2021 Dust’Em Off Sailfish Warmup: Weez in the Keys Wins First Overall

Last week marked the kick-off of the 2021 South Florida sailfish season with the DustEm Off Sailfish Warmup kicking off the eighth year with a record 56 teams competing from South Miami through Jupiter (up & down Floridas’ Atlantic Coast). Although eight teams took home large checks and trophies and the tournament beneficiary, Mahogany Youth Corp, will receive a check for $10,000 raised in the charity Calcutta division where 100 percent of funds are donated to the organization. Tournament Founder, Captain Ben Sharpe, is a product of Mahogany Youth and knows first hand how important having healthy mentors and self esteem, skill building organizations can be, especially for underprivileged youth. Ben joined at age 14 and now has a long-standing career as a successful Captain. This year, 56 boats competed for the prized championship belts and a total cash payout of $130,290 which is outstanding considering the low entry fee of $500 (with the early bird special). While Sharpe is still very much involved, trusted friend, Courtney Bowden took the helm as tournament director in 2020 for the foreseeable future. It is her commitment to keep Ben’s original vision: honoring the traditions that have been built over the last eight years. Due to the popularity of this tournament, the DustEm Off committee also announced the start of the SPRING PutEm UpTournament March 16-20, 2022 (Same format, one day of fishing, only boundary is Floridas South Atlantic Coast). Early Registration will open Feb. 1. at the same entry prices. There will also be a *New* Pee-wee division (age eight and under) added to the prize categories for 2022. The rules will be updated to accommodate assistance needed from a parent in the event a pee-wee angler needs a hand (to not lose the rod – wink, wink). 2021 DustEm Off Sailfish Warmup Results Out of 56 boats, 97 sailfish were released, 33 boats submitted releases for a total of 97 sailfish, making the boat average around 1.8. There were many doubles and triples throughout the day keeping a steady pace of call-ins rolling. Overall (also Pro-Division Standings) 1st Weez in the Keys 7 releases 2nd Hardway 6 releases 3rd Irish Twin 6 releases 4th Off Course – 5 releases 5th CATCH 23 – (took home 3rd place captains purse calcutta) Semi-Pro Division 1st Off Course 5 releases 2nd Team High-5 4 releases 3rd Profishent Junior 4 releases Note: There were not enough qualifying participants in order to host the Charter Division. Top Angler  Scott Robins of Weez in the Keys 5 releases Top Lady Angler  Janette Aboujaoude of Team High-5 2 releases Top Junior Angler  Aiden Martinez of Profishent Junior 2 releases For more information, visit https://www.dustemoffsailfish.com/