Miami Anglers Win Key Largo’s Skippers Dolphin Tournament

KEY LARGO, Florida Keys — Team Reel Tight Marine Detail took first place at the ninth annual Skippers Dolphin Tournament held June 2-4 out of Skippers Dockside Restaurant in Key Largo. 

The team, fishing with Key Largo’s Captain Carlos Padron, had the highest combined weight of three dolphin fish — weighing in at 18.6, 9.3 and 4.2 pounds for a total of 32.1 pounds — for a first-place cash prize of $28,360. Team members included anglers Nicholas Perez, Manny Lemus and Alex Murphy, all of Miami.

Lemus’ 18.6-pound dolphin won an additional $8,485 as the largest fish brought in Saturday, bringing the team’s total winnings to $36,845. 

Second-place team Hurricane Fever III caught a combined weight of 29.5 pounds of dolphin fish to win $16,270. The team, captained by Chris McNally, included Corey Manzan, Michael McNally and John Wick from Hollywood, Florida; and Logan Pathman of Miami Beach, Florida. They weighed in one dolphin fish at 19.7 pounds and two at 4.9 pounds. 

Michael McNally also won $4,895 when his 19.7-pound dolphin was named the second-largest fish caught Sunday.

Team 3 B’s Gang with anglers from Key Largo and Lake Shores, Texas, took third place, catching a total of 28.7 pounds to win $9,180.

Natalie Acedel from Miami won $2,000 for the largest fish caught by a lady angler, a 14.4-pounder, plus $500 for Sunday’s third-largest fish. She fished on the Paul’s Fault team, which took sixth place overall. 

Paul Attales of Lake Charles, Louisiana, earned $1,000 for the largest fish caught by a senior angler. He boated a 9.1-pound dolphin while fishing aboard Enigma with Islamorada’s Captain Shannon Attales. 

A 44-pounder caught by Ryan Clevenger of Grandville, Ohio, was the largest individual fish of the tournament, earning Clevenger $8,300 for bringing in the largest fish on the tournament’s second day. Clevenger’s team, fishing aboard the Bearded Snapper, was not eligible for first place overall since the team only weighed two dolphin fish instead of the three required by tournament rules. 

The top junior angler, 15-year-old Tyler Carvajal from Southwest Ranches, Florida, won $500 for his 14.3-pound fish caught with the Type1 team. 

Anglers catching the largest fish in other species were each awarded $750 along with trophies. They included Meant to Be angler Earl Johnson from Davie, Florida, with a 9.9-pound kingfish; Christopher Taylor from Miami on Glory Glory with an 18.8-pound tuna; and Reid Nachtogal of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who caught a 35.5-pound wahoo while fishing on Bella Vita. 

Nachtogal and team Bella Vita donated their $750 winnings back to the tournament’s charity beneficiary, Mote Marine Laboratory.