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PALM BEACH, Fla. - Bob Noble, Windermere, Fla., led a team of
anglers to win the inaugural Mercury Outboards Redbone @ Large
Mike Schmidt’s Winners Circle fishing tournament, May 16
– 19, benefiting cystic fibrosis research.
The three day tournament for wahoo, dolphin and tuna out of Walker’s
Cay in the Bahamas, saw Noble’s sport fishing boat the Stihl
Leader capture a slam of the three fish on the first day. The
22.2 lb. wahoo, a 43.2 lb. dolphin and a 14.6 lb. tuna helped
them to take a commanding lead of 80 points. Their boat was shut
out of catching anything the second day but on Saturday they picked
up a bigger wahoo (33.6 lbs) and tuna (20.8 lbs.) beating their
Thursday’s catches. Their three big fish over the three days
combined for 97.6 lbs.
The points and scoring was based on cumulative weight with each
boat weighing the heaviest fish caught for each category.
Finishing second was the Bull Run owned by Tom Smith, Jupiter,
Fla. The team was buoyed by a 54.2 lb catch of the tournament’s
largest dolphin on the opening day. Their dolphin’s weight,
combined with their largest tuna (11.6 lbs) and wahoo (23 lbs)
totaled 88.8.
- Bob Rich, Islamorada, Fla., owner of the Circe, took third
with a 37 lb. wahoo, a 34.6 lb. tuna and a 15.8 lb. dolphin
for 87.4 points.
- Rob Leonard, Jupiter, aboard the Huntress had the largest
tuna at 64.6 lbs.
- Gary Belcher, Jupiter, aboard the Lady Jan had the tournament’s
largest wahoo at 41.4 lbs.
- Don Barnes on the Obsession had the most billfish releases
with three blue marlins.
The Mercury Redbone @ Large is a growing series of celebrity
fishing tournaments organized by CF chapters around the nation
using the Redbone "footprint." The Mike Schmidt Winner’s
Circle event was the first offshore event in the 14-year-old Redbone
family of tournaments. The Mercury Redbone events have spring
boarded national and international attention raising over $2 million
dollars to find a cure for CF.
Schmidt, a major league baseball Hall of Famer who had a phenomenal
career with the Philadelphia Phillies, loves to fish and has supported
the Mercury Redbone cause. Schmidt became actively involved in
the CF cause several years back after Brett Weinstein, a young
friend of his daughter, died at the age of 20 while waiting for
a double lung transplant.
Redbone founder Capt. Gary Ellis was impressed with the first
offshore event in the new series of tournaments working with CF
chapters. I’ve never seen such dedication coming from a celebrity,"
said Ellis of Schmidt. "I was so moved by the event; that
he physically and personally made this happen. He is the epitome
of someone that steps up to the plate. His leadership and his
hard work and plain tenacity of bringing it together is to be
applauded," said Ellis.
Through sponsorships, entry fees and silent and live auctions
the event has raised over $120,000 so far and organizers are still
counting money still coming in.
"It was the most complex event but the most rewarding I’ve
ever worked in my 15 years with CF fund raising functions,"
said Marie Cook, executive director of the CF Foundation regional
office in Palm Beach, who helped organize their first fishing
tournament.
Besides title sponsor Mercury Outboards top sponsors included
1352 Restaurant in Jupiter, Venture Marine, Viking Yachts, Bessemer
Trust and Walkers Cay Resort and Marina.
The next tournament is the Mercury Redbone @ Large Everglades
SLAM, June 29 – July 1, in Everglades City, fishing for
tarpon, snook and redfish.
For further information on fishing the tournament, please call
the CF Foundation office in Miami at 305-755-9555 or Naples office
in at 941-514-3444.
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