More than 150 anglers and guests descended upon La Siesta Resort and Marina in Islamorada for the fifth annual Spartan Fishing Tournament held on August 23-24.
Organized through Monsignor Edward Pace High School’s Anglers Club, the tournament raised funds for the high school’s Spartans-4-Spartans Program, which helps students that encounter extreme financial hardship in their junior and senior years at Pace.
On Friday, family, friends, students and alumni gathered for the first official event of the tournament – the welcome reception and captain's meeting, where anglers reviewed rules and regulations of the tournament. Then, bright and early on Saturday morning, the 31 in-shore, off-shore, guided and non-guided boats left the marina.
Hours later, the tournament festivities concluded with a barbecue luncheon and award ceremony where the first place winners received trophies designed, donated and presented by renown marine artist David Wirth.
Tournament Results:
Inshore Division:
1st place team - "87" with Capt. Nestor Alvisa (213 points)
2nd place team - Li & Louk with Capt. Brian William (152 points)
3rd place team - Trotta & Brooks with Capt. Mike Hutchinson (134 points)
Offshore Division:
1st place team - Nickolas Valdes "Quality Aircraft Parts" (498 points)
2nd place team - Rouco, Torres, Perez, with Capt. Ron Varona (289 points)
3rd place team - Harke with Capt. Michael Biggie (144 points)
Individual:
Top Junior Angler - Valdes (96 points)
Top Female Angler - Michelle Montoya with Capt. Dave Denkert (team Hell’s Bay Boatworks) (101 points)
Top Un-Guided Angler - Jose Valdes (132 points)
Biggest Fish (TTI Blakemore Award ) - Gary Parson (34" Snook)
Smallest Fish - Rainer Schael (3.5" Ramora)
The top female and top un-guided awards were provided by Pelagic and Rapala. All other awards were provided by Trophyland USA.
The fifth annual Spartan Fishing Tournament was made possible through the support and sponsorship of Quality Aircraft Parts Inc., David Wirth, Ray Dass, the Harke family, the Robins family, the Resende family, Hell’s Bay Boatworks, Miami-Dade Firefighters, and RS Environmental Consulting.
For information about the annual fishing tournament, visit www.paceanglersclub.com.