39th Annual Small Boat Tournament Attracts 30 Boats

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Anglers boarded 28 offshore and 2 inshore boats Saturday looking near & far for scattered fish. Only 3 sails were released, one cobia caught, and a handful of kings & dolphin. Inshore anglers found redfish and trout. What, no snook!!! But, spirits were high, prizes, raffle items, and food aplenty.

Many thanks to our tournament chairmen, Don Wilson and Karl Gloeckner with their tournament committee and our generous sponsors for putting together this event. And, thanks to our anglers for their diligence in searching out the elusive swimmers.

Check out Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures for a complete album.

Congrats to all the winners who are listed below.

.....................Angler............. Weight .................Boat

OFFSHORE

SAILFISH

1st ..Greg Carpino----------------------------- Analyze This

2nd ..Patty Guinoo -----------------------------Reel Surprise

3rd ..Joseph Trojanowski ----------------------Let’s Go

DOLPHIN

1st ..Joe Shepkosky---- 16 --------------------- Mojo

2nd ..Trish Leisner----- 14.8 -------------------Blue Collar

3rd ..Dave Mills --------12.4------------------- Cavalier

COBIA

1st.. James Addison---- 47.2------------------- Gator Fan

KINGFISH

1st ..Dave Albrigion ----10.9 -------------------Gator Fan

2nd ..John Brady------- 8.2-------------------- Let’s Go

3rd.. Jim Walden------- 3.9-------------------- Sunny & 83°

TOP BOAT

1st..Dave Albritton/James Addison/Anthony Oaks --Gator Fan

2nd.. Scott Adams/John Brady/Joseph Trojanowski-- Let’s Go

JR. ANGLER

KINGFISH

1st ..Glen Brown ---------10.9------------------- Gloria Jean II

2nd ..Reese Triana --------6.4------------------- Let Er Buck

INSHORE

REDFISH

1st ..Kim Conley---------------------------------- Scout

2nd.. Rick Ankiel--------------------------------- Snook Mun

TROUT

1st ..Rick Ankiel ----------------------------------Snook Mun

2nd.. Kim Conley--------------------------------- Scout

TOP BOAT.. Kim Conley/Christopher..................... Scout

JR. ANGLER

REDFISH ..Christopher (no last name)------------ Scout

TROUT ..Christopher (no last name)-------------- Scout

Last Mango June Report

Ed Killer, the fishing editor for Scripps Howard Publishing, has done a fabulous job of following the recent meetings of the ‘powers that be’ in South Atlantic Fisheries Management. These National Marine Fisheries bureaucrats are tasked with assessing ‘and’ understanding (?) the complexities of the various fish species populations, the fishing pressure on that species and ultimately dictating appropriate policy with regard to both commercial and recreational fishing regulations in U.S. waters and along our shores.

I know that many Treasure Coast Anglers followed these proceedings held at the Marriot Hotel in Stuart in early June and we should all be ready for pending regulations that could curtail or at the very least, severely limit offshore fishing for snapper, grouper and tilefish in our area. Hats off to Ed Killer for keeping us all well informed on the meeting and for his articulate and insightful articles relating to the South Atlantic Fisheries Marine Council’s impact on one of Florida’s premier attractions, ‘saltwater angling’!

Well, enough of that, let’s talk fishing! How about this cobia bite in mid June? Ever seen anything like it? Schools of up to 12 or 15 cobia have been sighted swimming on or near the surface in twenty to fifty feet of water. What a thrill it is to sight cast to these fish and be less than a mile from shore. In this particular instance there were so many fish being caught that it was not a secret for long and word traveled fast. In the last four days many anglers have had their shot at one of Florida’s most sought after species. The thrill of the chase, a cobia’s extremely aggressive ‘bite and fight’, and their top notch food value combine to make cobia one of my very favorite species!

This cobia migration has also been evident in deeper water and extends out to the offshore bar in 90 feet of water where the fish are more apt to bite on a deep troll or come up off the bottom when attracted by fishing activity in their area. As far as I know the bite is still on and hopes of a continued presence of the illustrious cobia are high on my list of scenarios for tomorrow’s charter, and the next day’s and…..well you get it; after all, fishermen are dreamers at heart.

July’s fishing will be all about calm seas and more of Florida’s delightful humidity (keeps your skin from drying out, right?) The kingfish bite should be relatively steady on the offshore bar but the fish do move north and south on occasion so be prepared to pick up and run up to the NE Grounds or back to the south if you don’t find them chomping your live bait at one particular location.

The early summer sailfish bite has been better than I remember and don’t be surprised to find them in the vicinity of the king bite on the bar. We have caught and released several sails from 75’ out to 380’ in the last couple of weeks.Free jumpers have been a common sight in early June and are always a good indicator of where to stop and put out your lines.

Catch ‘em up; I’ll see you out there! Capt Tris

(Contributed by Capt Tris Colket)

Last Mango Fishing

Anglers on the Last Mango enjoyed a good day of cobia fishing earlier this week with Capt. Tris between the Ft. Pierce inlet and the power plant. www.lastmango-charters.com

Happy Birthday, Bobby!

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We had the chance to take the Caribbean Soul over the to the other side last Thursday, June 4, my son Bobby’s 17th birthday. We didn’t get over there till around 10 am and after running around looking for birds I figured the bite was over so we headed for some bottom fishing areas and we found a reasonable cluster of birds on the radar. When we put the baits out we instantly hooked up on a nice 40 lb Yellowfin. For the next couple of hours Bobby and Jacob enjoyed some great yellowfin fishing, 9 fish 30 to 50 lbs. As my son put it to me, that was the greatest birthday present he could have had!!!

(Contributed by Bob Ertle)

June 3 General Meeting

Attendees of the meeting last evening enjoyed dinner provided by Brooklyn Joe's and learned fishing techniques from Mark Nichols of DOA. Guest attendees included Leyna Lloyd and her mother Mary. Leyna is our 2009 scholarship recipient from Jensen Beach.

A & J Boatworks Renovation for New Travel Lift

Travel lift operations will be shut down from June 22 until August 3 for major renovation of their travel lift slip. Their new bigger, wider lift can handle wider boats, and the slip/ramps need to be widened to match.

The work yard will be open for service, so get your boat out before June 22 and/or back in after August 3. Trailerable boats are welcome during that time as well.