What a great event and event better turnout. Not just because there were almost 40 boats that fished the tournament this year but the weigh in at The Cut restaurant was fantastic. Palmetto Bait and Tackle had the honor for being the title sponsor for the second year in a row. Having said that, I can tell you with 100% honesty that this tournament has grown! I have been a sponsor of the Suncoast Saltwater Shootout since 2021 and title sponsor in 2025 and 2026 and this year was by far the best in my opinion. No disrespect to past years but the number of anglers, the venue, the weather, the people were all just amazing. I will take the opportunity to go over the winners in the article this week.
The inshore division had a shotgun start at 8am on Saturday 4/19/26 and being out there to see 30+ boats all take off at once heading to their favorite spot was a sight to see. I was able to fish the tournament this year and we were right in the mix of the madness! From what I could see the vast majority of boats headed south towards Anna Maria Island, Palma Sola and Sarasota Bay. The inshore division is a catch, photo and release tournament so some of the fish caught were really spectacular. But at the end of the day, there can only be one winner and that winner was Richard Stinton Roofing. Congratulations to them on some great fish. The inshore top 3 were as follows: 1. Richard Stinton Roofing. 2. Shrimp’n Ain’t Easy. 3. Shoreline Design FL. Well done and congratulations!
The spear division is a smaller section of the tournament but is definitely growing and we hope to see it continue to grow each and every year. The winning fish was a really nice Black Grouper speared in roughly 200ft of water. I definitely have a ton of respect for the divers because that is not something that I cannot do! I prefer to stay in the boat! But the winner of the Spear division was Josh Taylor. Congratulation Josh! The top 3 were as follows: 1. Josh Taylor. 2. Mike Eddins. 3. Mike Jeanes. Excellent work fellas!
There are also awards for biggest individual fish and the trash can catch. Those are as follows: Biggest Red Fish was Carson Allison who caught a 39″ Red Fish. Biggest Snook was awarded to Richard Stinton Roofing who caught a 40″ Snook. Biggest Trout was Grant Setsma who caught a 30″ Trout. And for the Trash Can the winning catch was a 33″ Jack caught by James Burton. Great job to everyone involved.
What an absolute success all around. There are so many people to thank that should get mentioned but I don’t have enough room to list everyone. But a huge thank you to all the sponsors that donated either money, time or raffle items. This tournament would not happen without all of your generosity. Massive thank you to Robby Stevenson and Matt Braselton, these two guys put in dozens probably even hundreds of hours getting sponsors, setting up, taking down, running the event, working with iAngler, writing checks and much more. They did it with a smile on their face at all times too. Thank you to everyone who came out to the weigh in and to everyone who fished. Truly a full success all around!!
