For many years a certain group of good friends visit Key West during the first weekend in June to participate in their own private tournament, the Smitty & Al’s Tarpon Bonanza. I have had the pleasure of fishing this tournament for two years now and it’s probably the most fun you can have while fishing a tournament anywhere.

These guys come down here to get together and enjoy Key West and all it has to offer and fortunately they’ve come down during a great tarpon season.

The past two days have been overcast and yesterday it rained for the better part of the day. At some points the rain was dumping down and does not make for a very good fishing day. We gave it a good shot, heading off to a spot I wanted to check out and pre fish before the tournament anyway. Tomorrow is the start of the competition and I have a feeling the sight fishing will be minimal due to the clouds so we need to come up with another tactic to get a tarpon to the boat.

That is the only rule that is a must for this tournament, a tarpon must be landed or no other fish you have caught counts.

In the end there are awards and great cheers to these guys for coming up with a fun way to get all your buddies together in one spot for a few days.