Capt. Brian Cone, aboard his charter boat Contagious, led anglers Mark Mitchell and Kenneth Padgett, both from North Carolina, Travis Bennett and Andy Cone from Tavernier, and Greg Tolpin from Key Largo, to the winner’s circle with a total of 11 sailfish releases in the 57th annual Islamorada Sailfish Tournament.
Kicking off at the Whale Harbor seafood buffet, the event maintained social distancing and COVID restrictions. The sailfish action started on the morning of Dec. 4 and continued over the next two days, concluding on Dec. 6. The team took home beautiful sailfish sculptures sponsored by Caribee Boat Sales and Yamaha Out Boards along with a check for $42,390. Over the three days of fishing, 90 sailfish were released out of 103 called in hookups with over $90,000 paid to the winners.
The Keys’ first cold front of the season greeted 98 anglers fishing on 21 boats. Juan Vilorio, aboard the Hellreyzer, released the first sailfish of the three-day tournament while the Cloud Nine was fighting a double header. At the end of day one, 32 sailfish were released and the Cloud Nine was in the lead with five fish.
Day two started out early for Tackle Center, as Capt. Charlie Scoble called in a triple header of sailfish at 8:42 a.m., followed by Last Dance calling in a double. The Tackle Center released two of the fish quickly but the third fish was not going to be easy. Eleven other sails were released before Donny Lange released the third fish of the triple header at 10:12 a.m. As the day ended Tackle Center was in the lead with a total of eight releases followed by the Contagious with six and the Cloud Nine with five.
The final day of fishing was calm and cloudy. The bite started out slow but Contagious picked at the sails all day. In the end, the Contagious took home the top honors with 11 releases. Contagious angler Bennett released five of those fish, winning the Bill Hirni highpoint angler award as well as a Sammy Milazzo original painting. Ten-year old Andy Cone took first place in the junior division with three releases.
Anglers Donny and Brad Lange along with Jeffery Dickman and Fritz Zeher, all from Tavernier, added another sail to the Tackle Center’s tally and took home their very own Tackle Center of Islamorada sponsored second-place sailfish trophies with a total of nine releases. With Capt. Justin Baker at the helm, the Yellow Tale edged out the Cloud Nine by one fish on the final day.
The Contagious takes home the top honors with 11 releases. CONTRIBUTED 
Anglers Donny and Brad Lange along with Jeffery Dickman and Fritz Zeher, all from Tavernier, add another sail to the Tackle Center’s tally and take home their very own Tackle Center of Islamorada sponsored second-place sailfish trophies with a total of nine releases. CONTRIBUTED 
Ten-year old Andy Cone takes first place in the junior division with three releases. He’s pictured with his dad, Capt. Brian Cone. CONTRIBUTED
Anglers Clarke and Phil Harlow, Patrick Nutt, Nick Caito, Ken Stiles and Eric Turnoff, all from Fort Lauderdale, along with Islamorada’s Jimi Fickling released seven sailfish on the Yellow Tale and were awarded the third-place trophies.
Debbie David, of Hollywood, fishing aboard the Relentless with Captain Paul Ross, released three sailfish, winning the Top Lady Angler award. Second- and third-place junior angler awards went to Laurel David with two releases and Christopher David with one release, both fishing aboard the Relentless. The Challenger took home most tagged fish team awards with four sailfish tagged and released.
In true Islamorada style, the sailfish weren’t the only fish biting on this beautiful weekend. The largest tuna, weighing in at 24 pounds, was caught by Mike Slocum, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, fishing aboard the Last Dance. Slocum also weighed in the largest dolphin at 9.8 pounds. The largest mackerel award went to angler Michael Varney, from Tavernier, with a 26.6-pound kingfish.
The Islamorada Sailfish Tournament is the first leg of the Florida Keys Gold Cup Sailfish Championship. The Contagious is currently in the lead with 11 fish. Second place in the Gold Cup is the Tackle Center with nine releases and third is the Yellow Tale with seven. The next leg of the series is at the Islamorada Fishing Club’s Captains Cup Sailfish Tournament on Jan. 20 and the champions will be crowned during the Cheeca Lodge and Spa Presidential Sailfish Tournament Jan. 23-24.
“Whale Harbor served up another great event,” said tournament director Dianne Harbaugh. “Things were a little different with all the covid protocols but everyone did a great job and had a wonderful time.”
The Islamorada Sailfish Tournament is the primary fundraiser for the Islamorada Charter Boat Association. The Islamorada Sailfish Tournament will continue the fight to preserve and protect the fabulous fishing in the Florida Keys. More information on the Islamorada Sailfish Tournament is at www.islamoradasailfishtournament.com
