BARTENDERS TAKE TO THE SEA

Whistle Stop Team Wins Sailfish Open

Seventy bartenders and restaurant employees representing 15 different bars took to the ocean for the 42nd annual Islamorada Bartenders Sailfish Open on Jan. 30. In total, teams participating in the fish tournament released 24 sailfish.

Angler Trevor Bennett, with team Whistle Stop, released four sailfish on the Contagious with Capt. Brian Cone to help his team win the Bartenders Sailfish Open perpetual trophy, which hasn’t hung on the Whistle Stop wall since 1999. Jackie Bohannon and Lauren Johnson also fished aboard the Contagious. The team took home a check for $1,500 in memory of Trapper John, a long time participant of the tournament.

With lines in at 8:30 a.m., Cone called in a hookup. It took Bennett only two minutes to wind in his first-ever sailfish. Reel McCoy fishing with Chef Rolf’s Tuna’s team released the second fish of the tournament, and minutes later for angler Justin Beauregard. Barbara Steller, who fished for Robbie’s aboard the Dirty Boat 2.0, and Skyler McGarry fishing aboard the Broad Minded for Dillon’s, both released a sail before 9 a.m.

By noon, Ann Jenkins from the Green Turtle, Megan Simpson from Square Grouper, Brandy Albright from Old Tavernier, Andy McGrotha from Islamorada Wind Co. and Osmaro Alvarenga from Shipwrecks released sailfish to put their teams on the board.

Shortly after noon, Christina Moreno released a second fish for the Whistle Stop, followed by a second release for Shipwrecks for angler Richard Trachuk. Islamorada Wine Company’s angler Morgan Beaton released their team’s second fish over 10 minutes later. Katie McCormick, who fished aboard the Tiki for Lorelei, released her first sail just minutes later. Vice Versa Capt. Sammy Milazzo called in the team’s second release for Simpson with Square Grouper.

Cone won the Outstanding Captain award and mate Justin Matson took home the Outstanding Mate award with the team’s five releases. Bennett won first-place angler with four releases and a Lisa Lee gyotaku from Gallery of the Arts. His name will be engraved on the JayAnna Cohan founder’s award and he received a check for $500.

Simpson’s two releases and one for Ellie Leopold also fishing with anglers Katie Scheu, Valerie Perez, James Pratt, Kenny Sagan and Thomas Frickie took second-place bar awards for the Square Grouper and a check for $1,000. Simpson received the secondplace angler award.

Third-place anglers Omar Alvarenga, Amanda Mitcheltree, Ronald Perrine, Doug Krieger, Carrie Allstop and Richard Trachuk, all fishing with Capt. Dustin Hansel aboard the Two Reel took home third-place bar awards and a check for $500 with two releases on time. Third-place angler was Justin Beauregard with one release on time for Chef Rolf’s Tunas. Barbara Steller won fourth-place angler for her one release.

“My favorite part of this tournament is that we have so many anglers who catch and release their first sailfish,” said tournament director Dianne Harbaugh. “The reason JayAnna Cohan started this tournament was because she loved to sailfish and she wanted others to have the same opportunity.”

— Contributed