Once again the weather cooperated with us and we experienced another beautiful day for our fifth annual sponsored event!  This year's chartered fleet included fifteen professionally guided boats with 45 fisher-friends onboard.  Participants included alumni, college staff, corporate supporters, more parents and families of current students, and one current student.  We had many anglers who have been with us from the start as well as many newcomers who were brought along to join in the fun!   

The fish were biting with many anglers bringing back nice filets for a scrumptious meal at home!  The Stamey family continued to demonstrate their skills with Bill Stamey winning 1st Place in the Trout category.  Last year his wife, Johnna, won the Master Angler Award!  Two first-time participants won categories with Rick Argudo placing first in the Redfish category and Charlie Waller winning the overall Master Angler Award!  The biggest shocker of the day was Bill Covert, who was finally able to prove his abilities by winning the Snook category.  The Trash Fish Award went to Tonya Womack who enjoyed challenging catches of Bonita under the Skyway.  Her disappointment was to find out that some people compare eating Bonita to eating a leathery football!  We all enjoyed the fishing stories, made new friends, and created new memories of good times at Eckerd College.

We were fortunate to have substantial support once again from the Phoenix Venture Philanthropy Foundation through their major sponsorship.  Other sponsors included O'Neill's Marina, and Dolphin Village Tackle.   The tournament ended with a delicious lunch provided by the Phoenix group, a raffle drawing, and presentantion of the awards to the winners.

Congratulations to our new reigning Champions for 2009:   

    Charlie Waller - Tournament Master Angler
       62 3/4" total of Trout, Redfish, and Snook.

     Rick Argudo – Redfish Champion
         31 1/2" Redfish

    Bill Stamey – Trout Champion
          24" Trout

    Billl Covert – Snook Champion
          24 1/2" Snook 

    Tonya Womack – “Trash Fish” Champion
        27 3/4" Bonita

Many Thanks go to all those friends who supported and participated to make this year’s event so successful. Next year's goal is to charter twenty or more boats, so plan ahead and watch for the details next fall.

For More Photos of the Tournament,

Click here for our PHOTO GALLERY!