What Makes Boca Grande Live Bait Tournaments so Unique

Posted on June 4, 2013 by admin

A great article was recently published on www.FishandFly.com regarding Boca Grande's World's Richest Tarpon Tournament.

It's a well written article, and I'd like to share it here with you. Paul Sharman provides some background information and a nice narrative about the tournament.

What I like most about the article is how it captures the feeling and excitement of the competition. Last Saturday night, I invited a friend to accompany me to Gasparilla Outfitters' Howl at the Moon Ladies Night Out Tournament. We weren't fishing in the event, rather we were going to take part in the local tradition of gathering at the Boca Grande Lighthouse under a quarter moon to watch the boats in the Pass compete. My friend wasn't quite sure why anyone would want to stand in the humidity on the balcony of an old lighthouse at 9pm at night when the only thing you could see were little lights bobbing up and down in the darkness of a deep channel pass. But he soon understood the draw to this annual outing of wives, girlfriends, family, and friends.

As we approached the steps of the lighthouse, we were greeted by a mid sized, caramel colored dog with a jingle-jangling collar. The friendly mutt belonged to the local boat canvas man who was up on the balcony sipping a beer. The tinny sound of the marine radio called out "Jill Marie, Fish On!" and Smitty, the annual scorekeeper for the event, wrote on his dry erase board the time of the hook up and the name of the boat. We could hear the ladies "Whoo hoo" and clap as we made our way up the stairs.

When we reached the top, we were greeted by friends and familiar faces. Each happy to see us and eager to tell us who had hooked what and who was in the lead. We rested our elbows on the railing and looked out into the darkness uselessly trying to figure out which flickering light was which boat. Over the radio, we heard "The Tracy Lynn, Fish On!…. Nope, fish off," and there was a groan from the crowd and some light hearted comments about who's in trouble for jerking the line. The warm breeze blew around us in the same way the laughs and welcoming atmosphere did. Fish stories were told, drinks were offered around, and hugs and pats on the back were abundant under the yellow light hung up in a makeshift way over the record keeper.

We stayed for some time and kept an eye out in the Pass to detect any movement from the boats of a captain scratching off from the pack with a new hook up. We made new friends and caught up with some local gossip. When we finally were walking down the wooden boardwalk towards our car to leave, I think my friend had an epiphany about the lure of the tournaments in Boca Grande. It's of course, about catching fish and the competition, but more than that, the attraction to the tournaments, and to the island, is the commaraderie you feel. Boca Grande will welcome you with open arms if you respect her. The "locals" aren't territorial combatants in a turf war over the Pass. They only want to keep this tradition of friendship and community alive and well for their own children and grandchildren. They want to keep this hometown feeling around as long as they can, and they strive to keep alive a resource that has supported their families for generations. They welcome you here, they want you here, but they want newcomers to respect what they have made in terms of a life, a home, and a culture on the island.

Well, that's my take on it, anyway. If you do get a chance to come down and observe a LIVE BAIT tournament, please do. It's a unique experience that will take you to another place and time.

Here's Paul Sharman's take on the WRTT

Reprinted from FishandFly.com

All teams entered into the tournament were flying the official flag to help judges identify them in the melee of boats on the water.

Boca Grande Tarpon Tournament Makes a Splash

By Paul Sharman – Editor 10 hours 27 minutes ago

The small but delightful village of Boca Grande in Lee County, south west Florida recently played host once more to the "World's Richest" Tarpon Tournament. This annual competition brings interest from anglers across the USA and around the world. Two afternoons of competition chasing the giant tarpon of Boca Grande Pass brought lots of action.

Tarpon or 'the Silver King', are a gamefish of legendary status and draw anglers from all over the world to the locations where they can be found and fished for. There is perhaps nowhere more famous for its concentration of particularly large tarpon of 100lb and more (the largest go over 200lb) than the Boca Grande Pass in south west Florida which divides the south end of Gasparilla Island from its neighbouring State park barrier island of Cayo Costa, providing the main passage into Charlotte Harbour, itself a State Park and huge recreational fishing area.

Pods of rolling tarpon heightened the excitement amongst the crews in Boca Grande Pass

Tournament of Kings

There is a long history of both tarpon fishing and tarpon tournaments in the Boca Grande area dating back to the early 1900's but the modern version that has become known as the World's Richest Tarpon Tournament was started back in the early 1980's by the Boca Grande Club. It was then handed over to the Boca Grande Chamber of Commerce in 1991 who gave it the name that has stuck until today. The Boca Grande Fishing Guides Association ran it for about a decade just after the start of the new millenium before the Chamber of Commerce once again picked up the challenge again in 2012.

This educational short film and documentary preview, "Rich History…Priceless Future – the Tarpon of Boca Grande Pass" is presented by The Boca Grande Area Chamber of Commerce. It was written, produced and edited by Sean Paxton and Brooks Paxton II and made in the USA by Think Out Loud Productions. For more information about this short film and the upcoming full-length feature documentary, please visit: www.BocaGrandeChamber.com and www.ThinkOutLoudProductions.com.

At it's height, the World's Richest Tarpon Tournament certainly lived up to its name and the total purse reached almost $200,000 which attracted anglers from all over the world to compete. Under the guiding hand of Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and passionate angler Lew Hastings, the tournament is once again on the rise and now also includes Tarpon Festival Weekend in downtown Boca Grande which features a fantastic art festival. This weekend includes the Gasparilla Island Kids Classic Tarpon Tournament, where a new generation of young anglers get to taste the experience and the chance to hook up with perhaps the fish of their lifetime.

A Blast in the Pass

Running over two afternoon sessions on a Thursday and Friday, the 30+ assembled teams with their boats and captains joined the throngs of other recreational anglers as well as other boats carrying judges, press and interested onlookers making the Pass look at times like a watery parking lot. The sheer number of boats packed into this relatively small area require 'rules of the road' and when a boat is hooked up, neighbouring boats must be sure to keep out of the way while the hooked-up boat must make an effort to extracate themselves from the masses if they can. Fouled lines and lost fish are never good at the best of times and especially not when thousands of dollars are literally 'on the line'!

Team Sitarah release another fish on their way to third place overall in the 2013 World's Richest Tarpon Tournament

The strong conservation ethics of the tournament and the experience of the local skippers who of course wish to see the fishery stay strong have led to the World's Richest Tarpon Tournament using live bait on circle hooks only. Once hooked up, a judge boat is hailed who heads over to witness the fish and touching of the leader which qualifies as a catch followed by the release which is a quick break off at the side of the boat (the hook will rust and drop out very quickly in the salt water). Fight times are kept to the absolute minimum by the use of strong tackle and manouevering the boat to keep pace with the tarpon. This is very important as the schools of tarpon are shadowed by much larger predators such as bull sharks and giant hammerheads who will happily pick off any tired or worn out fish they come across who are struggling to recover.

Everyone's a Winner!

The rules of the tournament are simple – most tarpon wins with 1st, 2nd a 3rd places up for grabs accompanied by a handsome reward! This year both days saw good numbers of tarpon breezing through and rolling, even right in the middle of all the assembled boats although actually hooking into a fish was harder than it looked it seemed sometimes. However, over the course of the two afternoon fishing periods, there were a few boats whose names started to become more regularly heard over the radio and the standings along with fish caught and released were updated by the tournament crew at regular intervals so everyone knew who they had to beat and how many more tarpon they needed to catch.

Team Jill Marie was just one of many of the tournament boats which caught and released tarpon during the tournament

With the winners ceremony slated for downtown Boca Grande on Friday evening, a last minute flurry of hookups added some extra spice to the dying minutes of the tournament and then it was all over. Boats and crews headed back to the multitude of marinas and docks scattered all around Gasparilla Island and the Boca Grande area, before everyone converged once again in front of the stage erected in the festival area in the heart of town on Park Avenue.

As darkness decended the winners were announced. In third place was Capt. Mark Futch and team Sitarah who took home a cheque for $10,240. In second place was Capt. Waylon Mills and Team Blaze who collected a cheque for $15,360 but top of the podium was a very popular win by Capt. Steve Ahlers and team Spooked Again who netted the winners cheque for $25,600 by catching and releasing 8 tarpon over the 8 hours total fishing time on the Thursday and Friday. Along with the cash prizes, there were handsome winners plaques, championship style rings specially made for the tournament winners and of course for the top team the winners trophy, which not surprisingly is a stunning statue of a leaping tarpon.

2013 World's Richest Tarpon Tournament winners Team Spooked Again with Capt. Steve Ahlers (far right)

The evening was then rounded off in rousing fashion by Nashville recording star Colton James taking to the stage and belting out some music which kept the crowd dancing into the night.

Even though only one team could take the top spot in the World's Richest Tarpon Tournament, thanks to the beautiful south west Florida location, the stunning weather, ocean and beaches plus the other great opportunities for fishing and watersports in and around Charlotte Harbour and the Boca Grande, Fort Myers and Sanibel area, this meant that everyone was a winner!

How to Enter or Find Out More

If you are interested in fishing in next years tournament, contact the Boca Grande Chamber of Commerce at +1 941-964-0568 or email WRTarpon@gmail.com. Alternatively keep a watch out for details of the 2014 World's Richest Tarpon Tournament on their website at http://worldsrichesttarpon.com/

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