BILLFISH HAVEN - Indian River Magazine

TREASURE COAST BOATINGFISHINGJIM GALLAGHERThousands of people come to the Treasure Coast each year in search of theelusive sailfish only to fight the fish to the boat and then release them.man recently received a knock on the door by a federal officialwho wanted to know what happened to the marlin hehad caught. He returned the GPS tag, which the feds hadtracked to his Stuart address.KILL-FREE TROPHYOne local taxidermist has so many molds of sailfish andmarlin that there is no reason to kill the fish to make a souvenir.Take a photo and measure the fish and there will be a moldclose enough to preserve the likeness of your prized billfish.“It is almost unheard of these days to see a dead sailfish onthe dock or in the back of a boat,” says outdoor writer Killer.“Conservation has done a lot for billfish. Early on, peoplerealized why bother to kill these fish. There is no food value.They realized the value of the sailfish as a game fish thatpeople love to catch.”Capt. Glen Cameron of the Florider out of Fort Pierce andhis anglers have won the Pelican Yacht Club InvitationalTournament the past three years. He recently won the BahamasBillfish Championship Series with 11,200 points — themost ever. The Florider caught and released 27 billfish inone day during the Pelican tourney, a record for any EastCoast tournament.“We are at the top of Sailfish Alley,” Cameron says. “There>>GREG GARDNERMy Other Honey mate Tony Ettari checks Stacey Horton’s line as she prepares to reel in a tuna from the fighting chair while her finance Chris Lynn pullshis line, trying to hook a fish. While trolling for billfish, tuna and dolphin are welcome substitutes that will end up on the dinner table.38