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Florida Keys Fishing Tournament Coverage

Keys Invitational Spring Bonefish Fly Tournament
By Islamorada Sport Fishing
contributing writer John Geiger.

AT THE WEIGHT IN

Joan Kelley loves bonefish. That’s why she volunteers as a weigh master for bonefish tournaments.

With the advent of catch-and-release fishing, the weigh master’s job in flats tournaments has evolved. In the 1960s, the weigh master hung up dead fish on a spring scale and called out the numbers. Nowadays, it’s a world different. Anglers now have state-of-the-art live wells that pump air and gallons of sea water to keep the fish perky before and after the weigh in. The live well on Tim Mahaffey’s Maverick keeps the bonefish alive throughout a perhaps 50-mile trip from Biscayne Bay to the dock at the Islamorada Fishing Club.

Once there, Kelley lets the captain take the fish out of the boat (in case it falls in, then it’s not her fault), and slips it into a custom-made, canoe-shaped basket that hangs from the digital scale. Once she determines the weight, the captain puts the fish back in the well and carries the fish and Kelley to a flat west of the popular Lorelei basin to a quiet spot where the fish is released. (She’s mum on exact locations.) Kelley goes with them to ensure that the fish is alive and well when it’s released. Otherwise there’s a harsh point penalty.

Kelley learned her trade from Mary Anne Stagg, longtime Redbone Series tournaments weigh master.

Kelley is a fly-fisherman herself and has also won a few tournaments, such as the Original Ladies Dolphin Tournament.

“I do this because I love bonefish,” said the tall, blonde-haired woman. “I get excited every time I see one. I also like the way the captains and anglers have so much respect for them and the sport.”

Tim Mahaffey has had just about enough of bonefish.

It’s not because the tricky little fish evade his fly. Hardly. In fact he just three-peated the bonefish superbowl -- the Keys Invitational Spring Bonefish Fly Tournament. It’s just that the man has spent months focused on the 3-foot-long game fish and it’s just time to move on. It’s tarpon time.

If Mahaffey can tame tarpon as well as bonefish, he’ll be setting records in the famed Gold Cup tournament in June. He’s going for a two-peat in that tournament this year. 

In the April 16-18 Spring Fly, Mahaffey and his guide, Capt. Mark Krowka, pulled ahead of the other 25 teams by making all the right moves in three days of scant fishing. Bonefish just haven’t been around in numbers anglers usually see this time of year. Still, the team was able to catch two bonefish more than 12 pounds and two smaller ones to win. 

“Winning it three times in a row was something I’ve really wanted to do,” said Mahaffey, who has also won tournaments like the Redbone and the All-Tackle. “It’s probably the most competitive tournaments, and that really gets my juices flowing.”

The Spring Fly is a 23-year-old contest that attracts only the best fly anglers to seek the heaviest bonefish possible on the shallow-water flats of South Florida.

“These are all the heavy hitters in the sport,” said weigh master Joan Kelley. “They have incredible respect for the sport and they know exactly what they are doing.”

While the Mahaffey-Krowka team ended up at the top of the scoreboard, they had to fight for the title until the very last minute.

Krowka, one of the winningest guides in flats fishing, is known for motoring up to Biscayne Bay to catch bonefish and then cruising back down to the Keys to weigh them in alive. The strategy has worked well for the Davie fishing guide. He’s won four of the last five bonefish tournaments in the Keys with this game plan. But he and Mahaffey caught big fish during their pretournament practice days in Islamorada, so they figured they’d give the Sportfishing Capital of the World a chance. They made the right choice. At the end of the first day of the tournament, they caught a 12-and-a-half, and a 12-pound bonefish on the flats of Islamorada. As day two began, and decided that perhaps Islamorada was fished out and gunned Mahaffey’s Maverick to Biscayne Bay. But fishing there was barely worth the trip. They ended up catching just one fish, an 8-and-a-half pounder. In this tournament, fish less than 8 pounds are released and count for 200 points. Fish more than 8 are weighed, then released, and they count for exponentially more points.

While the team was up in the Miami area, guys in Islamorada were catching up. 

Longtime fly-fisher Dick Pope caught and released two hefty fish, one topping 12-pounds, 8 ounces, the heaviest fish of the tournament.

At the end of day two, Mahaffey and Krowka were barely ahead of several teams looking to steal their lead. They figured they had to catch at least a few releases on the last day to stay on top.

All the next day they prowled the mangrove shores on the oceanside from Tavernier to North Key Largo without getting one to bite.

Finally, Mahaffey hooked up with a baby bonefish. Even though the fish was only about 2 pounds, it counted for a full 200 points. After that catch, all was quiet until Mahaffey hooked up again, this time with a bigger fish, just 10 minutes before the end of the tournament. With this fish, Mahaffey said he would have felt confident that they would maintain their lead and get their three-peat. As the fish bolted off the flat, everything suddenly got quiet again. The fly just dropped out of the fish’s mouth.

Meanwhile, Carlos Solis of Miami and Capt. John Donnell came on strong on the third day of the tournament. They knew, before Mahaffey and Krowka did, that if Mahaffey caught just one release fish, no matter how small, that Mahaffey would win.

Solis and Donnell were the last back to the docks. They ended up with 2,660 points. Mahaffey had 2,650 going into the last day, and added 200 with the wimpy bone. Mahaffey’s final score: 2,850.

“It was a nail-biter,” said Mahaffey.

“If Carlos and John could have released just one more fish, they would have won by 2 points,” said Kelley. “It was close right down to the end.”

This tournament was won three times in a row only one other time. Legendary guide, Capt. Harry Spears, and angler Bill Hassett, won the tournament in 1984-86.

Spears and Mahaffey crossed paths at the Lorelei over the weekend. Spears shook his hand and asked him to congratulate Krowka as well.