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KIDS HOME PAGE GROUP VISITS FIELD TRIPS JUNIOR ANGLER JA WORLD RECORDS MERCURY/IGFA JAWC JUNIOR ANGLER NEWS ASK FINNY? SPECIAL ANGLERS TOURNAMENT CALENDAR EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS BIRTHDAY PARTIES CAMPS SCOUT PROGRAMS TEACHER PROGRAMS SPECIAL PROGRAMS UPCOMING EVENTS PROMOTIONS EDUCATION NEWS PARTNERSHIPS WETLANDS STAFF DONOR OPPORTUNITIES |
Florida youngsters among top winners in fourth annualMercury/IGFA Junior Angler World Championship
By Pete Johnson, Johnson Communications - IGFA PR counsel
KEY WEST, Fla. (June 21, 2006) – Seven young Florida anglers took the top places in the fourth annual Mercury/IGFA Junior Angler World Championship (JAWC) among 34 tournament winners from across the country and as far away as Papua New Guinea. The girls and boys, ages five to16, qualified for the all-release championship by winning one of the IGFA approved fishing tournaments held in the U.S. and several countries. Anglers ages five -10 competed in the smallfry division; those ages 11-16 in the junior division.
The overall junior division winner was Kyle Wrenn, 15, Cape Coral , Fla . with 349 points. This was his fourth straight trip to the championship after advancing from his win at the Cape Coral Tarpon Hunters tournament. He captured 125 points alone on the catch and release of five tarpon over the two days. He also released amberjacks, barracuda, dolphinfish and sharks. In second place was Richard Black, 13, Tavernier, Fla. , with 327 points. He also won the stringer division title among the juniors by catching 10 of the 24 species, the most in the tournament. He advanced to the JAWC as a winner in Red Ghost Stalk Tournament last year. Sean Thomson, 16, of Jupiter, Fla . was third with 307 points off seven species. He had won in the Red Ghost Stalk tournament to advance to the world championship. Of note in fourth place was Martini Arostegui, 14, Coral Gables , Fla. , who had 295 points off a 10 species tie with Black. Arostegui was representing the Miami Beach Rod and Reel Club Junior Angler tournament. In the smallfry division Tyler Smith, 8 Port St. Lucie , Fla . who won the City of Port St. Lucie Kid ’s Fishing Tournament to advance, was the overall winner. He collected his 202 point total on six species released which included barracuda, jack crevalle, ladyfish, permit, shark and mutton snapper.
In second place with 186 points was Paul Pauchey, 9, Islamorada, representing his win at the Islamorada Fishing Junior Derby. He tied with Tyler “Catfish” Sage, 9, Weston , Fla. who was third.The tie was broken based on Pauchey catching eight species to Sage’s six. Sage had advanced by winning the Ninth Annual Dania Beach Tournament. Pauchey also won the smallfry stringer division from the eight species he released. Other stringer winners included Anabel Epstein, 10, Islamorada in the girls’ smallfry division who released eight species and Tiffany Smith, 11, Port St. Lucie , Fla . who caught six in the girls’ junior division.Epstein was representing her win last year at the Islamorada Fishing Club Junior Derby and Smith, like her brother Tyler, advanced by winning the City of Port St. Lucie Kid ’s Fishing Tournament.Of note, Irene Robinson, 13, Madang Province , Papua New Guinea who came the furthest placed second in the girl’s junior division with a stringer of five species. Robinson advanced by winning the GFA of Papua New Guinea National Titles Tournament.
“She did quite well after spending 48 hours in planes to get to Florida ,” said Peter Gaube , the IGFA’s Jr. Angler tournament director. “Also the type of fishing she was used to was trolling for marlin or giant trevally and had not cast for fish that much. But she scored 25 points casting a crab for a successful catch of a permit.” Gaube related other stories of the youngsters like Ms. Epstein catching a huge stingray and describing her excitement; of Sage catching three tarpon all bigger than him; of Amada Quain, 15 of Ocean City, N.J. scoring only seven points the second day but remaining cheerful and giving encouragement to fellow angler Jennifer Fishman, 13, of Lighthouse, Fla. with each of her catches and also of Thomas Orozco, 6, of Union City, Calif, who caught a number of sharks and like the other kids doing it all on his own. “Thomas didn’t even come up to my waist in height but he wrestled those sharks to the boat,” smiled Gaube. “We had lots of good kids and most of the youngsters were new competitors to this ‘tournament of champions’ event. This was probably the best year based on the quality of fish especially with tarpon and permit still in the area, plus the size of the fish such as the ‘monster’ snapper.” A total of 771 fish were caught and released. The event, dedicated to young anglers, has been a resounding success since its inception in 2002 and continues to grow. “The goal of the Mercury/IGFA JAWC and the qualifying tournaments that feed into it is to encourage youngsters under 17 to become involved in fishing, and to keep them interested in the sport,” said Gaube. “Fishing promotes closer family relationships, plus these young fishermen are the conservationists of tomorrow.”
The young contestants were accompanied by a parent fishing in pairs with another junior or small fry angler over the two days for a variety of 23 eligible five to 25 point species. The local Florida Keys guides were selected by the IGFA. Circle hooks were used with all live and dead bait. A video crew from the Hook the Future TV shows was at the event taping this year’s tournament for one of 26 weekly episodes seen on Comcast Cable Southeast, The Fox Sports Net Florida and nationally on The Sportsman’s Channel and The Water Channel (www.hookthefuture.com/). The tournament started Sunday afternoon with a social hour followed by an opening ceremony, dinner and rules meeting at the Double Tree Grand Key Resort the host hotel. Each pair of anglers will draw for their boat and captain that evening. Fishing was on Monday and Tuesday out of the Oceanside Marina. The young anglers were awarded points depending on species and degree of difficulty. The easier fish to catch in the five-point category were jacks (crevalle), yellowtail snappers, red grouper, mackerel (cero and Spanish) and ladyfish. Fish worth 10 points included barracuda, dolphinfish, grouper (black and gag), king mackerel, mutton snapper and any shark.
Little tunny were worth 15 points each and amberjacks and cobia were good for 20 points each. The successful catch and release for each sailfish, permit, tarpon, African pompano, tuna (yellowfin, blackfin) and wahoo was worth 25 points each. There was no minimum length for eligible species, but a maximum of three fish of each species per day were counted by each contestant. Any other fish was awarded two points each with a maximum of three per species and a minimum of 12 inches in length. Overall grand champion titles went to the top anglers in each division. The boys and girls in each division catching and releasing the most species will also received awards. A total of 22 awards were presented including the top three scoring captains. Besides title sponsor Mercury Marine, other sponsors include Boston Whaler, Shimano, Plano, Double Tree Grand Key Resort, Oceanside Marina, Rapala, King Sailfish Mounts, Key West Bait and Tackle, Reel Life Art, Publix, Berkley, Pelagic Clothes, FWC, Daiichi, Glenda and Pat Kelley and Gene and Bill DuVal and Hook the Future. The JAWC is the latest addition to the IGFA junior angler program, which recognizes separate world records for boys and girls in over 200 species of salt and freshwater fish. The IGFA has Junior Angler Club members in over 50 countries.
The junior tournament mirrors two other world-class fishing championships. The seventh annual Rolex/IGFA Offshore Championship was held in Mexico in May, with teams of winners advancing from 110 qualifying tournaments in 40 countries around the world. Meanwhile, the sixth annual Rolex/IGFA Inshore Championship will be held July 9 - 12 in Islamorada , Fla. , with light tackle and fly competitors who have won one of more than 55 selected tournaments around the world. Tournament directors of junior tournaments or adult tournaments with junior divisions are encouraged to contact Gaube at 954-924-4247 or pgaube@igfa.org for complete details on how to become a qualifying tournament for the junior championship. Parents who fish in tournaments with junior divisions should notify tournament officials of this exciting new opportunity.
For more pictures of the 4th Annual Mercury/IGFA Junior Angler World Championship Click HERE
Results Overall Winners: Junior Division (JR) 1st -- Kyle Wrenn, 15, Cape Coral , Fla. , 349 pt 2nd -- Richard Black, 13, Tavernier, Fla. , 327 pt 3rd -- Sean Thomson, 16, Jupiter, Fla. , 307 pt
Smallfry Division (SF) 1st -- Tyler Smith, 8 Port St. Lucie , Fla. , 202 pt. 2nd -- Paul Pauchey, 9, Islamorada , Fla. , 186 pt (tied – won on 8 species of fish) 3rd -- Tyler Sage, 9, Weston , Fla. , 186 pt
Stringer Girl JR -- Tiffany Smith, Port St. Lucie , Fla. , 6 species Boy JR -- Richard Black, Tavernier, Fla. , 10 species Girl SF -- Anabel Epstein, 10, Islamorada , Fla. , 8 species Boy SF -- Paul Pauchey, 9, Islamorada , Fla. , 8 species
Daily leaders Day 1 Boy SF -- Tyler ‘Catfish’ Sage 145 pt Girl SF -- Anabel Epstein 26 pt Boy JR -- Kyle Wrenn 179 pt Girl JR -- Tiffany Smith 98 pt Day 2 Boy SF -- Tyler Smith 111 pt Girl SF -- Anabel Epstein 121 pt Boy JR -- Josh Shevlin 197 pt Girl JR -- Tiffany Smith 91 pt
Most Unusual Catch Russel-LaCour, Ponce Inlet , Fla. , Moray Eel
Captains 1 st -- Ryon Logon, Cheerio 2 nd --Chris Flyod, White Lighting 3 rd -- Rob Nevius, Jerk Water |
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