News from Marco Sportfishing Club October Meeting

Marco Sportfishing Club held their monthly membership meeting on Thursday, October 7, 2021 in the Bald Eagle Room at Mackle Park. The meeting began at 7:00 PM and featured a guest speaker, Captain Steve Dall of Poseidon's Choice Fishing Charters, and a Florida Sportsman Field Editor.

Attendance at the meeting was typical for the month of October with 65 club members present. Many of our almost 400 members are seasonal and have yet to return to Marco Island.

Captain Dall’s presentation drew upon his over 30 years of fishing experience, both as a tournament professional and as a charter guide in the 10,000 Islands. Captain Dall shared how he approaches a day of fishing and encouraged the members to plan their fishing trip to maximize their time on the water efficiently, targeting the fish species they are hunting. He spent time detailing research he conducted with other guides on the efficiency of using artificial baits versus live bait and showed that you could cover more fishing locations using those lures. Captain Dall also provided tips on what he considers his four top lures that he takes with him on the boat. The presentation was very well received by those in attendance and there were many questions asked of Captain Dall since the club has two backwater Redfish events planned for October. Captain Dall is also the owner of Wyze Guyz Tackle https://wyzeguyztackle.com/.

In addition to the presentation by Captain Dall, the meeting recognized the winners of September’s fishing event, the “Double Dose,” that targeted snook and redfish. The focus of that event was to catch at least one of each of those species and report the largest fish caught. As with most of the club events, we practice “catch and release” with a photographic record of the fish caught.

There are also two long term tournaments in progress. The “Triple Crown,” a four-month long event that runs from July 1 to October 31, targets backwater slam of snook, redfish and tarpon. Our anglers have four months to catch all three and report the largest redfish and snook. Tarpon are treated differently to protect the species, and the angler need only submit a photo of the fish next to the boat and touch the leader. The tarpon are released as quickly as possible.

The other tournament, the “Offshore Slam,” focuses on offshore fishing and targets grouper, snapper, permit and cobia. This event runs all year long. It is extremely challenging as the anglers need to catch all four species to qualify. Once qualified, the size of the fish reported will determine the winner.

Both tournaments are sponsored by local businesses. The Triple Crown is sponsored by the Compass Group at Morgan Stanley and the Offshore Slam is proudly sponsored by Rose Marina.

The meeting also featured notification of upcoming fishing events in October, the highly competitive “Redfish Two-Angler” and the more relaxed “Redfish XVI Team” competition.

The event leaders for our club social activities provided details on a picnic in conjunction with the Redfish XVI Team competition and our Holiday Party planned for December.

The next meeting of Marco Sportfishing Club will be the first Thursday on November, November 4, 2021 at Mackle Park. Doors open at 6:30 PM and the meeting starts at 7:00 PM. This meeting will feature Captain Ken Chambers of Backcountry Guide Service with the topic “Backwater Insights”

For more information about Marco Sportfishing Club and how to join, please go to our website: https://www.marcosportfishingclub.com/.