Happy Anglers at Hook’em in the Glades

The Eighth Annual Hook’em in the Glades fishing fundraiser tournament presented by the Everglades City Lions Club was a huge success! This year’s captain’s meeting was held at Camellia Street Grill and check-in at Everglades Fishing Company, with approximately 190 anglers fishing. Friday’s captains’ meeting was packed full of excitement with great music, food, and raffles, as well as our Annual Mullet Toss! This year’s Mullet Toss in the Glades champion was Everglades City School’s own first grader, Reagan Higgins, with 24 points! Coming in second place was Harper Pratt with 17 points! 

We had over 200 people attending to support  Hook’em in the Glades and the students and youth of Everglades City! It was a tough day on the water as the water wasn’t moving much, but a few captains were able to find the fish!   

This year, we opened a new Adult Artificial Team Boat Division and had 10 captains competing for the first Artificial Team Boat Champion in  Hook’em history! Capt. Wayne Meland and first mate Matt McLean took first place with 72 points! Coming in second place with 66 points was Sticky Holsters, captained by Kyle Coar and crew! Just behind them was Capt. Sean Morton and crew with 63 points! 

Our Adult Open Team Boat division had 42 boats competing for the big trophy! Coming in first place were first-time winners Team Wagner with Captain Brock and Maurine Wagner, and mates Marissa and Melissa Antonucci with a total of 70 points! Only three points separated first place from third place! Francis Santos’s Team came in second with 68 points, and Josh and Jody Coar placed third with 67 points! Wow, what a close competition this year! 

In the Paddle Division, we had a new winner this year! John Suleski took first place from last year’s winner Joe Henary with a score of 56 points! Joe came in second with 44 total points! 

Despite a tough day on the water, our Jr. Team Boats, which consisted of a Jr. Angler Captain and all Jr. Anglers as crew members, fished hard and finally found a few fish!  Local upcoming future fishing guide from Everglades City, Chase Stokes, won first place! Chase and first mate Kingston Robinson were able to secure the win with 28 points! Second place went to first-year Jr. Team Boat captain Trace Creel and his crew with 15 points! 

Our Junior Angler Pee Wee On-Shore champ goes to Brentley Pike with 128 total points! Second place went to Stacia Bagley with 57 points! The Junior On Shore (third -12th grade) championship went to local angler fishing legend, Damien Stokes, with a total of 400 points! Last year’s champion, Maddy Thoner, came in second with 250 points! Our third-place winner is new to the leaderboard, but not to fishing! Local angler Mila Valdes landed a huge redfish, which almost got her to the second-place spot! 

The junior anglers fishing on adult team boats were also in a heated competition for the longest snook, redfish, and seatrout as individuals! The longest snook winner was Marissa Antonucci with a 28-inch snook! Marissa has fished the tournament for several years and always came up just short, but not this year! Second place in the longest snook division went to Michelle Osceola with a 21-inch snook, and third place went to Jax Kolsea with an 18-inch snook!   

The longest Redfish went to Giulietta Tavares with a 25-inch redfish. Second place was twin sister to the longest snook, Melissa Antonucci, with a 24-inch snook, and third place with a 12-inch snook went to Nathan Fernandez!  

The longest Seatrout, which was a three-way tie at 15 inches long, came down to the person who caught their trout earliest in the day. Future Everglades City fishing guide Kingston Robinson landed his 15-inch trout at 7:06 AM! Second place went to Isabella Cavero, who landed her trout at 7:18 AM. Third place went to Giulietta Tavares, who caught her 15-inch trout at 1:10 PM!   

The adult longest snook, redfish, and seatrout was another close battle that came down to earliest time caught! The winner in the longest snook contest was Marcos Baldo with a 33-inch Snook caught at 8:37 AM! The winner of the redfish trophy was James Boender with a 27-inch red caught at 12:58 PM, just 25 minutes earlier than the second-place guy! The longest seatrout winner was Wayne Meland with a 19-inch seatrout caught at 7:34 AM!  

I have to say one of my favorite parts of the tournament is watching and listening to the kids who fish on shore! One of our seventh-grade girls said, “I’m not going to fish this year! All I ever catch is catfish!”  I told her to find Mr. Whitcomb, and she would catch something other than a catfish! She joined up with several other middle school kids at the river, where Mr. Whitcomb was helping, and that decision didn’t disappoint! She caught a huge black drum, snapper, and jacks! As I drove along the river, the kids and the adults came rushing to me to show me their giant fish pictures and stories of the ones they lost at the dock! The smiles, laughter, and joking around that went on that day were enough to bring joy to any adult watching! 

 Hook’em in the Glades and the Lions Club of Everglades would like to thank all the sponsors, raffle donors, fishermen, and friends who joined us at the captain's meeting and supported this event! The money raised will support the students and youth of Everglades City! Some of our big youth groups working to earn money are our cheerleaders, who have 22 girls who want to attend summer camp in Fort Myers! The prom committee has a very special prom planned in Naples that will be remembered by all who attend! The homecoming committee is working to put on a fabulous Homecoming Dance on campus this winter! The student government kids are working to attend the state conference in Lake Worth this winter. The girls’ softball team has a senior trip each year that gets funded by the work these girls put in  Hook’em in the Glades! And this year, the EVG News crew raised money to fund their field trip to the NBC2 news studio! 

Thank you to the Everglades City Lions Club and everyone who fished, sponsored, volunteered, purchased shirts, and attended any part of the event! We couldn’t have had this successful event without all of you!