News & Events

News & Updates (March 2024)

Thank you to all equity members who voted in this past election. Our current board members have been re-elected and they will continue to do a great job for the club.

Now that it is high season, we strongly recommend that all members make your dinner reservations, as far in advance as possible, or at a minimum of 24 to 48 hours in advance. We will gratefully accept last minute reservations with time and space availability being considered.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite our current members to our Annual Meeting on March 21st at 6:00 pm. This is an opportunity to meet your newly appointed  officers, here the status of the club and have a brief overview of the past year. Immediately following our annual meeting there will be a member appreciation party.

This will be a members only event. Construction progress is continuing as we finish up the underground work, and move into  some block work and building forms for the main level.

Once again Thank you to all our equity members who cast their ballots for our board of directors. The results are in and the current board was re-elected. I look forward to working alongside them to continue our efforts to provide our members with a great temporary location and an exciting future in our new building.

President: Joe Roth
1st Vice President: Ken Gentes
2nd Vice President: Allen Wood
Treasurer: Audra Hill-Wallace
Secretary: Cheryl Culberson
Membership: Tom Bray
Fishing: Steve Leopold & Dave Denkert
       Roger Young, Patti Stanley, Chris Trentine, Pete Pehrson

Sincerely,

Vinnie Feola
General Manager
Islamorada Fishing Club

2024 Captain's Cup Sailfish Tournament Winners!

Trophy Hunter wins Islamorada Fishing Club’s Captains Cup Sailfish Tournament

The Islamorada Fishing Club welcomed 68 anglers fishing on 19 boats for the Islamorada Fishing Club Captain’s Cup Sailfish Tournament on January 17th. Islamorada Fishing Club Member Captain Brian Cone led team Trophy Hunter to first place, also achieving the team’s second win in the three-leg Florida Keys Gold Cup Sailfish Championship.

The Trophy Hunter team released five sailfish between 8:45 and 11:13 a.m. on the contest’s single day of fishing to take and maintain the lead, landing the winner-take-all prize of $19,000. Trophy Hunter angler 13-year-old Andy Cone of Tavernier, FL, released two of the teams’ fish, Club member Mark Mitchell and Kenneth Padgett, both from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Club Member Travis Bennett of Tavernier, Florida, each released one sail, to round out the team’s winning five fish total.

Returning to the dock in second place with three sailfish was Captain Marty Lewis of Marathon, Florida, at the helm of Main One/Main Attraction. The team’s anglers were Mark Busch of Key Colony Beach, Florida; Ben Zdan, Ariel Medero, and Alex Lewis from Marathon; and Danny Lombardo of Islamorada.

In third was Captain Alex Adler of Islamorada and his crew aboard Kalex. The team, including Indiana anglers Chris Chastain, Allen Sutkowski, and Nathan Burns, along with Colby Mason of Islamorada, released two sailfish. 26 sailfish were released in the IFC Sailfish Tournament, which is the second leg of the annual three-event Florida Keys Gold Cup Championship series.

Festivities were held in the club’s temporary location while their gorgeous new building was being built. The Islamorada Fishing Clubs Captains Cup Dolphin tournament will be held on June 27th, 2024.

 

Conetagious wins the 2023 IFC Captain's Cup Dolphin Tournament

Anglers were greeted with flat seas & extremely hot weather on Thursday, June 29th, for the 23rd  Annual Islamorada Fishing Clubs Captain’s Cup Dolphin Tournament.

41 anglers headed out to capture three big dolphin. It would be the largest combined weight of three fish that would be needed to win the tournaments $11,000.00 in prize money. When the scales closed at 5 PM, all the stories were the same. There were lots of fish out there but no big ones.

It would be IFC Member Captain Brian Cone aboard the "Conetagious" that would find the three biggest dolphin. Caribee Boat Sales and Yamaha outboards sponsored first-place trophies would go to Anglers IFC Member Travis Bennet, Don DeLeon, Reef Bennett, and Andy Cone. The team would weigh 21 pounds combined to win the $11,000.00 grand prize. A tough day of fishing for all.

Capt. Chris Ware of "Executive Decision" would be closest in second with 20.8 pounds From Anglers John & Jill Paglia, Sam Milazzo & Mike Kasten and take the TD Bank sponsored second place trophies.

Captain Cody Darby fishing the "Kill Box" with Anglers Tyler Kelley, KC Spaulding, Corbin Buckley, and Joey Marino, would take home trophies for third place with a total of 20.1 pounds, Sponsored by Regan/Roth Insurance.

"The Islamorada Fishing Club put on an amazing show," stated the tournament director Dianne Harbaugh. Angler gifts and ditty bags loaded with SWAG were handed out on the kickoff night. Fantastic appetizers followed by a dinner buffet awaited all the anglers and guests. The awards ceremony on Thursday evening was filled with amazing appetizers, followed by a Plated exceptional dinner. All the anglers and Captains are excited and ready to be a part of next year’s event, which will be the last Thursday in June 2024.
 

Conetagious wins 2022 IFC Captains Cup Dolphin Tournament!

Anglers were greeted with beautiful weather on Thursday, June 30th for the 22nd Annual Islamorada Fishing Clubs Captain’s Cup Dolphin Tournament.

49 anglers headed out to capture three big dolphin. It would be the largest combined weight of three fish that would be needed to win the tournaments $15,000.00 in prize money. When the scales closed at 5PM all the stories were the same. There were lots of fish out there but no big ones.

It would be IFC Member Captain Brian Cone aboard the “Conetagious” that would find the three biggest dolphin. Caribee Boat Sales and Yamaha outboards sponsored first place trophies would go to Anglers IFC Member Travis Bennet, Don DeLeon And Tim Rahn The team would weigh 94.3 pounds combined to win the $15,000.00 grand prize.

And also landed the biggest fish of the tournament with a 34.1 pound Dolphin
Capt. Chris Ware of “Executive Decision” would be closest in second with 83 pounds
From Anglers John & Jill Paglia, Brandon Simmons & Mike Kasten and take the TD Bank sponsored second place trophies.

Captain Skye Stanley fishing the “J Watty-Hoo” with Anglers John Watson, Reese & Jason Guenther & Aaron Watson would take home trophies for third place with a total of 60 pounds, Sponsored by Regan/Roth Insurance.

“The Islamorada Fishing Club put on an amazing show,” stated tournament director
Dianne Harbaugh. Angler gifts and ditty bags loaded with SWAG were handed out on
the kick off night. Fantastic appetizers followed by a dinner buffet awaited all the anglers and guests. The awards ceremony on Thursday evening was filled with amazing appetizers followed by an Asian Themed dinner and All the anglers and Captains are excited and ready to be a part of next year’s event which will be the last Thursday in June 2023.

For more information on the tournament and the Islamorada Fishing Club call the club or visit www.theislamoradafishingclub.com.