Rene de Dios Memorial Sharkathon-April 17-19,2009

great dude thanks

i will be there sometime friday i am going to try to bring a few rays and a peace of kingfish is bait easy to get a hold of at the brige

This year we will have two Rene Memorial Events on Long key bridge .Like in past years we expect to have a large turnout so come prepared with everything you need to stay overnight on the bridge.The first Event will be held from Friday March 20 to Sunday March 22/2009.The second one will be held from Friday April 17 to Sunday April 19/2009.As always we will start getting together early Friday morning on the north side of the Long key bridge parking lot.Wear your SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB shirt and bring your best Rene pictures so we can remember the lejend and the good times we shared with him.This event is open to anyone who wants to participate all you have to do is notify me of your group size and the names of the anglers fishing.We will have 3 cash prizes for the biggest sharks caught during the weekend event.We have a mandatory pool for anyone that wants to compete during the weekend event.To enter the pool you must put up $20 per angler competing.Money will be awarded divided in three parts 50% to first place,30% to second place and 20% to the third place winner.The total money collected will be given out as prizes.The fish category will be for trophies.

RULES
All sharks must be released.All sharks must be photographed with a digital camera so we can review the pictures .All sharks must be measured and the winners will be determined by overall length.The measuring tape must be visible next to the shark so we can determine length,,,,,,.no exceptions!!!
NEW
WEIGHT OR LENGTH We will have a scale on the north end so if you want weigh your fish that will be the place to take it or you can measure it.It's not a big deal we are trying to keep a family friendly atmosphere. Winners in the fish category can be determined by overall length,or heaviest.

IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH ANGLER TO DOCUMENT THERE CATCH BY TAKING DIGITAL PICTURES WITH YOUR FISH AND A MEASURING TAPE NEXT TO IT IF YOU INTEND TO RELEASE YOUR FISH.IF YOU'RE TAKING HOME TO COOK JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET THE FISH TO US SO WE CAN WEIGH IT AND MAKE IT OFFICIAL.

REGISTRATION ON THE NORTH END OF LONG KEY BRIDGE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
SEE WILL OR ONE OF THE OTHER SHARK CLUB MEMBERS FOR TOURNY REGISTRATION

BAR B Q AND DRINKS FRIDAY NIGHT 6PM AND SATURDAY NIGHT 6 PM

FISHING STARTS FRIDAY April 17/ AT NOON
ENDS SUNDAY April 19/09 AT NOON
Prizes awarded at 1 pm Sunday APRIL 19/09

First biggest shark 50% OF TOTAL $

FISH CATEGORIES -PRIZES
Biggest snapper

Biggest Barracuda

Biggest Jack (any type)

Biggest Fish by a Female

JUNIOR GRUNT CHAMPION -biggest grunt by a junior

Jerry & I will be there with our daughter, son, and two of their friends. I think that five of us will be entering the tournament. (No juniors) We should arrive early Saturday afternoon until the end of the tournament. I can't wait! It should be a blast!!!!

Jerry you did it partner your hammer won the tournament congratulations on your catch!!!!
Same to albert on those big 3 -4 lb muttons and mangroves you caught!!!!
that tournament was a blast i loved every minute out there with the whole gang!!!

Thanks, Shannon. Jerry is not a computer guy, so I wanted to thank everybody who came out to the Sharkathon. We had a blast!! Jerry has never really considered himself a sharker, even though he sometimes shark fishes. He & I are more snapper fishermen. Catching a 7 foot hammer and releasing it was exciting. He almost didn't enter the contest, but I told him if we were going, he'd better not cheap out and just fish for fun. I guess he has now lived up the the Fuqua legacy. All those boys are shark catching maniacs! JD, Jerry, Jeremy (our son), and JD's sons Johnny, Jimmy, and Joey! A special thanks to William for taking the time to plan this event & for all he does for the club. We enjoyed every second of this weekend, even the strong winds! It was also fun watching you & Aaron diving. Your father taught you well!

Thanks to everyone that made it out to the Long key bridge I can say that despite the slow shark bite we had a blast among friends and family.The wind blew strong but that did not diminish our our efforts to catch A MONSTER or the desire to spend a nice weekend in the beautiful Florida keys. The Fuqua clan as always are at the top of there game in everything they do and this weekend was no different.Jerry Fuqua (Jimbo's brother) whom i have known for many years along his lovely wife Janet(fishergirl) and there two grown children Jeremy and Joy were there to make the event more competitive for all the anglers.A big thanks to Ross Demarzo for looking out for Jd when his truck had a major problem Ross was nice enough to lend Jd his truck to move around for two days before the mechanic wsas able to repair it.

A big thanks to Jim and Brad who traveled all the way from Bradenton Florida to fish the Rene Memorial.Here Janet Fuqua takes a pic of Jim and his son -up and coming Brad (lovinit)

Jd,Janet and son Jeremy pose for a family picture

Jd,Janet,Jeremy,daughter Joy and Brad hamming it up

the Big Guns at the ready

young Brianna was having a blast

Shannon ,wife Sandra and Brianna

Jd and his flower print baggy swimming trunks

the boys are back in town

Brad gets hooked up

fughting hard to turn the big something

oh no it's a nurse wit the curse

Shannon gets hooked up using live cast netted mullet

Shannon's tarpon estimated at 30 lbs

Aaron and a 12 lb permit that made a for a fine dinner Saturday night

Meir and Jim (Brad's father )with a fine mangrove snapper

Dinner Time -A BIG THANKS FOR SHANNON FOR THE BIG STEAKS

SHANNON on the grill

feeding the hungry multitudes

The whole weekend we fished hard and watched Jd and his majic cast net catch live mullet for everyone on the flats adjacent to the bridge.If I fished side by side with Jd for a year straight i still would not learn all his tricks ,,,,,,this man is a walking fishing encyclopedia.

Later Jd's younger brother Jerry showed that he also knows how to catch the sharks by tangling with a 7 to 8 ft hammer on the Key West side of the bridge.A master bridge fisherman in his own regard Jerry lowered a lantern by the water ,caught pilchards ,caught the only jack crevalle of the weekend and using the jack head for bait caught the hammerhead shark.We got a call from Jerry's wife Janet to send someone with a camera because jerry had a hammer on so Aaron did the honors -thanks Aaron for riding the bike all the way to the other side of the bridge so we could now have these pics to show you.

Jerry is hooked up

the hammer

a pic from the top of the bridge

the best picture of the 7-8 ft hammer

Classic picture of two brothers -Jerry and JD

breakfast at the Fuqua's

great times and great friends

Albert and his winning 17 and half inch mutton snapper

a nice pair for uncle Al

taking group pictures at the end of our gat together

we all had a great time, thanks to everyone who put this together congrats to jerry for catching the only shark and winning the tournament and thank you for inviting us to breakfast sunday morning. thank you shannon for taking me there it was a great time

will i had a great time!!! cant wait to do it again

had a good time fishing with my brother an sister n law (fishergirl) on longkey an everyone else

willy I had a great time this past weekend can't wait to go again
bluebeardal