Sailfish Marina plays host to the annual St. Paddy’s Day Weekend tournament extravaganza where 30 teams competed for $50,000 in cash prizes.
March 14, 2020 – Sailfish Marina [Palm Beach, FL] – “May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it.” – Irish Blessing; Author: Unknown
In the theme of St. Paddy’s Day, Pelagic once again brought the fun to South Florida with its Second Annual Shamrock Shootout that featured concerts, parties, and a fishing tournament extravaganza.
Iconic Sailfish Marina played host to the Irish-themed sport fishing extravaganza.
Held annually at iconic 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.
Fun for all! St. Paddy's Day parties served up with a side of green beer from our friends at Saltwater Brewery.
As “luck” would have it, things kicked off on Friday the 13th, 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” songs.
Nightly concerts and music performances kept the good vibes flowing all weekend long.
After registering for the event, anglers & crew dawned their favorite Irish attire for a team photo in front of the tournament’s official weigh station. In honor of the Celtic celebration, our good friends at Saltwater Brewery poured a limited-brew green ale as well as their popular ‘Screamin’ Reels’ IPA for any of-age tournament patrons, while offering a six-pack of their most-popular canned beers to any team entered in the tournament.
More scenes from good times in Palm Beach, FL during the 2nd Annual Pelagic Shamrock Shootout.
Following opening ceremonies, the beautiful Pelagic Girls hosted a super raffle – wearing their dolphin green, of course – where lucky winners took home some incredible prizes such as Pelagic Aquapak Backpack and Duffel Bags & Pelagic Polarized Sunglasses.
Raffle prizes up for grabs announced from the tournament's main stage, followed by an incredible performance by SPRED THE DUB.
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 (8) maximum fish, and no more than four (4) 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.
Blackfin Tuna - one of five species available in the Pelagic Shamrock Shootout [photo: Steve Dougherty]
Awaiting the overall winner of the 2020 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-designed Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar with Pelagic’s iconic green dorado print & Shamrock Shootout graphics was up for grabs putting anticipation for the next day’s shootout at an all-time high.
Trophies and the Tournament Grand Champion Award - a custom Pelagic Shamrock Shootout Fender Electric Guitar - on display prior to the award's ceremony.
The tournament officially commenced at sunrise on Saturday, March 14th, where 30 teams competing for $50,000 in cash prizes had until 3:30pm when 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.
An anxious crowd gathered at the official weigh station to witness teams weighing their catch.
First to the scales was Team Hyjenx with what was most certainly an unprecedented catch. To much of the Shamrock Shootout’s crowd at Sailfish Marina’s delight, Hyjenx had to utilize a dock cart to haul a massive tuna to the official tournament weigh station. After quick analyzation, it was determined that the behemoth fish was indeed a bigeye tuna and, once hoisted on the scales, weighed in at a staggering 194.8 lbs. – a significant catch for the species anywhere worldwide, and simply unheard of in South Florida.
“We caught it while high speed trolling for wahoo,” said a Team Hyjenx representative with a smile on his face. “We thought we had our jackpot wahoo on the line, that’s for sure!”
UPDATE: Team Hyjenx' incredible catch is now in the approval process as a new Florida State Record for Bigeye Tuna!
While bigeye tuna as a species unfortunately does not qualify to be scored in the Pelagic Shamrock Shootout, the tournament administration team is working on providing Hyjenx with a special prize for their truly unprecedented and incredible catch.
Daily jackpot winners - BOMBCHELLE & OFF THE WALL
Three jackpots were secured by teams entered into the optional categories. Bombchelle weighed in a 23.0 lb. kingfish to win that optional pot; Off The Wall scored a 14.0 lb. cobia to secure a jackpot of $2,560; and Boyle ‘N Point with Pelagic Pro Team members, Stephen & Michelle Boyle, scored a 17.6 lb. blackfin tuna caught by Jr. angler, Jackson Boyle, to earn $2,880.
Team BOYLE 'N POINT weighs in Jr. Angler, Jackson Boyle's, jackpot Blackfin Tuna.
At the end of the weigh-ins, all scores were tallied and the 2020 Shamrock Shootout winners were celebrated on the tournament’s main stage…
Pelagic Family Member and ongoing cancer fighter, Zac "Yeti" Zarbrough, celebrated on the main tournament stage.
Prior to the award’s celebration, a special announcement was made. In honor of our good friend and Pelagic Family member, Zac “Yeti” Yarbrough, who is currently battling a rare form of breast cancer found in men, Pelagic hosted a silent auction with the winning bid taking home a Pelagic Inflatable Stand-Up Paddleboard. All proceeds from the winning bid were donated directly to Zac’s ongoing fight with cancer. Thank you so much to Paul Robertson of Fishing for Muscular Dystrophy for your kind and selfless act with the highest bid of $3,000!
Team BOMBCHELLE takes home the tournament victory & the coveted Grand Champion Award!
Taking the coveted title of Shamrock Shootout Tournament Grand Champion was Team Bombchelle. Their combined weight total of 52.0-lbs. earned them top honors in this second annual event; and, along with scoring the optional Kingfish Jackpot, Bombchelle took home a total prize of $11,020. Congrats to Pelagic Pro Team member Michelle Dalton & crew on the tournament victory!
Team HARDWAY - 2nd Place Overall
Team Hardway earned second place overall in the tournament with a combined score of 29.0-lbs. to win a check for $3,000. Once again showing an incredible act of the human spirit, Team Hardway announced that they would be donating $1,000 of their prize money to Zac’s cancer fund. Thank you so much to Team Hardway!
Team SEA OTTER/NO FLY ZONE - 3rd Place Overall
‘No fly Zone’ aboard Sea Otter was awarded third place overall with a weight total of 23.8-lbs. to score a payout of $2,250.
Team NASTY NATE & THE DRUNKY BUNCH - 4th Place Overall
Team ‘Nasty Nate & The Drunky Bunch’ aboard Florida Man took home the fourth place trophy and a $1,500 payout for their score 21.2-lbs.
Team REEL FANTASEA - 5th Place Overall
And finally, Team Reel Fantasea was awarded fifth place and a $750 payday for their 19.8-lb. total.
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 Saltwater Brewery.
The PELAGIC International Tournament Series and the 2020 Shamrock Shootout would like to send out a big thanks to all those who fished with us in this St. Paddy’s Day Weekend event. Special thanks goes out to Sailfish Marina for being such gracious hosts and providing an incredible venue to grow this tournament year after year. Thanks again to Saltwater Brewery for generously pouring their hoppy libations all weekend long, and to our performers, Spred The Dub and Kulcha Shok Music, for their electric performances.
Proper send-off for the 2nd Annual Pelagic Shamrock Shootout - we'll see you next year on St. Paddy's Day Weekend!
We’ll see you all next year for the 3rd Annual Pelagic Shamrock Shootout on St. Paddy’s Day Weekend 2021!
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