanne but has been totally redone and is very very nice. THe docks are beautiful teak and very roomy and at the shore they have built a huge deck, pool, locker rooms, bar and bistro and gift shop. We didn't HAVE to climb up the high hill to the main building if we didn't want to but did go up for dinner one night. Bluff House was busy but certainly not full. Dock hands again (Zhivago) were delightful and employees were all friendly and easy to joke with. Service was up and down but overall better. Green Turtle Club where we use to stay was very quiet although we went there to fuel up because diesel was 30 cents a gallon less there than at Bluff House. Some of our folks wanted to do a reef snorkel trip from the Green Turtle Club but their boat was broken down. Same ole Same ole.

We visited Great Guana Cay and swam at the beautiful beach at the north end in turquoise super clear water. All the folks with us kept saying you can see the botttom! Unfortunately, they are building Bakers Bay at the northern end of Guana which will have a marina (already started) golf course, and homesites including 27 lots of one acre or more that are on the market for you guessed it $ 8 milliion dollars each. These sit up on a sand dune overlooking the Atlantic. We were speechless. I kept telling Dave to go back to the real estate people which had set up shop right there on the beach with floating chairs, swimboards, kayaks etc for the lookie loos to use and to ask them again what the price was for the lots. One of the other guys got the same number. ???

Went down to Nippers for lunch and had a great one overlooking the beach and ocean. I had to golf cart most everywhere because I was in an aircast with a recovering broken foot for the first few days we were there. Continued on down to Man O War Cay for touring and fuel. Uncle Norman Albury (sailmaker whose shop was in an attic loft) has died as well as his daughter who ran the business. Talked with Ann, his grandaughter who has the shop now and it is very nice at the end of town, down on the water. Talked with another shopowner about Bahamian politics. As you know, Ping was voted out in the late 80's and Hubert Ingraham from Cooperstown, Abaco was head of the FNM and voted in. He did a lot for tourism and Abaco and is well thought of. He was voted out in the late 90's when the PLP got back in and Perry Christie took over. This past May, the PLP got the boot and the FNM is back in power with Ingraham the new prime minister again. People are cautiously optimistic in Abaco because under the PLP, all lthe money and development went into Marsh Harbour which must be a strong PLP area. Now, Abaconians are hoping the Treasure Cay airport and area will get some funding to expand and improve. The Bahamians we talked with all were happy that Ingraham is back in. Everyone said that he is much better for all Bahamians.

One day we went to islands north of Green Turtle but shelling is almost non existent there since the hurricanes. It use to be a treasure trove. Left early due to a big thunderstorm and it has been a long time since I witnessed one from a boat!

Another day the guys went fishing and caught a bunch of black fin tuna which we had Bluff House prepare that night and it was delicious. Served with peas and rice and veggies with conch fritters for an appetizer. Only the jonnycake was missing! While the guys fished, we gals took the golfcarts to New Plymouth for "shopping" and breakfast. Some of the old places are gone as the cooks died, but a few new places were open and we were able to go online at a realty office which had a mini internet cafe. Hunted high and low everywhere for Bahamian bread but no one had it ...not even the bakeries. That was the big disappointment! It is like no one knows how to make it anymore. There were two new shops in New Plymouth that had better than usual t shirt stuff but prices were steep! The old shell shop had only junk and no shells. Go figure.

Another day, we and another couple took the golf cart into New Plymouth and explored. We found the New Plymouth Inn (closed for past 4 years) had just reopened the week before. Wally Davies still owns it but had recently hired a couple,( he a Jamaican chef and his Bahamian wife who grew up in Freeport served and greeted) They were unbelievably hospitable and lunch was delicious. We had not planned to return for dinner as it meant a taxi, but decided we would and Wally was there that evening to visit with us for an hour before dinner and after. Food was TERRIFIC but not the previous Abaco fare..like conch and lobster. They are trying to cosmopolitize the place I guess....but the word was getting out and they were getting busy. Wally has been trying to sell the place which sustained heavy hurricane damage but has been repaired for the past 5 years. It was an enjoyable evening and worth the extra expense to return that evening. There were no docks available to handle our size boat, actually there was only a public dock and some smaller falling down ones so had to use golf carts or dinghies and the motor on our dinghy refused to start on day 3. Always something. As we sat on the porch of the New Plymouth Inn ( still no AC) it was like being in a time capsule. I could see all of us at the long table eating and laughing!! (Yes I am getting old)


We returned making the run all the way from Green Turtle in calm seas and only had one small rainstorm to go through. Ten minutes after we docked here at the house, the heavens opened and that is sure a nice way to clean the boat.

Observations: the Bahamas is truly teeming with development. We toured the Leeward Yacht Club on Black Sound....28 homesites, 3 homes almost done starting at 1.5 million and only one sold. There is strong opposition to Bakers Bay on Guana Cay. One cannot imagine paying 8 million for a lot even if it has a private golf course and ocean view. There is a lot of development going on at Scotland Cay (south of Great Guana). There are now multimillion dollar condos at Treasure Cay and of course the new big golf course and resort south of Marsh Harbour. You would not believe West End.....where Ginn is building Ginn Sur Mer. We get two calls a week from them wanting to fly us over in their corporate jet to see the project which is suppose to be bigger and better than Atlantis in Nassau. Our friends who have been boating and fishing all over the islands this year say that every island has some massive high end development going on. Build It and They Will Come???

Small Boat Tournament Results

(Click on pictures to enlarge.)

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Weeds & birds were thick, fish were scattered and generally small. But, weather was great if one doesn't mind dodging a few showers, and they stayed away from the Captain's Meeting, weigh-in, and Awards dinner at Finest Kind.

68 anglers on 21 boats participated, most caught something besides birds & weeds, and all ate very well. Anglers on the Top Boat ventured out 20 miles to fish in over 1500 feet to find fish big enough to take top honors.

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Thanks to all our generous sponsors, volunteers, and anglers for making this event another good one. To see all the pictures of this event, please go back to our home page, click on Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures to go to the Album. If you have any other pictures of the weigh-in to include, forward them to sailfish@stuartsailfishclub.com and we'll get them posted.

RESULTS

Dolphin

1st Place - Richard Shoup on R Ka Nu - 21.7 lbs.

2nd Place - Mike Padula on R Ka Nu - 14.4 lbs.

3rd Place - Bob Huntley on License to Chill - 12.5 lbs.

Kingfish

1st Place - Brad McClatchie on Blue Moon - 8.0 lbs.

2nd Place - Karl Kremser on Pescadore - 6.0 lbs.

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Wahoo

1st Place - David Krunic on Blue Moon - 20.5 lbs.

2nd Place - Artie Orlandi on My Holiday - 10.5 lbs.

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Sailfish - Gene Detmer on Lapin II

Jr. Angler

1st Place - Derek Kremser on Pescadore - 3.8 lb. dolphin

2nd Place - Taylor Higgins on Instigator - 3.5 lb. dolphin

TOP BOAT - R Ka Nu

Capt. Dave Powell, Anglers Richard Shoup, Mike Padula, and Don Wilson.

Prime Time Fishing Report - 4/8/07

PRIME TIME One sailfish and a half dozen dolphin on Sunday, 4/8/07
was the catch of the day. Seems that Sailfish are not as numerous in the
"off season" as in past seasons and other areas with better habitat, such as
Miami, are still holding fish. We felt lucky to raise one and, fortunately,
Van caught the fish after it had eluded a fellow angler. Van also caught
the largest of the dolphin which was probably around 15 pounds. A lot of
ground was covered from the beach in the morning for a quick cobia hunt to
over 20 miles out hoping for a blue marlin bite.

(Contributed by F. Grell)

SSC Plans two cruises this year– Spring Cruise, the Abacos; Fall Cruise, Florida West Coast

Last year, the Club enjoyed a couple of great cruises up the Florida coast.

The Club is planning on two cruises this year. The first will depart May 17 for the Abacos, Bahamas. We plan on spending the first 2 nights at Spanish Cay Resort and Marina with an informal fishing tourney on a few of the boats.

Then we will depart for Green Turtle Cay for 3 or 4 nights, staying at the Bluff House Yacht Club Marina. We will be doing day trips on one or more boats to other interesting islands, villages, beaches, etc, while at Green Turtle Cay.

Returning dates will likely be May 22 or 23 or both depending on
when members want to return.

We have reserved a block of 10 slips and 8 rooms at each location for boaters who wish to stay ashore and to encourage members to bring along other members or friends who wish to leave their boats at home or don't have one. These blocks of slips and rooms are being held until April 1. Slips may be available after that date, but rooms will be difficult to obtain. For shoreside guests wishing to sign up later, there is also the Green Turtle Cay Club, a short walk on the opposite side of the sound.

If members or guests on your boat wish to sign up for a slip or rooms, it is best for them to contact Robin at the club at 772-286-9373. She will put you in contact with the cruise organizer club member to ensure you are reserving a slip or room from the arrangements the club has made and that you are included on further communications concerning this cruise. The web sites for these 2 locations are below:

http://www.spanishcay.com/
http://www.bluffhouse.com/

Again, please contact Robin before making any reservations for slips or rooms. So far, it looks like we’ll have 8-10 boats.

The second cruise will be to the west coast of Florida via Lake
Okeechobee.

Departure is presently scheduled for October 18 and return on or
About October 24.

We will attempt to book the newly rebuilt South Seas Marina and Resort for slips and rooms on the north end of Captiva Island and then a couple of nights at a marina in the village of Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island.

Return will likely be Oct 24 or whenever members want to come back. Please contact the Club by phone or Email at: info@stuartsailfishclub.com if you are interested in this second cruise in October. Please include the name and size of your boat, Email address, and if you are likely to have guests or would be interested in a member couple joining you to share fuel expenses, etc

Madison's First Sailfish

After a slow day of trolling Saturday (1 release) we decided Sunday was the day to try to get a first sail for Madison (my 6 year old daughter) given the amount of bait we had seen. Live bait fishing for us means switching to spinning reels, Shimano Bait Runner 4500's, and with circle hooks it's a good combination for any angler. The circle hooks have resulted in far fewer fish 'jumping off' so we feel they're very forgiving should the angler not be able to keep the line tight. For Madison we backed the drags off to about 3 lbs.

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Well the fish cooperated. We located several in shallow water, and what started as dirty green started bluing up later in the morning. She got her first, second and third, with one other jumping off. All IGFA legal- all she had to do was pick up the rod and click off the bait runner drag, keep the rod tip low and let the fish come tight. With circle hooks I could run the boat up to the point of putting slack on the line. Perfect combo for anglers learning.

Contributed by T. Wichers