Waterman's Journal

Mar 22, 2021

‘OFF THE WALL’ VICTORIOUS AT 2021 PELAGIC SHAMROCK SHOOTOUT

Great weather and willing fish welcomed a festive fleet at the third annual St. Paddy’s Day-themed sport fishing tournament extravaganza.

“May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it.” – Irish Blessing; Author: Unknown

March 12-13, 2021 – Sailfish Marina [Palm Beach, FL] – In the theme of St. Paddy’s Day, Pelagic once again brought the fun to South Florida with its Third Annual Shamrock Shootout that featured concerts, parties, and a fishing tournament extravaganza.

Iconic Sailfish Marina [Palm Beach, FL] - home of the Pelagic Shamrock ShootoutSailfish Marina Resort-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout

Held annually at Sailfish Marina [Singer Island – Palm Beach, FL] on St. Paddy’s Day Weekend, this unique tournament is packed full of excitement, and laced with Irish flare. Offering fun for all in an anyone-can-win-type format, and located at one of sport fishing’s landmark destinations, the stage was set for an incredible weekend filled with good vibes, calm seas, and of course – green beer.

Weigh-ins took place front & center in tournament villageSailfish Marina Tournament Lawn-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout

The event kicked off on Friday, March 12th, where teams & participants were greeted by the tunes of DJ Lance-O of Kulcha Shok Muzik, before the day’s main act – popular Floridian reggae-ska band, Spred The Dub – took the tournament village main stage to perform a high-energy, multi-hour set of both original and cover “good-time reggae-rock” songs.

DJ Kulcha Shok introduces the tournament's main act: Spred The DubDJ Kulcha Shok Muzik-Pelagic Shamrock ShootoutSpred The Dub-Reggae Rock Band-Palm Beach Florida

In honor of the Celtic celebration, our good friends at Cutwater Spirits offered any of-age tournament patrons a complimentary assortment of their best-selling canned cocktails, while local favorite - Saltwater Brewery - poured a limited-brew green version of their popular Island Breeze IPA, affectionately dubbed “Irish Breeze”.

Cutwater Spirts & Saltwater Brewery - Official Beverage Partners of the 2021 Pelagic Shamrock ShootoutCutwater Spirits-Pelagic Shamrock ShootoutSaltwater Brewery IPA-Green Beer-Pelagic Shamrock ShootoutCutwater Spirits-Tiki Rum Mai Tai

Following opening ceremonies, the beautiful Pelagic Girls, Allison & Amber, hosted a super raffle – wearing their dolphin green, of course – where lucky winners took home some incredible prizes such as Pelagic Backpacks and Duffels & high-end Pelagic Polarized Sunglasses.

Each team received an official team bag with tournament t-shirts, hats, coozies, wristbands, and giveaways from event sponsorsPelagic Shamrock Shootout-Tees and Hats

The tournament offered five species available to weigh – kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, cobia, & blackfin tuna – in which first through fifth place trophies and cash prizes were awarded to teams for their cumulative weight total of eight maximum fish, with no more than four per species. Teams also had the opportunity to purchase into any of the optional species calcuttas or value-added KDW jackpots to raise the stakes.

Dolphin - AKA Mahi-Mahi or Dorado - are one of the five species available in the Shamrock ShootoutMahi Mahi-Dorado-Dolphin

Awaiting the overall winner of the 2021 Pelagic Shamrock Shootout was the distinguished title of ‘Tournament Grand Champion’ as well as a highly coveted, one-of-a-kind grand prize. This year, a custom Shamrock Shootout-edition Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar along with a 70 Quart Cooler from sponsors, Cutwater Spirits, were up for grabs putting anticipation of the next day’s one-day tournament at an all-time high.

Some incredible prizes and trophies await the 2021 Pelagic Shamrock Shootout Tournament Grand ChampionsCustom Fender Electric Guitar-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout-TrophiesCutwater Spirits-Shree Sheets Rum-Pelican Cooler

The tournament officially commenced at 7:30am on Saturday, March 13th, where 37 teams competing for $65,000 in cash prizes had until 3:30pm until they were required to stop fishing. At Sailfish Marina, each team brought their respective kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, cobia, & blackfin tuna to be weighed and documented at the tournament’s official weigh station.

Tournament teams exit Palm Beach Inlet in hopes of finding the proverbial offshore pot o' gold during the Shamrock ShootoutPalm Beach Inlet-Sailfish Marina-Singer Island

Four jackpots were secured by teams entered into the optional categories. Sea Otter/No Fly Zone weighed in a 43.0 lb. kingfish – the largest of the tournament – to win that optional pot; Off The Wall scored a 37.0 lb. cobia to secure that pot; Team Bombchelle with Pelagic Pro Team member, Michelle “Bombchelle” Dalton, scored an 18.4 lb. blackfin tuna to earn $4,640; and lastly, Southern Run weighed a 16.6 lb. dolphin to earn a jackpot payout of $4,640.

Team 'Bombchelle' weighs in their jackpot winning blackfin tuna, caught aboard the Pelagic-wrapped 36' Yellowfin Center ConsoleBombchelle Fishing-Michelle Dalton-PelagicBombchelle 36 Yellowfin Center Console-Florida-Pelagic

At the end of the weigh-ins, all scores were tallied and the 2021 Shamrock Shootout winners were celebrated on the tournament’s main stage…

Team 'Southern Run' secures the dolphin jackpotMahi Mahi-Fishing Tournament-Sailfish Marina

Taking the coveted title of Shamrock Shootout Tournament Grand Champion was Team Off The Wall. Their combined weight total of 112.8-lbs. earned them top honors in this third annual event; and, along with scoring the optional Cobia Jackpot, Off The Wall took home a total prize of $13,570.  Congrats to Captain John Anderson, Bo Jenyns, and the Off The Wall crew!

Congrats to Team OFF THE WALL - 2021 Pelagic Shamrock Shootout Tournament Grand Champions!Cutwater Spirits-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout Grand Champions-Off The WallCobia-Kingfish-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout

Team Doing It All/Hardway earned second place overall in the tournament with a combined score of 102.2-lbs. to win a check for $3,700.

Team DOING IT ALL/HARDWAY - 2nd Place OverallAwards Ceremony-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout 2021Kingfish-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout 2021-Sailfish Marina

Reel Synergy with Captain Chip Sheehan aboard the iconic Pelagic Americamo-wrapped 44’ Contender was awarded third place overall with a weight total of 101.8-lbs. to score a payout of $2,775.

Team REEL SYNERGY - 3rd Place OverallReel Synergy-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout ChampionsReel Synergy-44 Contender Center Console-Pelagic Americamo

Team Florida Man aboard the Pelagic-wrapped 39’ Seahunter took home the fourth place trophy and a $1,850 payout for their score of 74.8-lbs.

Team FLORIDA MAN - 4th Place OverallKingfish Tournament-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout-Florida ManFlorida Man-Pelagic-39 Seahunter Center Console

And finally, Team Sea Otter/No Fly Zone was awarded fifth place for their 54.5-lb. weight total. Combined with their kingfish jackpot, the team earned solid payout of $6,045.

Team SEA OTTER/NO FLY ZONE - 5th Place Overall + Kingfish JackpotPelagic Shamrock Shootout-Palm Beach Florida-Sailfish MarinaKingfish-Sailfish Marina-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout 2021

After the award’s ceremony, Lance-O of Kulcha Shok Muzik kept the good times flowing with his vibrant, reggae-rock sounds.  The vibes were high as tournament participants enjoyed the tropical tunes while tipping back a few celebratory brews from our friends at Cutwater Spirits and Saltwater Brewery.

Fun times for all at the 3rd Annual Pelagic Shamrock ShootoutShamrock Shootout-Pelagic Gear-2021Cutwater Spirits Canned Cocktails

The PELAGIC International Tournament Series and the 2021 Shamrock Shootout would like to send out a heartfelt thanks to all those who fished with us in this St. Paddy’s Day Weekend event while offering to donate a large percentage of their catch to Fillets For Friends. Collectively, 331-lbs. of fillets were donated which equates to feeding roughly 1,000 people in need. Incredible work and thanks again to all!

Fillets on fillets! Great work by our tournament participants in donating their catch to an incredible causeFillets For Friends-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout

A special thanks goes out also to Sailfish Marina and their incredible staff for being such gracious hosts and providing an amazing venue to grow this tournament year after year. Thanks again to Cutwater Spirits and Saltwater Brewery for generously serving their respective libations all weekend long, and to our performers, Spred The Dub and Kulcha Shok Music, for their electric performances.

Final send-off! See you next year on St. Paddy's Day Weekend.Sunset-Pelagic Shamrock Shootout-Sailfish Marina

We’ll see you all next year for the 4th Annual Pelagic Shamrock Shootout on St. Paddy’s Day Weekend – March 11-12, 2022!