InTheBite

“Main Attraction” Wins 29th Annual Cheeca Presidential Sailfish Tournament

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ISLAMORADA, Florida Keys – Captain Marty Lewis of Marathon, Florida, led his team aboard Main Attraction to the overall win in the 29th annual Cheeca Lodge Presidential Sailfish Tournament that ended Jan. 27.

Team anglers Mark Busch, Daniel Roberts, Clint Rodamer and Shelby Bentley, all residents of Marathon, together released 10 sails in the best time for top honors.

Team HellReyzer captured second place with 10 sails, with Captain Ryan Alexander of Cutler Bay, Florida, at the helm. Anglers included Rey Acosta, Mike Acosta, Travis Upchurch and Jorge Corzo, of Pinecrest, Florida.

Team Indigenous earned third place honors with nine sailfish releases. Islamorada’s Captain Travis Dickens led anglers Wade Stafford, Coleman Wherly, Mike Varney and Mark Toledo, from Merritt Island, Melbourne, Key Largo and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, respectively.

Varney also captured the tournament’s grand champion angler award for his five releases.

Cheeca Presidential Tournament director Liz Hill reported that 73 anglers aboard 19 boats released 82 sailfish during the two-day fishing contest.

The “Presidential” is the final leg of the three-tournament Florida Keys Gold Cup Sailfish Championship, which includes the Islamorada Sailfish Tournament and the Islamorada Fishing Club Tournament.

Team Last Dance totaled 25 releases over the series’ three events to be named overall Gold Cup Series champion. According to organizers, the team was awarded the first-place prize of $24,000.

Two-Time Captain of the Year Winner – Glenn Cameron

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Two-time Captain of the Year Glenn Cameron and his wife Jennifer proved that they are not only a formidable tournament team, but throw a great party as well. The Camerons hosted the 2017 Contender Florida Division Captain of the Year Party on Saturday March 10 at Fish Heads Marina in Stuart.  What a party it was.

About a 150 people came out to celebrate Capt. Glenn’s 2017 Award. The party included an open bar, a live band, and two giant 5’ vats of paella cooked on-site by the fine folks at Paella Grill. The festivities were a who’s who of the Stuart fishing community and a really good time.

InTheBite would like to especially thank Jennifer Cameron, Glenn’s wife, whose expertise in throwing a party is only matched by her skill catching sailfish. Congratulations Capt. Glenn Cameron and Mate of the Year JJ Davidson and the whole Floridian team.

Florida Division Captain of the Year Award Presentation: Scotty Fawcett

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InTheBite’s Dale Wills and Elliott Stark were on hand at the awards ceremony of the Fish Heads Invitational Tournament in Stuart, Florida to present the 2016 Contender Florida Division Captain of the Year Award to Capt. Scotty Fawcett. Fawcett, who runs a 31′ Contender Off the Chain based out of Stuart, had a remarkable 2016 season. His 1,300 points were tallied on two different private boats on which he was hired to fish tournaments.

The event was a festive affair, full of many distinguished captains and crews. Just how distinguished? On hand were six InTheBite Captains of the Year. Joining Fawcett were Capt. Rob Moore of the Fa La Me, Capt. VJ Bell — the first Captain of the Year, Capt. Mike Brady of the Cowpoke, Capt. Glenn Cameron of the Floridian, and Capt. Wink Doerzbacher of the Showtime.

Congratulations to Capt. Fawcett on the award. For the up to date tally on this year’s highly competitive Florida Division, see the results.

Captain Profile: Art Sapp, Liquid

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art-sapp

Capt. Art Sapp and team Liquid, a force in the Florida Division.

Capt. Art Sapp, Liquid
Homeport: Hillsboro, Florida
Boat/Power: 39-foot Sea Vee/Quad Mercury Verado 350 hp

Wins to Date: Silver Sailfish Derby, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
Tackle: Rods – Custom aide by Leeward, 20 pound class; Spinning Reels—Okuma Azores;
Conventional Reels—Okuma Andros

Like most boats fishing the South Florida sailfish series, Captain Art Sapp and the Liquid planned to kite fish during the Silver Sailfish Derby. When the winds died down and conditions were no longer right for the kite, Sapp utilized his boat and the experience of his team as keys to victory.

In The Spread

The first day brought enough wind to fly the kites and team released two sails on four bites. This was standard practice. After the morning of the second day, however, the winds died and plans changed. “In the morning we saw a couple of free jumpers and ran to them with the kites out, but the kites didn’t work,” Sapp explains. “We spent most of the day running to feeding fish on the surface and casting them live baits.” When not slinging to actively feeding fish, the team bump trolled live baits. All told, the team caught nine sails out of 18 bites.

Technique

Sapp credits victory to two factors. “It’s our fourth year fishing together and we have a great deal of team unity,” Sapp says. “It also helps that our anglers are really good when casting to fish. This is not always the case.” The team Sapp describes is made up of Jim DeMarco (first mate), Keith McDonald (owner/angler), and anglers Rob Degnin, Steve Dougherty, Mike Gula, Jacob Lepera, Jim Steel, and Carl Schactor.

The second component to victory is the boat itself. The Liquid is a brand new 39-foot Sea Vee that allows Sapp to get on the fish in a hurry. Upon seeing fish on top 300-400 yards away, the center console made it possible to get to the fish in a hurry. “We were fishing in a pack of big sportfishers and they couldn’t run to the fish as well as we could,” Sapp concludes.