It's Official !
Cadie May aboard the "Ohlala" wins 1st Place in the 2025 Fernandina Beach Kingfish Tournament with a 35.42 lb Kingfish to take home $11,700.
On May 31st, NSFA hosted the 42nd annual Fernandina Beach Kingfish Tournament and Fishing Rodeo with (above) Cadie May captained by her dad Bruno May of Team "Ohlala" winning 1st Place. Dennis Redmond came in 2nd place with a 31.46 lb Kingfish and Captain Geoff Stam won 3rd place with a nice 30.72 lb King.
(Above) Daxton Stewart on the Game Changer took the Junior angler division 1st place with a 19.83 lb. king and Owen Scully won 2nd. (Below) Hayley Thomas of Government Funded won the Lady Angler category bringing in a nice 23.30 pounder and Lucy Dingman took 2nd Place.
Please visit the nsfarodeo.com leader board for complete results. We had a great turnout with 106 captains and their crews competing for the kingfish top prize. NSFA also had 34 crews competing in the Rodeo Division targeting Redfish, Sea Trout, Flounder, Sheepshead, Sea Bass and Cobia. In the Redfish Division Nik Bremer of Amelia Island Bait and Tackle took 1st place with a 9.2 pound monster redfish to come back from last years tie breaker loss. Matt Smith, with a 2nd place in the redfish division, took 1st place in the Seatrout division with a 6.26 pounder. Dylan Dennison won the Sheepshead division with a 2.6 pounder and the Flounder division with a 2.74 pound flat fish. Donations by Renn Works Outdoors and a 7 night stay at Sea Cottages on Sadler were raffled off. A rod and reel combo, donated by Amelia Island Bait and Tackle was awarded for the redfish with the most spots. A $500 Gift Card from Academy Sports was awarded for the kingfish closest to the Mystery Weight of 19.40 lbs. Thank You to our Event Sponsors and Partners We want to thank Kristen Lampedecchio events coordinator and everyone else at the City of Fernandina Beach. Thank You to the FBPD and the NSO for policing our event. Thank You to Mariella Murphy and her crew at Amelia Island Tourist Development for their support and making the Traveler program possible. We also want to thank Todd Franz, the new publisher at the NewsLeader and Brooke Bird their graphic design manager. We want to thank Eric Joyner with North Florida Sales and Budweiser for their continued support. Thank you to Luke Arnedt and John Ganas at Circle K. Thank you Ameris Bank. Thank you, Eric Oliver, with Ocean Outboard Marine and Tom Marlow at Key West boats. Thank you to our two new sponsors this year, Academy Sports and Jamie at Windward Amelia Island Marina. Academy sports provided the gift card for the Mystery Prize winner and several raffle prizes. The first reader to send a text to the phone number in the official tournament rules for 2025, with "NSFA sponsors" in the text will receive a $50 gift certificate from Academy Sports . Thank you, Nik Bremer at Amelia Island Bait and Tackle for providing us with 125 captain buckets, which I’m happy to say, we ran out of, thanks to the great participation. Also thank you Nik for the rod and reel combo for the Redfish Spot award. We also want to thank Renn Works Outdoors and Sea Cottages for providing our great raffle prizes this year and last year and the year before. Thank you to Ron Anderson Chevrolet and Paul Clark Ford. Their trucks were on display at the tournament. Thank you to Bennett Chevrolet, Chelsea Marine, Vystar, First Federal and Fernandina Harbor Marina. Thank You to Judi Turner with Dave Turner Inc.. Dave Turner and sons are the featured picture on our brochure and Dave loved the Kingfish Tournament. Thank you Fish Bites and CMOR Maps. Thank you Metal Edge for the amazing trophies. Thank you to Coker Industrial Contractors, Gage Tree Service and Waste Management. Because of all of our sponsors, NSFA is able to continue our tradition of giving back by funding and awarding over $18,000 in College Scholarships to Nassau County High School Seniors in 2025. Please visit all our 2025 Sponsors on our Sponsor Page. We would also like thank all of the 100 + Nassau Sport Fishing Association's Volunteers that made this tournament happen. A special Thanks to our team leaders Brooke Kelley, Mitch Fields, Marvin Leininger, Mickey and Brandy Kelliher, Lorraine Connover, Shawn Arnold, Jef Bohn, Anson Dewolf, Jason Shaw, Sean Persons, Scott Stewart, David Franklin and Patti and Glen Langford. Thanks to Scott Moore for photographing our entire tournament We would also like to thank our MC Rick Ryals for an other stellar performance. Thank you to the Hampton Inn Downtown and Sea Cottages for being our preferred hotels and providing our tournament guests with discounted accommodations. Thanks to Reel Thirsty Ice for being the official ice vendor of the NSFA Kingfish Tournament. A special Thanks to Kevin McCarthy of Amelia Riverboat cruises for sharing their dock space with us!!! And, so many others. Thanks to everyone involved. The Official Results along with Tournament Photos are posted on our website at nsfarodeo.com and on our Nassau Sport Fishing Association Facebook page. _______________________________________________ 
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| __________________________________________________________ If you have a catch you are proud of just send your pictures and the particulars to info@nsfafish.net and we'll post them to Facebook and Instagram !! ___________________________________________________ ** Lifetime Membership Awarded **
Mitch Fields awarded the Honary Lifetime Membership Award to Terry Lacoss, noted local fishing authority, at the NSFA membership social on April 23, 2025 at the conclusion of his talk on Redfish. For decades Terry has supported our club in his many endeavors with the News Leader and Florida Sportsman Magazine among countless others. Congratulations Terry! _________________________________________ _________________________________________ Ride the Wild Surf - Fixed Rig Sinkers By : John Givens, Member Distance Short shank sputniks cast further than long shank sputniks Sputniks are more aerodynamic and outcast pyramids and storm sinkers Short shank sputniks wobble more than long shank sputniks Adding hooks and baits significantly reduces distance so a single drop rig and a Carolina rig cast farther than a double drop rig You can set up to cast with pyramids on the sand, giving you more leverage to cast. You can’t set sputniks on the sand Side Notes - Distance A spinner with 15# braid casts just about as far as a baitcasters with 15# mono if the cast is 150 yards or less Due to the spiraling effect of a spinning reel a baitcaster goes farther into the wind A 150 yard cast with a double drop rig places you in the top 90% of casters For maximum distance, try a 3" snood tied to the eye of the sinker Holding Sputniks hold better than pyramids Storm sinkers hold better than pyramids 3 sided pyramids hold better than 4 sided pyramids Long shank sputniks typically hold better than short shank sputniks, but you can mostly get around this by adjusting the tension on short shanks With a stronger hold you should get a better read/indication for the bite and a better hookup Sputniks can imbed into soft sand. A long shank sputnik allows a better angle to pop out the sinker. Go 40 yards or so away from the center to free up the sinker In soft sand and/or strong currents, bring in your rig every·15 minutes so it doesn’t sink into the sand A 5oz sputnik holds better than an 8oz pyramid Miscellaneous Pyramids and storm sinkers are less expensive than sputniks. You can buy long shank sputniks from Amelia Bait and Tackle, RennWorks and the Sinker Guy. Fellow member Lyndon Godwin manufactures and sells short shank sputniks. SaltStrong has some new interesting long shank pyramids (Redfin Double Pyramid) and tail lift sputniks by (Redfin Planer Tail Sinker)While reeling in Long Shanks tend to tangle less than short shanks. If you are catching bonnet heads and especially catfish, you will probably need to replace your rigs occasionally Sputniks reel in/slide in smoother than pyramids which tend to bounce and can result in a lost fish You can move pyramids in the surf. You can't move sputniks without popping the wires. Moving rigs 5 or so turns of the reel every few minutes allows you to cover more ground and find the fish While the primary purpose of the sinker ls to hold, you will get the most distance by matching it to your rod and using whatever size loads best __________________________________________________________ March Surf Fishing Seminar Attended by Eighty Four Wannabe Ace Anglers! _______________________________________________________ Surf Fishing Web Sites - By : John Givens, Member Reading the Beach - Rich Troxler provides several detailed instruction videos on his YouTube site Click Here These are the best and most comprehensive I've seen. Noel Kuhn, surf guide and surf fishing expert, has several good videos online. Here is a pair of them Click Here. A great website for lots of podcasts on fishing is the "Finding Demo" site. Here is a link to it Click Here. A great video on distance surf casting by Tommy Farmer, the master caster and teacher, is here Click Here. The Sinker Guys videos are excellent. Fortunately, he covers a wide range of surf fishing topics. His instructions on the "Mortician's Rig" are the best. Here is a link Click Here. Upcoming Meetings & Events
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