Great Wahoo Fishing Off Walkers on Carolina Blues

This picture is a 70 # fish that was caught by Capt. Tred Barta fishing with us off of Walkers on February 23, 2008 aboard the Carolina Blues with Captain Billy Black, Craig (Bahamian deck hand), and Tred's wife Annie. We fished for two days and caught several nice Wahoo. Tred Barta filmed a show during these trips which will be appearing soon on his TV show "the best and worst of Tred Barta". We had a great trip, the Wahoo action is fantastic off Walkers right now.

(Contributed by Glen Snow)

New Board of Directors Member

(Pictured left of Dave & Joyce Powell are Don & Jackie Wilson.)

A warm welcome to Don Wilson as our newest member of the Board. Don and Jackie have been Club members for the past few years, and have been active in some of our tournaments and cruises. You've perhaps seen them around the Club or on their boat, the Coconut Express.

Fishing off Isla Mujeres

(Click on picures to enlarge)

Ian, Sky, Van and Tom Wichers were guests of Neil Subin on the new Outlaw, his 40'
Gamefisherman. The boat was docked at the marina at Puerto Isla Mujeres, a very nice facility that also offers hotel accommodations, restaurant and a large pool area. They fished 3 days and released 29 sails. But the real story was seeing the pods of sailfish balling bait. It often required a lot of searching to locate the pods, marked by frigate birds hovering overhead.

Fortunately there were a number of other Stuart based boats there as well, including the Bone Shaker and the Challenge, that provided a means to network by radio and locate the fish.
They fished the first week of March following the full moon and it seemed the main body of fish had migrated to the north. Earlier in the year the bite was "right out front"- their last day they finished 46 miles north of Isla.

Says Tom, "It was a great time and a pleasure to fish on a great boat with an expert crew and captain. Neil's passion for sailfishing shows with every opportunity and in their detailed preparation. Each day he located the main body of fish and produced as many or more bites than the other boats in the fleet."

They saw hundreds of fish and learned a healthy respect for the uniqueness of that fishery.
(Contributed by Tom Wichers)

Curt Whiticar Turns 97

Long time Stuart Sailfish Club supporter, conservation advocate, boat captain, boat builder, artist, and golfer Curt Whiticar celebrated his 97th today with some of his close golfing buddies at Yacht and Country Club. He recieved special recognition as one of the early coordinaters of the development, Charter Member of Yacht & Country Club, and the oldest living continuous active member. He still plays golf there 3 days a week, and normally walks away with the winnings for the day...$2 to $5 and bragging rights.

As most of you know, Curt designed the original Stuart Sailfish Club release pins that are quite prized today by those who earned them. For more information, see our Club History on our web site.

Just recently published, Curt and daughter Laura Kay Darvill put together a great book of early Martin County and Stuart. It's available in book stores and museums around the Treasure Coast. For more information, contact Laura at lk@whiticar.com. You'll not be able to put it down.

Included in the pictures above are Curt's golfing bandits, Laura Kay, and Arnold Seesholtz.

Thanks, Curt, for all your contributions to our lives. Happy birthday, and many more.

Club Member Jr. Angler Van Wichers Takes Top Angler Honors at the Palm Beach Sailfish Classic

Congratulations to Van Wichers, (11 yrs. old) who took the Top Angler award at this year's Palm Beach Sailfish Classic awards dinner last evening after fishing on Masque, a 65 ft. Viking. And, congratulations to the crew of the Masque, Top Boat. Included in the picture holding trophies in addition to Van are owner and angler Mark Schwartz, Top Captain, Wink Doerzbacher, and Gar Womer and Carl Copeland who shared Top Mate award.

Van caught 6 of the 11 sails that were released from the Masque. And, they did all this while while mechanical problems limited them to 1 1/2 fishing days in this 3 day of 4 fishing tournament.

Great job, Van!