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MARCH 12 – 14, 2010
Registration, Friday, March 12th, 6 to 8 pm
At the DoubleTree Grand Key Resort
3990 S. Roosevelt Blvd., Key West, FL
BOAT ENTRY FEE OF $200.00
Fishing, Saturday & Sunday, March 13 & 14
Lines In at 8:30 am & Out at 3 pm each day
Awards Dinner on Sunday, March 14th, 7 pm
At the DoubleTree Grand Key Resort
Awards Dinner, $25.00 per person
WIN $5,000.00 in Cash Prizes
For 15 Different Species
Win $500.00 cash for:
Heaviest Dolphin,
Most Releases of:
Marlin, Sailfi sh & Tarpon
Win $300.00 cash for:
Heaviest Kingfi sh, Cobia
Blackfi n Tuna, Mackerel,
Mutton Snapper, Wahoo
Most Releases of: Permit,
Bonefi sh & Barracuda
Win $150.00 cash for:
Heaviest Mangrove Snapper & Grunt
Junior Division Heaviest Catch
(Anglers under 15 yrs. old)
KEY WEST FISHING TOURNAMENT
KICKOFF 2010 with
CONCHY JOE’S MARINE & TACKLE
1. I.G.F.A. rules and Key West Fishing Tournament rules
will apply. Rod and reel only.
2. All Marlin or Sailfi sh releases must deploy non-offset
circle hooks when using natural baits or a natural
bait artifi cial/lure combination.
3. All catches must be unassisted. Professional
captains and/or mates are ineligible as anglers.
4. NEW~‘Most Releases’ will be scored by registered
boat.
5. Entries will only be accepted from anglers fi shing on
a boat that is registered in the KICKOFF.
6. A maximum of 6 anglers may fi sh from a registered
boat on each day. This rule does not apply to
registered party boats.
7. Anglers wishing to compete for marlin or sailfi sh
releases must purchase a camera at registration
to photo the release. Cost is $5.00. Anglers do not
have to call in releases to the committee boat.
8. Fishing begins with lines in at 8:30 am each day and
will conclude at lines out at 3:00 pm each day. Lines
in and out will be called by the committee boat over
VHF 78.
9. All fi sh must be weighed in at one of the following
offi cial K.W.F.T. weighstations: King’s Pointe Marina,
Sunset Marina, Murray Marine, Sugarloaf Marina,
Cudjoe Gardens Marina and Dolphin Marina.
10. Anglers MUST complete an offi cial K.W.F.T. entry
form for weighed and released catches and deliver
the entry to a tournament offi cial at King’s Pointe
Marina, or fax entry to 305-292-4995. Entries MUST
be received by an offi cial no later than 5:30 pm each
day. Weighed catches can be transported by vehicle
to a weighstation for entry.
KICKOFF TOURNAMENT GENERAL RULES
FINAL RULES WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AT
REGISTRATION ON MARCH 12, 2010
AT DOUBLETREE GRAND KEY RESORT
KEY WEST FISHING TOURNAMENT
KICKOFF 2010 ENTRY
ANGLER’S FIRST & LAST NAME,
ADDRESS, CITY, STATE AND ZIP CODE
Boat Name: ______________________________
Captain: ________________________________
Address: ________________________________
City, ST, Zip: _____________________________
Home Phone: ___________________________
Cell Phone: _____________________________
PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY
To pre-register, complete entry form and mail to the
K. W. F. T., P. O. Box 2154, Key West, FL 33045.
Include registration fee of $200.00 payable to
the Key West Fishing Tournament.
PICK UP THE FINAL TOURNAMENT RULES AND CAMERA
FOR SAILFISH & MARLIN RELEASES AT THE REGISTRATION,
FRIDAY, MARCH 12th AT THE DOUBLETREE GRAND RESORT
1. _______________________________________
___________________________________________
2. _______________________________________
___________________________________________
3. _______________________________________
___________________________________________
4. _______________________________________
___________________________________________
5. _______________________________________
___________________________________________
6. _______________________________________
___________________________________________

Molly's First Sailfish

Key West is a big time destination for weddings. We do a lot of bachelor parties and it is always a great time , with everyone in the party mode.

Molly and Kurt changed it up and went fishing on their Honeymoon. I know that they are going to have a long and healthy relationship when they can go fishing in Key West the day after they got married.

Molly caught her first sailfish and Kurt was very nice and watched .

Good luck and much happiness.

These last few days of September have been blessedly calm with no impending doom on the horizon – yet. However the fish could care less . Bait is thick on the reefs and more Ballyhoo than we have later in the season. This is setting up some great Tuna and Sailfish action  in the coming weeks . Blackfins are being caught deep already and a few Sailfish that got the memo on the Ballyhoo are moving in on the reef already. The Gulfstream despite what NOAA says is in close (10 miles) and is producing Dolphin and Wahoo, especially around debris for the hoo’s.

Although the Key West Marlin Tournament was in July it has taken me this long to boil down my thoughts. I was included in a great team of seasoned anglers and crew on the REEL FAST . This boat takes it’s name seriously and I truly enjoyed being able to change fishing locations at 30+ knots.

The first day we caught a nice Dolphin that put some points on the board against one Marlin caught. The second day we changed locations and landed in the sweet spot.

In the first four minutes Scott Meister caught and brought to the boat a Sailfish , the 80# gear was kinda overkill .

Five minutes later we hooked the ONE we wanted . The Marlin had other ideas and took off and with about four minutes of line clearing , spending the winnings and general mayhem the fish straightened the hook.

What can I say the mood kinda sank , except we had another sailfish bite about ten minutes later , then nothing for the next seven hours. Marlin Fishing !

The third day we went back to our sweeet spot , however the fish did not get the memo and were somewhere else. this became obvious and the boat got to show her speed and we moved South to a secret pair of sea mounts . Quickly we were engaged with THE FISH, it jumped , looked right and was dutifully called in . It was still THE FISH right up to the moment Greg Sage wired the fish and it rolled on its side and transspieced on us into a BLUE SAILFISH.

And so ended our fishing in The Key West Marlin Tournament. It was a let down to not get the fish we wanted , however being in contention to the last minute and actually having the chance to win, plus a good payout in the calcuttas made for a a lot of good discussions over the next few days.

Summer may not be official but the temperature and the fishing sure feel like summer. The water temperature inside the reef is over 90 degrees and in the Gulfstream it is about 86. The fishing around Key West has been a lot less big Dolphin and a whole lot of schooling Dolphin in the just legal range. The really calm summer weather lets you see all the free jumping billfish and there are a lot. We have not caught any this week but other charter boats have. Swordfish are being caught at sundown and this makes for a nice trip that beats the midday heat . Leaving late in the afternoon and returning long before last call on Duval.

A couple of good friends and a break in the weather and Key West shows why fishing here is so special. After picking thru Dolphin after Dolphin and missing our first chance at a Sail while trolling we hooked up with  Danny’s First Key West Sailfish.

Sometimes you have a feeling someone is happy on a charter , and sometimes it just beams.

Over the last week we have been catching some really nice Dolphin in the over 20 lb range . It is always good to see the larger Dolphin start to show up off of Key West. This beauty caught by Anthony

and this nice cow caught by Jim in spite of a Dramamine overdose were typical of the better fish in the first week of April.

As often happens here in Key West the conditions have changed radically and the Gulfstream has moved up very near the reef. The heavy winds at the end of last week (and again tonite ) are stirring the waters in the Gulf which together are creating an absolutely gorgeous color change with a very sharp definition. This has created incredible conditions for Sailfish in Key West . Sunday saw 3 released for 5 hook ups in a four hour period. This action was typical for anyone using live bait in the last few days.

If you like catching Sailfish the action in Key West right now is as good as anyplace ever gets, and should hold up for some time to come, I hope.

Once in a while the world wide web brings a call from the past. Some great friends from, well I guess I really should not say how long ago besides not knowing for sure and not wanting to be rude I will say at least a prior life if not two, were coming to Key West . They googled me up ( should that be capitalized as a verb? ) and we got together for a boat ride that turned into a fishing trip. A few wahoo are being caught when the seas lay down and we put some lures in and cruised for wahoo and caught up on old times.  Not long and the big strike came. I was ready to heat up the pan when this beautiful trophy Key West Sailfish leapt into the air and danced around for about 30 minutes till Alan brought the fish to the side of the boat. We released the fish and on to something to eat. Beata caught several Bonita but, not really the fish to eat. By now we were really hungry and low on beer so off we go to take advantage of the Stone Crabs at the Rusty Anchor.

Common among Captains in Key West is to congratulate each other on the release of a billfish. It is an accomplishment that is recognized by the words “pretty work” over the radio. Many things go into why this is meaningful , not the least of which is how many billfish just go away for one reason or another , some reasons you never know. I want to recognize a little pretty work with a cell phone camera taken by Steve on the boat the other day and all I can say about this picture is “Pretty Work”.

In conversation with a dear (and I dare not mention the years) friend , it was forcefully brought to my attention that everybody and their cat had their picture on my site. She also believed that since she was one of the early explorers of Cuba , and that the reason her picture had not been posted then was because she was taking the pictures. She should be recognized with her big Dolphin that she caught right before she caught her first Key West Sailfish.

So here you go Kay: “featured angler of the day”. Nice Dolphin too.