Lance Irvine of Fort Lauderdale, fourth from right, and other members of the Young Guns Fishing Team
show the 57.9-pound wahoo caught Sept. 13 to win heaviest overall fish in the XGeneration 440 Challenge
tournament based at Palm Beach Yacht Center in Hypoluxo.
Willie Howard/The Coastal Star
By Willie Howard
The Young Guns Fishing Team based in Fort Lauderdale caught a 57.9-pound wahoo on the afternoon of Sept. 13 to win biggest overall fish in the XGeneration 440 Challenge tournament based at Palm Beach Yacht Center in Hypoluxo.
Team captain Lance Irvine said the big wahoo hit a live goggle-eye dangled under a fishing kite in 90 feet of water north of Jupiter Inlet about an hour before the 3:30 p.m. lines-out deadline.
The Spiced Rum III team led by captain Billy Wummer won the $5,000 prize for heaviest kingfish of the tournament — a 35.4-pound king caught on a live blue runner in 70 feet of water off the Hobe Sound Loran tower.
Team Choppy won the snapper award in the 48-boat tournament with a 3.8-pound mutton snapper. The Jagermeister team won the bonito/blackfin award with an 18.4-pound blackfin tuna. Team Controlled Chaos won the dolphin category with an 8.3-pound dolphin (mahi mahi).
IGFA begins School of Sportfishing classes
The International Game Fish Association kicks off its fall series of School of Sportfishing classes Oct. 7 with the fundamentals of sportfishing class taught by Capt. Tony DiGiulian. The class will cover bait rigging, critical knots, wire twisting and other aspects of terminal tackle preparation.
Classes are held from 7-10 p.m. on Tuesdays at the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum (off Griffin Road just west of Interstate 95 in Dania Beach). Enrollment is limited to 24. Tuition is $100 for IGFA members and $150 for nonmembers. Future classes include targeting nearshore gamefish (dolphin, kingfish and blackfin tuna) on Oct. 21 and “All About Live Bait” on Nov. 4.
A complete class schedule is available at www.igfa.org. (Click on education and School of Sportfishing.) For details, call Anthony Vedral at (954) 924-4254 or email him at: Avedral@igfa.org.
Fishing TV host to speak at club
Fishing television host and Salt Water Sportsman editor George Poveromo will discuss fall tactics for catching blue marlin. Poveromo’s presentation, free and open to the public, is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 22 at the West Palm Beach Fishing Club, Fifth Street at Flagler Drive, in downtown West Palm Beach. For details, call 832-6780.
Rare catch
A coney grouper in the yellow color phase was caught by an angler fishing off Boynton Beach Sept. 2 on the Lady K drift boat. Capt. Bruce Cyr said he has only seen a few coney grouper in his 40-plus years fishing the waters off Palm Beach County.
Like many groupers, the coney is able to change colors.
Tip of the month
Fish from beach, jetty or pier October is usually a great month to fish either directly from the beach, from jetty fishing platforms such as those at Boynton Inlet or from an ocean pier such as the William O. Lockhart Pier at Lake Worth Beach.
Try casting from the beach with cut shrimp, clams or sand fleas on a pre-made pompano rig for pompano. Cast into the muddy water stirred up by waves hitting the sand bar. It’s helpful to have a surf rod, often 9 to 10 feet long, for long-distance casting. Use enough weight (3 ounces or so) to hold your bait on the bottom in the surf.
If the pompano bite is slow, try fishing the jetties and the pier for cobia and permit. Cobia anglers must be ready to cast when a cobia swims by. Most use colorful cobia jigs. Live crabs are popular baits for permit. You’ll need sturdy rod, strong line and hoop net to land a cobia or permit hooked from a fishing pier.
Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net.
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