Cheeca Lodge Presidential Tournament
January 18-19, 2008

The Cheeca Lodge Presidential Tournament is one of the nicest tournaments of the year to fish in the Keys. This year was no exception. One hundred and thirty-three anglers aboard forty-two boats participated in the two day event. The weather was beautiful this year and the fishing was good.

After Day 1, the 36 Contender, "No Mercy" with Captain and owner, Steve "Wam Bam" Cunningham was on top of the leaderboard with 13 releases, followed by "Wound Up" with 9 releases and "Which Way" with 7 releases. Total count for the first day was 127 releases.

Day 2 was a good day for kite fishing again with most of the top boats for the day flying the "rags." The "Wound Up" ended the day on top with 8 for the day and 17 for the tournament. That team consisted of owners Warren and Janice Sands and crew Capt. John Dudas, mates Roy Huff and Brett Dudas. Second place was captured by the "No Mercy" team with 13 fish with Steve Cunningham, Rob Ruwich, Albert Castro, Mike Causley and Rick Arnold. To capture third place, the "Kalex" owned and operated by Capt. Alex Adler came on strong with 5 releases for the day and 11 for the tournament. Alex was fishing with crewmen, Jamie Allen and Bo Bagley, and anglers, Anthony DelDuca, Jim Verner, Brian Baugher and Ken Stiles.

This finish put the "Wound Up" team in the lead for the prestigious Keys Triple Crown Award which they did eventually win the following Thursday with a total of 24 for the three tournament event. "No Mercy" ended up second with 20 releases and the "Kalex" finished third with 19. Rick Arnold won the High Point Angler Award and Gold Cup ring with 11 releases. Congratulations to all of these teams for a great job against a tough field.

For more information on these Keys Tournaments, look up www.islamoradasailfishtournament.com. Next year's dates are Jan 15th for the Kickoff Party with fishing on Jan 16th and 17th, 2009.