In January 1938, two events coincided, one natural and one human-made. In the aftermath of that intersection, the Treasure Coast never was seen the same again.
The natural event was the annual southward migration of sailfish. Each year, uncountable numbers of sailfish swim south from the Outer Banks of the Carolinas, where many summer to the warmer waters off the Florida Keys and the Yucatan Peninsula’s Caribbean coast.
The human-made event was created by Ernie Lyons, longtime editor of The Stuart News. Working in conjunction with Bob Bell and the predecessor of the Martin County Chamber of Commerce, Lyons hosted about 10 outdoor columnists from newspapers throughout the country. He arranged to have them go fishing offshore aboard Stuart-based charter fishing boats, many operated by the Whiticar family.
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Stuart: Sailfish Capital of the World
What happened was part serendipity, part shrewd skill. Stuart’s fishing skippers were all as excellent at their craft as the writers were at theirs.
The sailfish that week were as thick as anyone could ever imagine. Along the western edge of the Gulf Stream’s current, seemingly the entire Atlantic Ocean’s population of sailfish were paddling south along the surface. The captains merely had to troll their split-tailed mullets near the body of a fish and instantly, their anglers were hooked up to leaping, acrobatic, graceful, speedy sailfish.
“You may as well call that place Stuart: the capital of sailfish,” a Miami Herald writer penned in his column.
Lyons took about two seconds to jump on that. Later that same year, with Bell’s help, they applied for and received a charter nicknaming Stuart “Sailfish Capital of the World.”
Florida sailfish tournaments
Each winter, anglers, captains and crews assemble in the marinas of Stuart and Fort Pierce for the express purpose of competing in tournaments to see which teams can catch and release the most sailfish in a day, weekend or week.
It’s an expensive sport, as anglers and boat owners pay the wages of their skippers and crews, buy fuel, pay for dockage, purchase fresh bait and tackle, and then have to feed everyone who comes along for the event.
The adrenaline of a day of good sailfish action is the drug for these fishers. Anglers who love competing in these events share the excitement when a school of snapping sailfish swims through the bait spread. Having one, two, three or four rods get bent with a sailfish on the other end provides some of the most thrilling, fast-paced, heart-pumping action in the entire sport of fishing.
Of course, slow days are, well, for lack of a better term, not as much fun.
Fly Zone Fishing joins billfish tourney
As is often the case, longtime followers of the Treasure Coast sailfish tournament season will see some new tweaks amidst the tried and true aspects of the events.
The Stuart Sailfish Club’s Light Tackle Sailfish Tournament is entering its 68th year and is the longest-running sporting event in this part of Florida.
This year, club leadership has hired the services of well-known fishing personality and businessman Robert “Fly” Navarro and his marketing company, Fly Zone Fishing, to help boost participation and be the tournament director.
“I’m really excited to be involved with the tournament this year. The guys I’ve been talking to are looking forward to fishing in this tournament,” Navarro told TCPalm.
The tournament, the third of the four-event Treasure Coast season, will take place Dec. 9-11.
Navarro’s first task is to try to recruit new competitors to the event, which has seen its entries drop from 50-plus boats in the late 1990s to about 10 in recent years.
“I’m not sure what led to the dip in numbers, so I don’t want to change too much. However, we expanded the inlets boats can check out of and into to include Fort Pierce, St. Lucie, Jupiter and Palm Beach inlets,” he said.
Range and speed of the boats was one reason, but convenience for the fishing teams was another.
Fishing days have been cut down to two — a Friday and a Saturday — to accommodate anglers who have jobs they cannot leave. There also is a semi-pro division for anglers who are not running a professional program, but would like to enjoy being involved in the tournament atmosphere.
Proceeds from the Light Tackle Tournament will be split to benefit Project LIFT, an organization helping at-risk youth in Martin County, and the family of the late Capt. Patrick Price, a former winner of the event and well-known local charter boat skipper who died from COVID-19 on Sept. 6, 2021.
Below is the schedule and links for four different sailfish tournaments this season:
Sailfish tournament schedules
Top 10 area sailfish catch totals
- 969: 2019 Pelican Yacht Club Billfish Invitational, 30 boats
- 736: 2012 Pelican Yacht Club Billfish Invitational, 29 boats
- 538: 1997 Stuart Sailfish Club Light Tackle Tournament, 45 boats
- 408: 2010 Pelican Yacht Club Billfish Invitational, 29 boats
- 386: 2004 Pelican Yacht Club Billfish Invitational, 52 boats
- 377: 2011 Pelican Yacht Club Billfish Invitational, 30 boats
- 377: 2011 Pirates Cove Resort Sailfish Classic, 27 boats
- 373: 2018 Pelican Yacht Club Billfish Invitational, 25 boats
- 348: 2009 Stuart Sailfish Club Light Tackle Tournament, 21 boats
- 343: 2017 Pelican Yacht Club Billfish Invitational, 23 boats
Ed Killer is TCPalm’s outdoors writer. Sign up for his and other weekly newsletters at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage. Friend Ed on Facebook at Ed Killer, follow him on Twitter @tcpalmekiller or email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.
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