Fishing News

Casting skills are to eclipse kicking skills in the Florida Keys as anglers target barracuda, flats fishing’s “big game,” in an annual pre–Super Bowl challenge that can be as intense as football’s big game. 

The second leg of the three-event Florida Keys Gold Cup Championship Series, the Cheeca Lodge Presidential Sailfish Tournament, is scheduled Friday through Sunday, Jan. 21-23, in Islamorada.           

Besting over 40 competitors age 16 and under, Parker Williamson and Andy Cone, ages 12 and 11, respectively, together captured top team honors at the annual Islamorada Junior Sailfish Tournament that ended Dec. 12.

Big kingfish congregate in the waters around Key West each winter and angling teams can vie to catch the largest during the 2022 Key West Kingfish Mayhem tournament.

A father and son from Colorado earned the team grand championship at the Cheeca Lodge All-American Backcountry tournament that ended Nov. 20.

Continuing a 50-plus-year tradition, the Florida Keys Gold Cup Sailfish Championship triple-crown series is to open with the Islamorada Sailfish Tournament Thursday through Sunday, Dec. 2-5, a primary fundraiser for the Islamorada Charter Boat Association.

Guide Pat Bracher and his 9-year-old angler daughter Charley Bracher released six barracuda, six bonefish and four permit to earn their second consecutive two-division win in the Sugarloaf Showdown that ended Nov. 6 in the Lower Florida Keys.

Anglers, guides and celebrities are to be drawn to Islamorada to fish for elusive shallow-water gamefish during the 2021 Robert-James Sales Redbone, scheduled Friday through Sunday, Nov. 5-7. The popular catch-and-release tournament pits participants against redfish and bonefish.

For more than half a century, the Key West Fishing Tournament has provided enjoyment for anglers while celebrating the rich variety of species found in Florida Keys waters. Beginning Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, contemporary sportfishing fans can pit their skills against more than 40 species during the landmark tournament.