The Fishing Line: It’s Tog Time

It’s January and while you might expect all the boats to be huddled under shrink wrap and all the fishers to be busy cleaning their tackle boxes, you’d be wrong. There’s still some action out there.
On New Year’s Day, Jerry String and a few friends headed out on the Mucho Clams and found over 100 tautog with several in the 5 and 6-pound range. The biggest tog of the day was caught by Tim Attwood, just over 8-pounds.
All the fish were caught at Townsends Inlet Reef in waters at 41 degrees. Bait of choice was green crab and white leggers.
In Fort Meyers, Fla., Jack Donlon, original founder of The Ultimate Shark Challenge Tournament Series, and his co-directors, Sean Paxton and Brooks Paxton II, have teamed up with marine wildlife artist, scientist and conservationist Dr. Guy Harvey to present an innovative competitive event with $100,000 in cash and prizes that will serve as a model for sport fishing enthusiasts and marine conservationists.
The newly branded Guy Harvey Ultimate Shark Challenge Tournament Series will be a catch and release competition off the Southwest Florida coast.
“For the first time, what we call a ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ shark tournament will be transformed into a true spectator sport,” said Sean Paxton. He and his brother, Brooks, known as the Shark Brothers, continued, “Our shared goal with Dr. Guy Harvey and Jack Donlon, is to give participants and viewers the most interactive, entertaining and educational shark-infested, multimedia spectacle found anywhere on the planet. This is not your grandfather’s fishing contest, but something completely new for a shark fishing tournament.”
The series kicks off in Fort Myers Beach on April 9–11, with additional stops in Marco Island and Sarasota. Twenty teams will compete in each round and the top four qualify to compete in the two-day Grand Championship Finale on May 22-24.
The finale and its sister event, Shark Fest–a family-friendly, educational and entertaining event for all ages–are sponsored by Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium and the Center for Shark Research in Sarasota.
Tournament organizers are planning a major television broadcast, which promises to deliver an adrenaline-fueled mix of extreme angling, cutting-edge research and wildlife management efforts. The show will be co-anchored by the Shark Brothers (the Paxtons) and Tipple, a marine biologist.
In speaking with Brooks and Sean Paxton about this event, it was clear that they are committed to preserving the shark population while providing an exciting challenge to the sport-angler.
They know the time has come to produce a genuine alternative for the shark fisher and they believe that with the backing of Guy Harvey and the others, the ‘catch and release’ shark tournament will catch on.
“Safe and expedient release of the shark will be rewarded. This is a multi-faceted venture,” Paxton told me, “to honor and respect that fishermen want to fish while giving new credibility to shark research.”
Limited sponsorship opportunities are still available and team entries are currently being accepted for review. For details and contact information, visit UltimateSharkChallenge.com and guyharveyoceanfoundation.org.
All photos submitted appear online at SeeMyBigFish.com. Be sure to send your fish stories to cmiller@cmcherald.com. This column appears first online at capemaycountyherald.com