Category: Uncategorized

By Jody Steele

Ocean Reef Sailfish Championship

The Ocean Reef Sailfish Championship includes a series of tournaments. The next is the Reef Cup Invitational Sailfish Tournament scheduled for Wednesday, January 27^th to Saturday, January 30^th.  Mark your calendars for this traditional Ocean Reef event where if you are not on the water, you can celebrate with the annual viewing of anglers returning to the Reef every afternoon.

The Card Sound Shooting Sports Range has been quite busy the last few weeks with families and friends enjoying the beautiful weather. Located on Card Sound Road, the Range has Trap, Skeet, and Five Stand Sporting Clays, as well as an Air Rifle target range and an Archery Course.  Private lessons are available with Corey Carr at 856-491-0409 or Truel Myers at 802-236-6105.  The Range is open on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM. Rod and Gun Club Members must accompany their guests. Check out the great photos of Members at the Range and a nice Yellowtail catch!

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Share Your Sporting Pictures
Email your sporting pictures to jodylsteele@gmail.com.

By Jody Steele

Holiday Fishing Tournament CANCELLED
Due to the high winds and weather we experienced this past week, the Holiday Fishing Tournament, originally planned for Tuesday, December 29, was cancelled.

Ocean Reef Sailfish Championship
The Ocean Reef Sailfish Championship includes five tournaments (4 now that the Holiday tournament was cancelled). The next is the Reef Cup Invitational Sailfish Tournament scheduled for Wednesday, January 27^th to Saturday, January 30^th.  Mark your calendars for this traditional Ocean Reef event where if you are not on the water, you can enjoy the annual viewing of anglers returning to the Reef every afternoon of the tournament.

Fearless Free Diving
Free diving has been around for centuries and although quite challenging, it has become a sport practiced not only in Florida, but also around the world. Ocean Reef Club members Sean and Lori Lyons and their sons, Stone and Sawyer Lyons have mastered this sport. After going through the proper training and earning the Free Diver Certification, this family is comfortable exploring the depths with spearfishing and photography.  Note the AMAZING photos below.

The Card Sound Shooting Sports Range is open on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM. January is just a beautiful time to visit the Range with clear skies and cooler temperatures. No reservations needed, but Rod and Gun Club Members must accompany their guests. Call 305-367-3321 for more information or click HERE.

Share Your Sporting Pictures
Email your sporting pictures to jodylsteele@gmail.com.

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By Jody Steele

Congratulations to team Mo Cuisle – Bud Copeland, Tom Copeland, Mike Jones and Russell Post on their 20^th Anniversary win of the Grand Masters Tournament, as well as Fishing Champions – team Mojo – Colin E. Caldwell, Brandon McCrary, Michael Jameson and Tony Abella, Jr., and Golf Champions – team Rock Crusher – Steve Torcise, Billy Paynter, Dave Ragan III and Tim Boyd. Kudos to all teams that participated for two beautiful days on the golf course and on the water.

The Card Sound Shooting Sports Range is now open on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10:00 AM-3:00 PM. No reservations are needed, but Rod & Gun Club Members must accompany their guests. Please call 305-367-3321 for up-to-date information or email Range@RodandGun.org.

The Annual Holiday Fishing Tournament is scheduled for Tuesday, December 29^th, 2020. This is a one day event open to all Ocean Reef Club Members, their families and their guests. A boat team is a maximum of four anglers per vessel.  Winning teams will be determined by total points for offshore and edible species. All boats must leave and return to Ocean Reef waters. For more information, please pick up a tournament application at Marine Max Ship Store or contact Ken Reda at 305-367-3969 or Fishing@rodandgun.org .  Information, rules and entry forms are also available on the Rod & Gun Club website calendar at www.rodandgun.org/events-calendar .  Just click on the event and the forms are available for download.  Entry forms can be dropped at Marine Max or emailed to Fishing@rodandgun.org .

Share your sporting pictures by emailing jodylsteele@gmail.com.

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By Jody Steele

The Card Sound Shooting Sports Range is opening for the Season on Tuesday, December 8^th from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Going forward, the days and hours will be Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday for the above times. No reservations needed, but Rod and Gun Members must accompany their guests. Please call 305 367 3321 for directions or up to date information or email Range@RodandGun.org.

The Grand Masters Tournament is celebrating its 20th anniversary today and tomorrow with an afternoon of golf Friday and an offshore fishing tournament on Saturday. Awards for the top three teams and the best overall team will be presented on Saturday and shared next week in the Ocean Reef Press.

Interested in joining? Please go to RoadandGun.org, click on “Membership” and fill out the application form.

Share your sporting pictures by emailing jodylsteele@gmail.com

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By Jody Steele

Did you realize that the Rod and Gun Club has more members than any other Club within The Club at Ocean Reef? Lots of enthusiastic members that enjoy all that this unique area has to offer on the Range and on the water.

The Card Sound Range is opening soon. The big date is Tuesday, December 8^th.  However, it would be wise to check the website at rodandgun.org or email Range@RodandGun.org before you go for up-to-date information.

It is definitely time to register for the 2020 Grand Masters Tournament scheduled for Friday, December 4^th and Saturday, December 5^th.  This is the 20^th year of this tournament and certainly one you do not want to miss.  Also, the All Season Sailfish Championship consists of five tournaments and this is the first one! Registration and more information can be accessed on oceanreef.com/GrandMasters or memberevents@oceanreef.com. Registration is due on Tuesday, December 1^st.

Please email fishing or shooting pictures to jodylsteele@gmail.com.

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By Jody Steele

Looking ahead to great days of fishing, the Rod and Gun Club would like to remind you that the All Season Sailfish Championship consists of five events. In order to qualify, you must fish 3 of the 5 events (weather cancellations are taken into consideration).  The first one coming up is the Grand Masters on December 4th and 5th with the Holiday Offshore scheduled for December 29^th.  To start off 2021, the Reef Cup will be held January 27^th-30^th and the Sailfish Classic March 25^th-27^th and the Small Boat Sailfish Tournament on April 7.  All interested anglers need to set their calendars for these traditional Ocean Reef events.  You can check our website calendar for all the latest at rodandgun.org/events-calendar/ . 

Unfortunately, due to our enormous rains and seasonal “king tides”, the Card Sound Shooting Sports Range needs to delay their opening for a few weeks until Tuesday, December 8^th. Please call 305-367-3321 or email Range@RodandGun.org for directions or up-to-date information.  As a reminder, the Club will be practicing social distancing shooting this Season.

Now that our weather looks a lot better, it is also time to share your favorite catches. Please email fishing or shooting pictures to jodylsteele@gmail.com.

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The 2020 Grand Masters Tournament scheduled for Friday, December 4^th and Saturday, December 5^th is celebrating 20 years of this annual event that combines golf and fishing.

Although the schedule has been modified to adjust to social distancing protocols, the 20^th Anniversary will be another great celebration. These two most popular recreational pastimes at The Reef will be represented by an afternoon of golf on Friday followed by offshore fishing tournament on Saturday.

The format requires teams of four and prizes will be awarded to the top three teams in golf and in fishing, plus an overall best team award at the Cocktail Reception on Saturday.

This annual event is always a successful adventure and with 20 years of history, will certainly be an outstanding anniversary competition. It is time to get your teams together and register for this exciting weekend.

Registration and more information can be accessed on www.oceanreef.com/GrandMasters or memberevents@oceanreef.com or by calling Kyle Landers at 305-367-6618.

Article by Jody Steele – email at jodylsteele@gmail.com

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Fishing continues to be great at the Reef! Vanessa and Carl Lindnet IV caught this gorgeous Opah fish on their 58’ Merritt while day dropping for swordfish in 1500 feet off North Key Largo/ south Miami with Capt Richard Peeples and Capt Jeff Amorello. This very cool fish weighed 78 lbs. Opahs are commonly known as moonfish, kingfish, redfin ocean pan, and Jerusalem haddock. They are large, colorful and deep-bodied fish.

We are looking forward to new season in the Fall and celebrating our 25^th Anniversary at our Annual Event. In the meantime, stay well! Events, photos activities and membership details are always available on our RodandGun.org website. Happy Summer!

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The fishing conditions have not only been amazing, but historic! This year’s Sailfish migration has been once in many generations!  Rob Gothier and Jeff Bae went out on Bar South April 24^th and caught 41 Sailfish!  Although there are no official records, the previously known highest Ocean Reef total was 30 Sailfish caught on the Sweet Release with Captain Chris White, back in 2014.  Rob said the Sailfish were migrating and floating all around the boat and some almost jumped into the boat! They have never seen anything like it. Sight fishing for Sailfish is exciting and our Rod & Gun members are out on the waters enjoying this unprecedented time. Trey Wills sailfished last Wednesday on Main One out of Marathon. It was an incredible day with 28 Sails caught. Jessica Blackie on Red Lion took her sportfish to Duck Key and had the thrill of site casting for Sails and then landed a huge Dolphin the next day and plenty of Tuna. Mike Jones with guide Jared Raskob had an Epic day Tarpon fishing! Mike saw the huge fish going away from them and Jared did a great job poling the boat to set up an angle shot. It followed the fly for 20 feet and he inhaled it. It was both visual and totally exciting! Congratulations to all our Rod & Gun members!

And let’s not forget our charter boats!  The boats and Captains are available for charter by appointment. The offshore, reef and flats boats are all available to go fishing, with pickup at the Fishing Village charter dock, by the Raw Bar or home pickup. Boats thoroughly cleaned and wiped down prior to departure, for no contact fishing!

For Offshore and Reef:
Mr. Nice                               305-321-6921
Mr. Nice II                           305-766-1694
Warbird                               305-394-7420
Good Life                             305-546-1277
Reef Relief                           305-905-3639

For Flats:
Capt Darrick Parker         305-498-4811
Capt James Koch             305-394-0791
Capt Nick Varnberg          970-390-0142
Capt Jack McCoy               305-619-0398

Share your Member Sporting Pictures by texting photos to Wendy at 203 253-7790. We love sharing our Rod & Gun Members photos and including them in our website photo gallery. Please go to Membership sign up and to read current and past articles go to News.

Rob Gothier and Jeff Bae’s trememdous tally of 41 sails on Bar South! :

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Trey Wills with his epic day in Marathon – 28 sails! :

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Jessica Blackie on Red Lion with a whopper bull dolphin:

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And last but certainly not least, Mike Jones with his INCREDIBLE Tarpon:

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With sport fishing tournaments being cancelled, some Rod & Gun members are having their own tournaments between friends… Reaching out to friends and competing for the biggest fish of the day. A fun competition while sheltering here at the Reef.

Swordfishing has been popular the past few weeks for our Rod & Gun Members. The Florida Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations have a daily recreational bag limit of one per harvester per day, not to exceed a maximum of 4 per recreational (not for- hire) vessel or 15 per for-hire vessel. Swordfish are deep water fish and fished with an electric reel. Daytime Swordfishing is done by deep dropping a bait in excess of several thousand feet to the ocean floor while slowly trolling as efficiently as possible. 

Members, when you bring in your large fish, the weigh station is in the boat basin behind Marine Max. Rod and Gun Members please contact Ken Reda for weighing larger fish at 305-367-3969.

RGC members please text me your fishing photos to Wendy at 203-253-7790. Stay safe everyone!

Check out these catches!

Art Berry with a beautiful swordfish:

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John Brainard and swordfish caught on Reel Deal with Kevin and Zoey Fish, Captain Chris and mate Sean:

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Zoey Fish at the docks preparing the steaks for friends and family:

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