For a second year, the Florida Keys’ local “tax men” are in the spotlight for the Spanish Fly Shark Tournament, kicking off Thursday through Saturday, April 3-5.
Building off the success of the inaugural 2024 tournament, in which 27 sharks were caught and safely released by competing boats over two days, the rules for the 2025 tourney remain almost identical: most bull sharks wins.
In 2025, for the first time, the weekend’s action will be caught on camera, as the tournament will make its television debut on Outdoor America.
Krissy Wejebe is the daughter of legendary angler Jose Wejebe, the host of the popular TV show “Spanish Fly,” who passed away in 2012. She’s leading the charge to preserve Jose’s legacy, values and respect for the Florida Keys ecosystem as executive director of the Jose Wejebe Memorial Foundation, the tournament beneficiary that makes fishing dreams come true for children and families facing life-changing challenges.
“If the foundation is going to continue and we want to build these events, there has to be some kind of media element to the whole package that’s going to continue to introduce the next generation and new generations to Spanish Fly, to who my dad was,” she told the Weekly. Along with televising the weekend, filming during the tournament could be used for a pilot episode of a Spanish Fly reboot of sorts, she said.
“The purpose of the tournament was to do something where we know we’ll get fish on the board, to have tight lines, and be able to get the fishing community together both inshore and offshore,” she added. “Let’s get everybody together for a good time and get some real data that we can deliver about the sharks that were caught in this area at this time.”
Wejebe acknowledged before starting the tournament in 2024 that although bull sharks may be harvested legally, targeting an apex predator, even in a no-kill tournament, could prove controversial. But with issues of shark depredation on the rise – in other words, when fishermen are “taxed” by reeling in severed heads in predator-laden waters – the need for change has even caught the attention of the federal government.
Though it eventually fizzled out in 2024 due to lack of support in the Senate, in 2025, the U.S. House already passed the Supporting the Health of Aquatic systems through Research, Knowledge and Enhanced Dialogue (SHARKED) Act, directing NOAA to establish a task force to tackle the subject. Last year, Wejebe said the response to the tournament was overwhelmingly positive.
“I think we were very clear that harvesting animals for no reason isn’t what we’re trying to do here,” she said. “It’s important that we’re very conservation-minded, because that was Jose’s way, and it’s a tournament in his honor.”
The strict catch-and-release tournament will follow NOAA guidelines for shark releases as well as exclusive use of circle hooks that will fall out of a caught shark’s mouth in time. All competing captains or boat owners must obtain an Atlantic Highly Migratory Species permit with a shark endorsement from NOAA, and Wejebe’s hope is to continue relaying data from caught fish to better inform fisheries assessments in the Keys.
The Spanish Fly Shark Tournament begins on Thursday, April 3 at 7 p.m. with registration and a mandatory captains meeting at the Key West Yacht Club. Fishing takes place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, April 4 and 5, and an awards dinner and silent auction caps off the proceedings on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the yacht club. More information, including rules and registration, is at keywestsharktournament.com.
