The Cudjoe Sales/ Low Key Fisheries Holiday Fishing Tournament
This is the best holiday party idea we can think of for our employees” was how Dan Iarrobino described his request. “We want to send all of them fishing for a full day on your charter boats. This year we’ll need three boats total not just two like last year, I want everyone to go”. The addition of a new venture this year, Low Key Fisheries was the reason Dan needed extra space. It is on the same property as Cudjoe Sales at mile marker 22.5 on Cudjoe Key. Now taking these guys fishing was different than taking a group of newbies who had never fished the Florida Keys before, and different even than some of our guests that fish these islands regularly. This group was considered just shy of expert. Day in and day out the products they sell go in the hands of an army of anglers that report back to them at times with reports and results. Cudjoe Sales is not only the “Fisherman’s Warehouse”, it is the center of the fishing universe for the lower Keys and possibly the entire island chain.
The idea was to make it a corporate tournament. A little spice to go with the holiday cheer and rod bending. Enter the Premium Time out of A & B Marina in Key West with Capt. Seth Hopp and Austin Hopp on the deck. A young team of two brothers, connected by blood, who have many hours together fishing and catching - stiff competition. Their 36’ vessel would be the competitive chariot for the team from Low Key Fisheries consisting of Craig, Becky,Tommy, Spencer and AJ who are as nice as pie behind the counter, but able to pull from the “We’re going to win!” archives. They were on board and had a good shot at being the winners.
On the Reel Deal out of a Key West Harbour, myself and Capt. Mike Bartlett were sure we would take the team to victory. The team was what I considered to be the “Beauty and the Beasts”. Neil, Austin, Dave and Nick were all bowed up like a school of jack crevalle, ready to fly into the mayhem with reckless abandon. This group was pumping jet fuel and liking it.
The 35’ SeaHunter that rolls out of Hurricane Hole Marina on Stock Island was the third boat. It was captained by Capt. Chris Burns, who is a real asset. The stealth of the vessel, the true lucky nature of the captain, and the talent on board; a local commercial fisherman, a commercial sales manager and the brother of one of the best light tackle captains (Capt. Jason Johnson) made the line up stand out. Chris, Phil, Cameron and Eric were a force to be reckoned with.
The time of departure was set for 8am and leaving from two separate marinas with plans to meet at the Key West sea buoy. We had spent the morning before gathering pilchards and pinfish with hopes of finishing the bait menu by catching blue runners at the buoy. The blue runners came easy, and the pilchards and pinfish were shared between the boats and we were off . The plan was to drag baits in the blue to the end of the bar off of Boca Grande.
The December dolphin bite has been easy and over-confidence in artificials was my downfall on the Reel Deal. Rather than deploy the freshly caught, brined and BEAUTIFUL fresh dead ballyhoo we had in the bait cooler I decided to move fast and get a better shot at blackfin and skipjack tuna.......brilliant. The weed line was there in 200 feet of water and the first set of frigate birds were hitting the deck. I thought it was going to be easy since I was the closest or “lead boat” by design.
The tournament was simple with only a few rules. The first was that we would travel as a flotilla out to the bar, moving at roughly the same speed. As I managed the rudders to take the Reel Deal towards the mayhem, a schoolie dolphin popped up just off of the bow. I let the crew know and they were excited. This is going to be EASY! The baits made their way through the shade created by the wing span of our biggest bird without any interruption. Unbelievable! As the SeaHunter rolled up next, with their perfectly rigged, fresh dead ballyhoo, their three rods immediately bent. Boom, boom, boom. Fish in the box for the SeaHunter! The dolphin turned their nose up at our artificials and rewarded the extra effort of the Sea Hunter crew with their lives. I yelled down to the guys “I made a BONEHEAD move!” A code word for a captain’s logistical error. “All fresh dead ballyhoo with a long shot feather!” I shouted, and the crew made the adjustment. The Premium Time picked up one dolphin, considered to be in the “Heavy Lifter” category but the Sea Hunter’s total so far was at three dolphin. The Reel Deal was heading up the rear with a bonita that was flipping out of the water hooked to the long shot rod too small to trip the rigger.
Down at the end of the bar seemed more like the mooring field over by Christmas Tree Island than a pristine, untouched and fertile mecca of rod bending action.The word had gotten out. After five bite-offs by barracuda and some taunting by the spectators of each tournament boat, the toothy critters were released one by one until the next arena was agreed upon,”To the reef!”
The reef has always been a fall back plan on any of our charter boats running out of Key West. When the bluewater fails to produce, the reef always comes through, especially in December. The snapper were easy, even though the current going up the anchor was an imposition. Give these guys a shot at fish and they’ll catch them. Mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, grouper and rock hind all made their way into the ice on the Reel Deal. The Sea Hunter banged away with the same cadence and a bonus 12 lb. margate plus a 25 lb. kingfish to basically sealed the deal as to whom the foreseen winners of the tourney would be.
The Premium Time stayed on track to take second. They did as well as we did on the reef. We all came to the conclusion on the Reel Deal that this was the year we would be without a victory. In all of our self pity, the frigate birds to the west went unnoticed until we started pulling the anchor. The crew’s voices all rang out at once, spouting out the direction of the birds and the ballyhoo running for the lives. The diesel was expended and a short ride brought us into the action. With a quick pitch of the live ballyhoo we were hooked up. No sailfish, no dolphin, no cobia, no jack, No, no, no was the word of the day. An oversized bonita had grabbed the bait and headed straight for a ghost trap with amazing accuracy. I maneuvered the boat into position to allow the crew to untangle the rope which they accomplished successfully and the bonita joined the others in the fish box. A strange thing happened after the excitement and success of catching a lowly bonita. The crew was high-fiving. They were overjoyed to be able to spot, cast, hook up, deal with diversity and succeed without any concern for what species it was. I’m sure a sailfish or dolphin would have been great but these guys loved the game. They are fisherman after all.
One more stop on the bar just off Western Dry Rocks and we stopped for a moment of respect as we saw Capt. Seth and his mate Austin on the Premium Time coaching one of the crew to a beautiful goliath grouper release.
The Sea Hunter decided to head in early due to their limited beer supply and rolled out with a 28 knot “mooning”. In unison, perfectly orchestrated and highly visible from the port side of the Sea Hunter (no pictures available!).
The Reel Deal trolled on over the reef towards Key West Harbour and ended the day with a final 12lb. yellow jack that ate a lipped plug while Neil was dropping back. He enjoyed that fish thoroughly and we all enjoyed his excitement.
In the end, the Sea Hunter and her crew reigned supreme, the Premium Time took second and the Reel Deal came in with a respectable third place. When the time for distribution of funds came, the crews remembered that they forgot to name an amount for the winner. Without much concern, they decided to head over to the Hogfish Grill to finish their party knowing full well that in the morning it would be back to business as usual at Cudjoe Sales and Low Key Fisheries.
A holiday party staged on charter boats? Brilliant!
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