After weather cancelled last year’s 2011 Junior Angler Tournament, this year’s event was a real treat. 67 junior and pee wee anglers fished on 18 private member boats and on the Safari. The weather held out (mostly) until weigh in time (naturally), and then soaked many anglers and their fish. But, raffle items, trophies and a great meal by Sonny’s BBQ made it all just fine.
Fish bent a lot of rods, with Bonita leading the way, along with sharks, blue runners, remora, and others. Few anglers went without a catch of some sort. The weigh station was overwhelmed, and just at the time the rain blew in! Thanks to some observant volunteers who came to the rescue helping to get trophies to deserving anglers.
While many anglers were “veteran Stuart Sailfish Club Junior Anglers”, several were new, and we were thrilled to have 20 kids representing Florida Sheriffs Ranch from as far away as Bradenton, and many of them were fine fishermen. Thanks to them and their staff for getting up early and on the road by 4:00 AM to make it on time.
There were not fish to be counted in every category (where were those sailfish, cobia, and sheepshead), and winners were:OFFSHORE DIVISION – Junior Category
Boat Angler Weight
Dolphin1st Place Shark Bait Spencer Stevens 9.34 lbs.
2nd Place Safari Justin Leuci 7.73 lbs.
3rd Place Freak N Easy Brady Banasiak 5.73 lbs.
Tuna
1st Place Soul Trollin Lindsey Bruns 3.86 lbs.
2nd Place Soul Trollin Nick Levin 3.66 lbs.
Bonita
1st Place Freak N Easy Jackson Grosso 15.19 lbs.
2nd Place Safari Elijah Krogen 11.25 lbs.
3rd Place Safari Elyjah Luna 10.05 lbs.
Snapper
1st Place Soul Trollin Sean Dunnuck .75 lbs.
OFFSHORE DIVISION – Pee Wee Category
Kingfish
1st Place Daymaker Zane Price 11.53 lbs.Amberjack
1st Place Daymaker Zane Price 18.36 lbs.
Snapper
1st Place Daymaker Zane Price 1.05 lbs.
Bonita
1st Place Daymaker Zane Price 12.77 lbs.
2nd Place Fish Club Bouk Ashley 6.38 lbs.
3rd Place Phoenix Luke Porterfield 5.28 lbs.
1st Place Magoo Baylor Bullock .78 lbs.
TED GLASSRUD PERPETUAL TROPHY - First Annual (angler with most points qualifying fish)
Zane Price 43.71 pts.Congratulations to all the winners, and many thanks to all our sponsors, donors, and volunteers who made this happen. Special thanks to Liz Cordier, 2012 Tournament Chairman, and Betty Olliges, last year’s chair, whose work carried over to this year.
Proceeds from this tournament go to support our College Scholarship Program. Visit our web site to catch up with some of our recent recipients. Please visit our Junior Angler Tournament page, review our sponsors, and give them your business. Also, go to our website for an album of about 170 pictures from this event in Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures.