Only For the Very Rugged

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No, this is not some lonely sport fish rounding Cape Horn in August! It was yesterday, the final day of the Pelican Invitational off Ft. Pierce. Sky Wichers, angler on the Boneshaker, snapped these pictures of the Hotty Toddy and it's crew, toughing it out to pull into 3rd place in the tournament.

(Pictures contributed by MJ Grell)

Rugged Anglers Fishing Report-If You Can Handle It, They're Out There

Wednesday Fishing Report: Lorraine - 2 Sailfish 1 dolphin

Weekend Fishing Report: Lorraine - Sat., 5 snook, 2 in slot 3 under. Sun., 2 snook, 1 under 1 over (34" 10.85 lbs.) All released In good condition. Lorraine 7 snook, Dick 0.

(Contributed by Dick Francis)

Great 56th Annual Light Tackle Tournament - Outlaw Wins

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Congratulations to all the owners, captains, anglers, and crew members who did such a fine job of making this a great tournament. And, thanks to our many fine sponsors who make this all possible.

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348 sailfish cooperated to provide the greatest number of releases in the LTT since 1997, and second highest in tournament history. 21 boats fished 3 days each out of 4 to average over 5 fish per boat per fishing day.

While there were many excellent boats, captains, & crews, top boat and the big awards go to the Outlaw who released 27 sails. Several others were close enough that the Outlaw crew wasn't confident until the last few minutes before lines out.

Congratulations to owner & captain Neil Subin, anglers Tom Wichers, Bob Anderson, Brian Schmidt, and Marshall Busha, and mates John Mumford, Jerry Owens, and Matt Santarsiero.

Top Angler went to Bob Greene on Sea Check with 13 releases.

For an album of 350 pictures, see Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures on our Home Page. For Ed Killer's detailed narrative in the Stuart News, see http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/dec/12/outlaw-runs-away-with-light-tackle-sailfish-win/.

For complete and final standings, see Real Time Tournament Results on our Home page.

2009 Annual Dinner & Awards

(See Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures for an album of many more pictures.)

Club members enjoyed another fine annual dinner & awards banquet. Miles Grant Country Club did their usual fine job and no one went away hungry.

And, many anglers took home some pretty fancy awards after having done a fine job of fishing over the past year. Award winners who were there or had a representative to receive the award on their behalf included:

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Outstanding Junior Angler - Van Wichers .... 11 sailfish releases

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Member Charter Boat 1st Place - Challenge .... 135 releases

Member Charter Boat 2nd Place - Bone Shaker .... 41 releases

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Member Private Boat 2nd Place - Shovel Boy .... 45 releases

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Top Adult Angler 3rd Place - Mike Fogel .... 21 releases

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Top Lady Angler - 1st Place .... Lorraine Francis .... 15 releases

Top Lady Angler - 2nd Place .... Eileen Prickett .... 4 releases

Top Lady Angler - 3rd Place .... Mary Jo Grell .... 3 releases

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Top Junior Lady Angler - Maria Pricket .... 9 releases

Top Junior Angler - 1st Place .... Van Wichers .... 11 releases

Top Junior Angler - 2nd Place .... Carl Weigold .... 10 releases

Top Junior Angler - 3rd Place .... Sky Wichers .... 9 releases

2009 Top Catches

Adult Division

Cobia - Erika Long .... 42.2 lbs.

Dolphin - Mary Jo Grell .... 38.4 lbs.

Grouper - Jesse Rehe .... 22.4 lbs.

Kingfish - Erika Long .... 24.3 lbs.

Snapper - Eileen Prickett .... 3.4 lbs

Snook - Dick Francis .... 22.1 lbs.

Tuna - Eileen Prickett .... 9 lbs.

Junior Division

Cobia - Jon Fogel .... 52.8 lbs.

Dolphin - Carl Weigold .... 34 lbs.

Grouper - Jacob Ertle .... 21.3 lbs.

Kingfish - Carl Weigold .... 19.8 lbs.

Snapper - Maria Prickett .... 1.7 lbs.

Tarpon - Van Wichers .... 80 lbs.

Tuna - Maria Prickett .... 15.2 lbs.

Wahoo - Jon Fogel .... 23 lbs.

2009 Donna Detmer Wahoo Award - Jon Fogel .... 23 lbs.

Congratulations to all these fine anglers. And, it's always great to see many new Jr. Anglers catching fish and winning awards.

Fall 2009 SSC Cruise

(Many more pictures in Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures)

Nine people on three boats enjoyed perfect weather and great times on an eight day trip to Florida's west coast. Desert Rose, Patricia J, and Cavalier left on 10/28 and returned on 11/4 with 9 people and a pup.

Overnight stops both ways at Ft. Myers, gave us the opportunity to visit the newly renovated and beautiful "old town" area a couple of blocks from the Yacht Basin. Two days & nights at South Seas Island Resort on Captiva, two days & nights at Boca Grande on Gasparilla, and one night at Venice rounded out the trip. Golf carts provided transportation around Captiva & Gasparilla.

All agreed, Ft. Myers, Captiva, and Gasparilla are definite "go back" places where all our hosts at the Yacht Basin, South Seas Island Resort, and Boca Grande (Millers) really went out of their way to be sure we knew they were glad we were there and would want to come back. The Crow's Nest at Venice, not so much, as they choose, after the fact, to sneak in such hidden charges as including bow pulpits and swim platforms in boat length charges and following it up with an additional charge for their submersed land lease space. (Ever see that before? It was new to us.) Too bad, as their facilities are just fine with a great restaurant on site, good docks, and newer clean rest rooms and showers.

See Stuart Sailfish Club Pictures for many of the sites and scenes.