Outdoors Column: Crosthwait fishing tournament returns in 2021. There will be a few changes
In 2020 the Crosthwait Memorial Fishing Tournament was canceled because of COVID-19. As the oldest multi-species tournament on Florida’s west coast, the Crosthwait is a tradition to so many of Manatee County’s anglers, both young and old, and it’s cancellation left anglers missing a competitive event they look forward to yearly.
Returning this May, the 37th year of the tournament will feature quite a few changes from its historic format that teams will need to be aware of, specifically in the inshore division.
In past years, many “inshore” participants didn’t necessarily fish inshore. They went to extremes for points and a chance at the crown. High scoring species like permit and cobia would send teams straight into the Gulf of Mexico if the weather allowed. With no offshore boundaries, it wasn’t any secret that some ventured 30, 40 or 50 miles off to fish wrecks that housed big permit. It was a risky go-for-broke strategy that sometimes paid off and left boats fishing the flats behind.
This year, inshore teams will have the “big three” inshore species to target for points, and then a single bonus wildcard that will be determined during the captains’ meeting. To fill their six fish scoresheet, redfish, snook and trout will be the the core species. Two of each can be scored with points given based on their size.
The wildcard will be picked from a potential flounder, tripletail, pompano, tarpon or cobia. If drawn, a 36-inch tarpon or legal-sized cobia would be a flat 75 points, while the other three will be a photo release and points per inch. Depending on the species chosen, a variety of scenarios could play out for teams. Only one of the drawn wildcard species will be allowed for submission, meaning one chance to upgrade from your least points of the core species if possible.
Gone for 2021 will be inshore teams waiting in a potential hour long plus line at the Bradenton Yacht Club. The tournament will be moving to iAngler, a digital system that will allow anglers to submit their catches in real time instead of Sunday afternoon at the weigh in. Scoring and standings will be constantly updated, a welcome improvement from the years of sleep deprived anglers filling the Snead Island Cut. This will also keep teams from grouping together in our current socially distanced COVID-19 society.
The offshore division will be returning with the popular weigh in still set for Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.. It will be preceded by the offshore limited division (teams staying within about 45 miles west of Anna Maria) weigh in on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. and the Spearfishing division before it on Sunday.
The weigh-in will allow spectators with streaming available for those unable to attend. With the inshore division weigh in submission going digital, the Sunday afternoon awards ceremony will hopefully go smoother and quicker.
Registration for the May 14-16 tournament can be completed through the iAngler app or by visiting FishCrosthwait.com.