Sailfish were hard to come by for Light Tackle Tournament anglers, including basketball great Michael Jordan - TCPalm

Ed Killer Treasure Coast Newspapers

Published 1:03 PM EST Dec 16, 2019

The InTents fishing team overcame several daunting obstacles on its way to defending its Light Tackle Sailfish Tournament title.

First, there was the inhospitable fishing weather. The opening two days of the tournament teams fished in heavy seas as large as 9 feet. Rain showers and cloudy skies made seeing the sailfish behind the boats difficult. Waves crashed over the boat's bridges about every seventh wave.

Then, there was the talented field of teams including one of the famous rookies to ever begin a "career" of fishing in sailfish tournaments — basketball legend Michael Jordan.

Finally, InTents had to find a way to win despite not being able to find one sailfish bite on the tournament's day. It was, to say the least, one of the most stressful days of tournament fishing in Capt. Rhett Bailey's fishing career.

More: Michael Jordan caught a sailfish in the Light Tackle Tournament, and snook season closes

In the end, though, it was InTents back on top to win the area's longest-running fishing tournament for the second straight year. Owner Alan Sadler, anglers Michelle Keeney, Hector Torres, and mates Kyle Francis and Nick Cremasco, and Bailey, finished the three-day tournament with five total sailfish. JT led by Capt. Mark McDevitt with anglers Mark Wodlinger, Jake Farley, Will Roohan and Riley Derese and mate Tom Derose also had five fish for the tournament, but finished runner-up based on time of last sailfish released.

The six-boat tournament combined for only 23 total sailfish. Small coincidence that the boat Catch 23 — the boat owned and fished by who many believe is the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan — competed in the event, finishing third with four sailfish releases. Jordan caught and released one on the tournament's first day of fishing Thursday.

More: Sailfish Classic: Meade leads Showtime! to Pirates Cove victory, his first

As for InTents, Saturday's final day proved to be nerve-wracking.

"We never even saw one sailfish all day," said Bailey, of Jensen Beach. "It makes it so hard to win when you can't play offense."

Sadler caught two of the team's three sailfish on day one and one of the team's two sailfish on day two. But day three was slow for all fishing. InTents won the daily award Thursday with three sailfish. JT won the daily awards on Friday with two sailfish and Saturday with three.

More: Ed Sellian, longtime Stuart resident who donated downtown sailfish statue, dies at 77

The action was a far cry from the 1997 Light Tackle fleet amassed the tournament record 538 sailfish.

"Winning this tournament back-to-back is surprising," Bailey said. "Even though it was a small fleet, the talent level was huge. All the boats competing are really good. Growing up here in Stuart, this was the only sailfish tournament on the Treasure Coast until the late 1980s. Being able to win it more than once is special."

Bailey said his team caught mahi mahi and tuna, but no sailfish. Rough seas made finding the sailfish difficult.

"It was snotty out there," Bailey said. "You never could get back to a spot where you thought there might be sailfish. Saturday in and of itself was like three different days the way the wind shifted from souuthwest to northwest to northeast."  

Next up on the sailfish tournament circuit is the Fish Heads of Stuart Invitational. A fleet of about 15 teams is expected to compete. Registration is Dec. 18 with fishing taking place Dec. 19-21. The final event of the Treasure Coast sailfish tournament calendar will be the Pelican Yacht Club Invitational in Fort Pierce Jan. 7-11. 

Sailfish Classic results

1. 5, InTents, Capt. Rhett Bailey
2. 5, JT, Capt. Mark McDevitt
3. 4, Catch 23, Capt. Stetson Turney
4. 4, Miss Victoria, Capt. Brian Speedy
5. 3, Showtime!, Capt. Jon Meade
6. 2, Reel Passion, Capt. Jim Hardee

• Fleet totals: 23 sailfish, 6 boats
• Daily winner Friday: 3, InTents, Capt. Rhett Bailey
• Daily winner Saturday: 2 JT, Capt. Mark McDevitt
• Daily winner Sunday: 3, JT, Capt. Mark McDevitt

Up next

Fish Heads of Stuart Invitational Dec. 18-21. Fish Heads of Stuart Facebook page

Stuart Sailfish Club Light Tackle

• 2018: 18 sailfish, InTents, Capt. Rhett Bailey; Fleet — 85 sailfish, 11 boats.
• 2017: 20 sailfish, Alikai, Capt. Patrick Price; Fleet — 191 sailfish, 15 boats.
• 2016: 14 sailfish, Toast, Capt. Next Cagle; Fleet — 152 sailfish, 24 boats.
• 2015: 13 sailfish, Cowpoke, Capt. Mike Brady; Fleet — 91 sailfish, 25 boats.
• 2014: 10 sailfish, Toast, Capt. Ross Clark; Fleet — 100 sailfish, 25 boats.
• Record: 35, Bone Shaker, Capt. V.J. Bell; Fleet — 538 sailfish, 45 boats (1997).

Ed Killer is TCPalm's outdoors writer. Friend him on Facebook at Ed Killer, follow him on Twitter @tcpalmekiller or email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

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