The 3rd Annual Marathon Premier Sailfish Tournament was a huge success! We reeled in a whopping $20,000 for Mission Fishin’, an amazing organization that provides unforgettable fishing trips and experiences for children and families that might be facing difficult challenges.

Besides being the founder of Marathon Premier Sailfish Tournament I am also the co-owner of a local fishing charter business named Main Attraction right here in Marathon, Florida. We’ve been partnering with Mission Fishin’ since 2019 to host these cost-free fishing trips in the Florida Keys and seeing the pure joy on the kids’ faces is what inspired me to start the Marathon Premier Sailfish Tournament. We are now about to begin our fourth year of raising money for families and charitable organizations that make an impact on our local community.

For this year’s trips, we faced some choppy waters with high winds forcing us to reschedule our trips. Sadly, this meant that Tony Davis, the founder of Mission Fishin’, and his son Josh couldn’t join us as Josh was recovering from surgery. We wish Josh a speedy recovery and can’t wait to have them back next year.

Despite the windy weather, we scheduled trips on October 26th with a group of amazing kids from the Marathon Special Olympics team right here in Marathon. These athletes are led by the amazing Cathy Warner, who’s doing fantastic work with these kids – I was so impressed by her dedication! After connecting Cathy with Tony from Mission Fishin’, we knew this was the start of something special. And guess what? Mission Fishin’ just donated the entire $20,000 we raised to our local Special Olympics program! You can read all about it here: Article link

The kids and parents boarded two of our vessels that morning, the ‘Main One’ and ‘Main Attraction’, and headed straight for the reef. The kids were so excited to be on the water, and their enthusiasm was contagious!

They dropped anchor and chummed the water, attracting hungry schools of Yellowtail Snapper. The kids were reeling them in one after another! They even had a few Cobia join the party, putting up a good fight on light tackle.

After a couple of hours of fishing fun, everyone headed back to the marina. The kids were beaming as they shared their fish tales and posed for photos. Our Captains cleaned and filleted the catch so everyone could take home some delicious snapper for dinner.

Seeing the smiles on those kids’ faces makes all the effort worthwhile. We’re already looking forward to next year’s tournament and continuing to support Mission Fishin’ and the Marathon Special Olympics! If you’d like to join us in making a difference, consider donating, sponsoring, or signing up for the Marathon Premier Sailfish Tournament on April 25 and 26th, 2025!