Boneshaker wins Fl. sailfish tournaments!

Report Date: December 16, 2007

Rainy Day Fishing Helps Bone Shaker Hold On, Win Second Straight Light Tackle
Fawcett wins second straight Light Tackle top captain award
By Ed Killer (Contact)
Friday, December 14, 2007

PORT SALERNO — If there was ever day to win a fishing tournament while not actually fishing, Friday was it.

The Bone Shaker fishing team won the Stuart Sailfish Club's 54th Light Tackle Sailfish Tournament by staying dry on the tournament's final day. Bone Shaker scored 16 sailfish releases over three days of fishing and watched from the sidelines while their chasers were getting soaked down to their Fruit of the Looms.

Capt. Scott Fawcett, Bone Shaker owner and angler Joe Lehner, Paul Mears, Ian Wichers, Skyler Wichers and mates Kyle Francis and Brandon Walton slept in, ate leisurely breakfasts and calmly went about their day off knowing that win or lose, they had no control over how their fate played out.

The light seafoam green 54-foot Willis remained tied in its slip at Finest Kind Marina while teams aboard 16 other boats attempted to catch them atop the leader board. But Mother Nature unleashed an unseasonal tropical disturbance that deluged anglers and crews fishing the waters off the Treasure Coast. The overcast skies apparently sent the fish deeper in the water column or at least shut down the feeding pattern that had been relatively steady all week.

When the rain started hitting the rooftops Thursday night, Lehner could only think of one thing.

"I thought 'I hope it rains all day,'" said Lehner who picked up his fourth Light Tackle win as an angler and third in four years. "I felt bad for them. I've been there on days like this and it's no fun - it's just miserable."

Lehner credited Fawcett with making the right choice on lay days.

"I've got to hand it to Scotty - he made the right call again," said Lehner about his captain's choice to fish Thursday instead of Friday when weather forecasts were unclear.

Bone Shaker won its second straight Light Tackle Tournament after narrowly edging Sight-Sea-Er in 2006 based on time of last release. The boat won a division in the tournament for the fourth time in five years and fifth time overall. Former Bone Shaker Capt. V.J. Bell led the team to Light Tackle victories in 1997, 2003 and 2004.

Fawcett was named the Light Tackle's top captain for the second straight year - a feat that has only been accomplished by a handful of skippers. His name will be etched upon the Capt. A.A. Whiticar perpetual trophy and he was presented with a framed print of a Capt. Curt Whiticar painting.

"I'm really at a loss for words," said Fawcett who worked his way into a captain's job by spending years as a mate. "It's an honor to win the top captain award once in your career, let alone more than once."

Friday's fleet struggled to collect 27 sailfish catches, but still finished the week well with 181 overall. Walker's Run with anglers Geoff Mayfield, Kevin Hawken and Keith Mayfield and led by Capt. Dave Berard won the event's final daily award with five releases.

The Fort Pierce team Vintage led by owner Hans Kraaz and with anglers Chester Chambers, Ried Macy, Nick Stewart and Chris Berkley was one of two boats that caught four fish Friday. That was enough to lift Vintage into second with 13 sailfish releases. L & H with Capt. Jimmy Lund and anglers Bob DeGabrielle and Tom Wichers- father of Bone Shaker's Ian Wichers, 16, and Sky Wichers, 14 - caught three fish for 13 overall to finish third.

Juno Beach's Masque with Capt. Wink Doerzbacher and anglers Mark Schwartz and John Schmiemann was unable to catch any sailfish Friday and finished fourth with 12 overall.

Rudy Polselli, solo angler aboard Rude Awakening led by Capt. Robbie Killner, was named the event's top angler after catching 10 sails. Tony Huerta, solo angler aboard Floridian with Capt. Glenn Cameron, also caught 10 but was edged on time of last release.

Fish were biting, but too few of them were sailfish, said Huerta.

"We probably went through 120 baits," he said. "We only had the one sailfish. The rest were mostly kingfish with some bonito and dolphin."

Back to Main Fishing Report Page