Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Big wahoo makes for a happy Father’s Day
Ed Leitner celebrated Father’s Day by finally catching the type of fish he’d been hoping for when he bought his boat Reel Rugged.
“I purchased my boat a year and a half ago, after not having a boat for 37 years,” said Leitner, of Oakland Park, whose boat name is a reference to his business, E & E Carpet Service and Sales. “I was catching barracudas … nothing grandiose.”
That changed dramatically on Sunday, as Leitner and his son-in-law John Jansenn landed a 51-inch wahoo that they estimated at 45 pounds.
“When I gaffed it, I could barely get it on board,” Leitner said.
His original plan was to go out Port Everglades Inlet and head south, but Leitner said at the last minute he decided to turn north instead.
He started trolling in 150 feet and within minutes, the wahoo hit a skirted ballyhoo.
“I let my son-in-law take over for a while, and it kind of tired him out,” said Leitner, adding that the fight lasted 25-30 minutes.
“While he was fighting it, once the fish got close enough, it saw the boat and screamed out line. That told me what it could be. When I saw blue stripes as it came back to the boat, I was a happy guy. It made my day really fast.”
Fish of the week
James Aycock and Sean Lackey had the big fish of 9.14 pounds and the heaviest total weight for five fish of 31.02 pounds Saturday to top 22 other teams and win the JD’s Custom Baits Snakehead Round-Up out of Oriole Park in Margate. Tournament director Dan Bieniek said it was the
first victory for the longtime Round-Up anglers, who won a total of $830. Justin Walker and Hunter Stouffer were second at 28.04 and had a big fish of 8.02 to win $270. Eddie and Corey Nowakowski were third at 27.9 to win $80, followed by David Mouna and Alexander Torres at 25.72 ($60) and Logan Petrella and Jason Fuller at 24.74 ($40). Anglers kept a total of 130 snakeheads and released 60 bass.
DJ Foster caught a 4.96-pound bass Sunday fishing with his son Gage and his father, Dave, to win the Everglades Bassmasters of South Florida One Largemouth Bass Tournament, Father’s Day Edition, out of Everglades Holiday Park.
Sienna Megna of Pompano Beach caught a 15.5-pound dolphin fishing on LegaSea to win the Ladies, Let’s Go Fishing Anyone Can Win Tournament Saturday in Islamorada. Junior angler Mary
Kate Kamarossa caught the only tuna fishing with her father. The 24 anglers caught a total of 142 dolphin. Everglades closures: Because of high water levels from recent rains that have forced wildlife to seek refuge on tree islands and levees, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has temporarily restricted public access to the Everglades and Francis S. Taylor, Holey Land and Rotenberger wildlife management areas in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, but fishing from boats is allowed in canals. Call the FWC at 561-625-5122.
Pier clean-up: The Anglin’s Pier Underwater Clean-up is 8-9:30 a.m. Saturday in Lauderdale-bythe-Sea. Gold Coast Scuba is offering volunteer divers a free T-shirt, a free air fill and a free barbecue following the dive at the Surf & Yacht Club on El Mar Drive. In addition to beach divers, who must bring a pair of sea snips and gloves, non-diving volunteers are needed to haul buckets containing fishing line and other debris collected by the divers onto the pier. The section of the pier where divers are collecting debris will be closed to anglers. Call Gold Coast at 954-616-5909.
World Cup: The Blue Marlin World Cup is July 4, with teams around the world fishing for eight hours in their respective time zones for a winner-take-all cash prize for the single largest blue marlin. The base entry fee is $5,000 per team and the optional Big Blue Challenge is $8,000. The entry deadline is 5 p.m. July 2. Visit blue marlinworldcup.com or contact tournament director Fly Navarro at 561-310-9214 or fly@bluemarlinworldcup.com.