KEY LARGO, Florida Keys — Mo Smith of Cordova, Tenn., was named grand champion angler at the Mercury Baybone tournament that ended Oct. 4.
Smith, fishing with Captain Mark Krowka of Islamorada, Fla., released 11 bonefish, the tournament’s most releases for one angler, and one permit during the two-day challenge.
John Timura of Islamorada and Troy Pruitt of Fort Myers, Fla., captured the team grand championship. The duo was led by Captain Brian Helms.
Katie Curlett, fishing with Captain Tad Burke of Islamorada, took the ladies’ grand championship.
Professional photographer and outdoor writer Pat Ford of Miami was named the Baybone’s celebrity grand champion. The veteran tournament participant was guided by Islamorada’s Captain Randy Towe.
Fifteen boats and 30 anglers competed in the tournament, racking up 42 bonefish and 16 permit releases.
The Mercury Baybone was the second 2009 tournament in the prestigious annual Redbone Celebrity Tournament series that benefits cystic fibrosis research. The series is to conclude with the Mercury Redbone Tournament Nov. 6-8.
We talked last month about an innovative eradication tournament being held at Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas to try to rid the area of the invasive lionfish. Later last month, an new report (followed by a capture) came from Key Largo in the Upper Keys, followed by environmental and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary officials mulling over the idea of issuing permits for dive instructors and fish collectors to gather the fish from SPA (designated no take zones). Now comes news of the first capture (and the 10th in the Keys this year) of a lionfish off the Key West wreck, Cayman Salvager. All of the focus so far in the Florida Keys has been on live capture and humanely euthanizing the fish. This leads me to ask the question, WTF? In the Bahamas, where they already have a problem, they are spearing them like crazy, attempting to develop a culinary market for them and doing whatever possible to get rid of nature’s version of a spikey, venemous Hoover vacuum cleaner with fins. Why are we so worried about treating them humanely? That’s a question I am going to ask in the coming weeks… I am actually hoping to find one myself, as I was having a discussion with Kyoto at local sushi hotspot Origami about how to best prepare them for sashimi… A not-so-humane but fitting end for a bottomless gobbed fish that doesn’t belong here in the first place.
From the Key West Citizen
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Posted in Conservation, Diving, Fishing News, Invasive species | Tags: commentary, Conservation, fishing, Florida Keys, invasive species, Key West, lionfish