Inaugural 'Full Moon Wahoo e-Tournament' a Success The club launched its first ever wahoo tournament last year, which was centered around the three full moons of summer. Three separate Saturdays: June 10th, July 15th, and August 5th were selected with the weigh station set up at Sailfish Marina. Cash payouts and prizes were awarded to the top three boats of each full moon fishing day, and to the boat with the most aggregate weight from all three full moons. The idea behind this e-tournament series is angler conve- nience. The “e” meaning electronic, stresses a simplistic registration & format. Just signup & fish. At just $60 to enter, per full moon (or $150 for the entire series), this was a unique fishing opportunity WPBFC members couldn’t afford to miss! Teams came from far and wide to pack the house at Twisted Trunk Brewery in North Palm Beach leading up to the first leg of the series. Craft beer and catered BBQ started things off on the right foot. Participants enjoyed the genuine feel of this tournament series that was exclusive to club members and operated on a smaller scale than other bigger events like the KDW Classic. Early forecasts for the June full moon predict- ed thunder and rain, but much to the fleets surprise, showers were only spotty in the morning and sea conditions were ideal for all vessels. It rained for a week straight head- ing into that Saturday, leaving the quality of the water poor. Despite the dirty water, three teams were still able to get it done. New member, Matt Siegert, of Team Rockfish caught a monster 55.8 lb. wahoo off Jupiter. The Rockfish crew said they could barely see the fish next to the boat because of the water quality. Three swipes of the gaff later, they had a 1st place fish in the boat. Mike Simko on the Kite Keeper took 2nd with their 16.8 lb wahoo, followed by Jacob Lepera of Team Q4 with a 15.6 pounder caught at 7 a.m. Jacob and the Q4 boys were content with their fish and ventured off to do some daytime swordfishing after leaving Sailfish Marina. July produced just three more fish, all of which were caught during the early morning bite. The Davis family, Lil’ Rabbit Fishing Team, took 1st place with a 30.6 lb. wahoo caught on red and black lure. Belinda Machiela and Alan Chrzanowski on Team SeaStar filled the 2nd place slot with 16.4 pounder. John & Sandra Schulz on Team Southern Comfort (Soco) boated a 12.2 lb. ‘wee- hoo’ off Boynton Beach. The August full moon had Team Rockfish on pins and needles, as Max Lichtig of Team Ebbtide approached the scale early with a big fish in his bag. Max’s wahoo weighed in at 52 lbs. and was just shy of being the biggest fish in the series. Ebbtide found their fish offshore in 300 ft. and it held as the big- gest fish landed for the last leg of the series. Dave Ward on Team Motor Boat’n, took 2nd with a 26 lb. fish, followed by Joe and Rob King with a 23.6 pounder for Team King’s Ransom. Nine different teams re- corded fish throughout the series. Team Rockfish prevailed and took the title of Series Champion, claiming the $1,000 top prize for having the most aggregate weight of all three full moon fishing days. With 52 boats registered throughout the series, it’s safe to say that the membership responded posi- tively to this new idea. Thank you to our sponsors and all club members who participated. Special thanks to Bluefin USA for an awesome dri-fit design. We’re looking forward to putting on this event again this summer! 1st leg and overall series winners, Team 'Rockfish' July's full moon leg winners, Team 'Lil' Rabbit' Team 'Ebbtide', winners of the final leg. photos courtesy of Leonard Bryant Photography 11 Tight Lines Bulletin - Spring 2018