‘Nothing like it.’ Manatee teams set to compete in popular fishing tournament
Captain Peter Smith has been fishing the Crosthwait for more than a decade.
“We won the under-19 division in 2012, I think,” said Smith, who runs Double Bounty Fishing Charters. “I don’t think I’ve missed one since.”
Like many Manatee County anglers who were raised on the waters of Tampa Bay, the Manatee River and Sarasota Bay, Smith looks forward to the Crosthwait weekend almost year-round.
“We start talking about what we’re going to do in February. ‘What about this, what about that?’ We look for groups of fish all year, and that weekend we go to the ones we think are the best,” Smith said. “And when that shotgun start goes Saturday morning, there is nothing like it.”
Smith and his Team Double Bounty are currently riding the high of winning the first of three legs in the Triple Crown Fishing Series Presented by Palmetto Bait and Tackle with a snook, redfish and trout combination of 95 inches at the Suncoast Saltwater Shootout in April.
The three-legged tournament features the best of the best in local inshore fishing, with captain TJ Stewart and Team Richardson Stinton Roofing dominating on a multi-year victory stretch. Richardson Stinton Roofing currently sits in fourth place with 89 points while Double Bounty is in first with 95.
But Smith and his teammates, Jake Hine and Michael Micochero, are focused now on the unusual challenges a beautiful weekend will present for the 41st Annual Crosthwait Memorial Fishing Tournament.
“We’re trying to figure out what fishing areas aren’t going to be destroyed by 3 p.m. on Saturday. The answer is pretty much nothing. Everything that is fishable is going to be covered in boats. We’re going to go where the fish are first and hope it works out, but the lousy thing is we have lousy tides first thing in the morning,” Smith explained. “We just hope to be at the right spot at the right time. A lot of the good teams are fishing the same stuff. Everyone could end up fishing the same sandbox and the same fish or areas.”
Ahead of the inshore captains meeting, 51 teams were registered for the inshore division, with an additional 13 teams in the juniors division. Those anglers fished overnight Saturday and will turn in their six fish catches Sunday.
Many teams wait until the last minute to make sure the weather will be good, and this weekend is about as nice as anyone could ask for with light winds and no chance of rain. Both are a welcome sight in a tournament that frequently features questionable forecasts. If it were held a weekend earlier, strong winds and inches of rain would have limited the field.
With the beautiful weather, a high number of offshore boats left the docks during Friday afternoon, 18 in the unlimited division and 11 in the limited division. The limited division has a maximum range that teams can venture offshore and weigh in on Saturday afternoon.
The unlimited division is the crowd pleaser. Those teams will often bring back giant warsaw grouper, swordfish, wahoo and more. With the beautiful weather, teams will be able to make long runs, often covering hundreds of miles before returning Sunday afternoon.
The weigh-in is open to the public at the Bradenton Yacht Club, 4307 13th St. W., Palmetto. For more information, visit www.FishCrosthwait.com.