Refuge tarpon tourney nets $165K
Despite unprecedented obstacles, early estimates for the 11th annual “Ding” Darling & Doc Ford’s Tarpon Tournament on May 19 show earnings of about $165,000 from sponsorships and donations to support water-quality research and conservation at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel.
The “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge organizes the tourney with Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille. Typically, the captain’s meeting and Silver King Awards ceremony take place at the restaurant’s Fort Myers Beach location, but as it was destroyed by Hurricane Ian in September, the events were moved to its Sanibel flagship location.
Doc Ford’s owners worked closely with DDWS staff to make sure the tournament would take place again in 2023 in spite of challenges and logistics.
The tourney paid out a total of $55,665 in prizes to five winning teams out of 53 registered. Anglers photo-recorded 40 tarpon catches this year. The first-place prize of $25,050 went to Team TowBoat US, including captain Kyle Potts, Mike Price, Jessica Potts, Chris Magnano, and Josh Constantine. The team caught and released a total of seven fish.
“Congratulations to Kyle! He now wears the coveted pink tarpon jacket,” Doc Ford’s partner Joe Harrity, whose family introduced the jacket in 2017 as an added incentive for taking first place, said. “It’s kind of like the green Masters tournament jacket in golf. The winning captain gets the honor of wearing the pink tarpon jacket each year.”
Second-place Team Spartan Stix, led by captain Cory McGuire, caught six fish and won $13,915. In third place, captain Jason Moore’s Team The Wreck Guys caught three — the first at 10 a.m. — and took home $8,350. Fourth-place winners Team Sea Reaper Sportfishing, with captain Chris Argiro, won $5,565 with three fish — the first caught later at 12:47 a.m.; fifth-place winners Team Bay Marine, with captain Kyle Petrick, took home $2,785 for two fish.
The tourney also handed out awards for female angler to Kristin Aley with Team K2TB, senior angler to Gary Biltgen with Team Chasin Poon, and amateur team to Team EZ Livin’ with captain Preston Towle, Jack Swedberg, Carson Towle and Trevor Zamniak.
“Because all boat registration fees go into the awards purse, sponsorship partners are extremely important to this tournament,” DDWS Executive Director Birgie Miller said. “They make it possible to raise vital financial support for the conservation mission of DDWS and the refuge.”
To date, the tournament has raised $1,180,000 for refuge water research, wildlife research and education. It has awarded $376,790 to winning teams during its 11-year history. The first-of-its-kind tourney to benefit conservation and award 100 percent of its fees to winners, the competition began to support local professional fishing guides and connect with anglers to educate and make them part of conservation efforts.
“We can’t thank Doc Ford’s enough for their incredible show of support these past 11 years,” DDWS Development Officer April Boehnen, who organized and led this year’s tournament, said. “They’ve already committed for the 12th annual tourney, which will take place on May 10, 2024.”
Registration will open in November for the 2024 tournament.
“We are so grateful for this fundraiser, because not only does it add much-needed dollars to the ever-shrinking refuge budget after a tough seven months of hurricane recovery, it also supports our conservation mission,” Supervisory Refuge Ranger Toni Westland said. “Plus, it is an opportunity to remind anglers, both professional and amateur, about the importance of ethical and responsible fishing.”
Event sponsors included: Doc Ford’s as title sponsor; Szymanczyk family, Gretchen Banks, and The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill as champion sponsors; Bass Pro Shops, and The Historic Bait Box as premiere sponsors; David and Judy Baum, Captiva Divas, Bill and Laurie Harkey, and Two Lane Lager as presenting sponsors; Diversified Yacht Services, Captain Shawn Kelly Fishing Charters, CustomTeesNow, HighTower, Organized Chaos, Sanibel Captiva Community Bank, and Whitney’s Bait & Tackle as platinum sponsors; Anisa Stewart Jewelry, Bay Marine, Congress Jewelers, Fort Myers Marine, Jensen’s Marina & Cottages, Mabry Brothers, Milestone Auctions, Capt. Matt Mitchell Fishing Charters, On Island, RS Walsh Landscaping, Trophy Case of Fort Myers and YETI as gold sponsors; and Captiva Cruises, Law Office of Janet Strickland, and Peter & Barb Rogers/Hey Mon Sanibel as silver sponsors.
For more information, visit dingdarlingtarpontourney.org.