Tag: #Captain Jim Klein

Military Veterans honored at Cheeca Lodge All-American Backcountry Tournament

Posted on by David Gray
  • Islamorada Tournament benefits the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, an organization working to restore these and other species.
  • Cheeca Lodge & Spa event honors two U.S. Military Veterans in celebration of Veteran’s Day each year. 
  • The tournament runs from the Bass Pro Islamorada Marina and features backcountry fishing for 5 species of fish: Tarpon, Redfish, Permit, Bonefish, and Snook. 
Captain Mike Makowski guided two U.S. Military veterans to a runner-up finish in the Cheeca Lodge & Spa annual backcountry fishing tournament from Islamorada, Fl.

The Cheeca Lodge and Spa All-American Backcountry tournament kicked off in Cheeca’s Islamorada ballroom over Veteran’s Day weekend, 2024. Anglers from all over the United States gathered to participate in this three-day backcountry event, fostering a sense of camaraderie and shared passion for this type of fishing.

To celebrate Veterans Day each year, two U.S. military veterans are hosted to fish in this prestigious tournament. Retired U.S. Army Sergeant Richard Myers from Key Largo, FL, and retired U.S. Navy Second Class Petty Officer David Barus, a resident of East Aurora, NY, fished in the backcountry islands of Florida Bay with Captain Mike Makowski of Blackfoot Charters. Invited to the podium to lead off the Cheeca Lodge event at the captain’s meeting by General Manager Bill Coteron, David Barus asked the audience to join him in the Pledge of Allegiance.  A rousing round of applause followed, reinforcing the sense of community among the participants.

The tournament features a distinctive format for backcountry fishing, targeting five species of fish: Tarpon, Redfish, Permit, Bonefish, and Snook. Anglers can use three different types of tackle: bait, spin, and fly, each earning points for the teams and individual anglers. Only 5 of each species can be counted for points each day, with bonus points awarded for releasing three or more species.  This unique format adds an element of strategy and excitement to the competition.  Anglers can fish alone or as a team of two anglers per boat.  In total, 155 fish were released with 11 on fly rod, 90 on artificial tackle, and 54 using bait. The winning anglers were awarded amazing hand carved trophies from local artist Doug Berry.

Retired U.S. Army Sergeant Richard Myers with his first-ever Tarpon caught while fishing in the largest island-filled expanse of Florida Bay.

Grand Champion angler Jim Bokor Jr. from Buffalo, NY, fishing with Captain Richard Black from Tavernier, won the top awards for his two-day total of 3350 points and accumulated an additional 2513 bonus points because he released four of the different species for a total of 5863 points. Jim released one bonefish, 10 tarpon, 10 snook and five redfish.  Jim also received the artificial (spin) division award for 27 releases on artificial tackle.

Runner-up Angler Jason Rubenstein, a resident of Bellaire, TX, would release four species as well.  Captain Jack Given led Rubenstein to three bonefish, eight tarpon, six snook and five redfish.  The team totaled 2550 points and 1533 bonus points for 4463.  Altogether, 15 of Jason’s fish were on bait, winning him the bait division.

Retired U.S. Navy Second Class Petty Officer David Barus with a nice tarpon caught under the direction of guide Captain Mike Makowski.

Captain Tim Klein, fishing with Steve Austin from Ponte Verda Beach, FL, and John Wilbur of Marathon, FL, took home Team Grand Champion Awards with a team total of 4598 points.  The team released three bonefish, eight snook and 18 redfish, amassing 3065 points plus 1533 bonus points for catching three different species.

Retired U.S. Army Sergeant Richard Myers and retired U.S. Navy Second Class Petty Officer David Barus, fishing as a team with Captain Mike Makowski, released three tarpon, nine snook and three redfish.  Each was a first species catch for Sergeant Myers.  The team totaled 1510 points over the two days with 755 bonus points for a total of 2265 points.  Each member of the team received beautiful Team Runner-Up Trophies.

The Cheeca Lodge Veterans 2024 Team included Richard Myers – US Army, Doug Berry – trophy artist, David Barus – US Navy, and Captain Mike Makowski – Blackfoot Charters. Tara Beth Photography

Christopher Jordan of McLean, VA, fishing with Captain Paul Ross, would release 11 fish on Fly.  He was awarded the Fly Division Championship with 10 redfish and one tarpon caught on a flyrod.  Charles Wright from Sebring, FL, won the Most Outstanding Catch award for releasing a 15-pound goliath grouper.  Charles was fishing with Captain Nate Blackburn. Best Photo Award went to David Barus and Captain Mike Makowski for a beautiful tarpon photo.

The giant mouth of the tarpon can inhale large forage. This is one of many awesome pictures that were taken by Captain Mike Makowski, Blackfoot Charters.

The awards party was gracious for all attendees, serving a deluxe surf and turf Cheeca Lodge dinner that included tenderloin steak and fresh lobster, with a choice of deluxe beverages. “This is a very special event with Cheeca Lodge and Spa bringing veterans to the Keys to fish every year,” stated General Manager Bill Coteron.  “Our commitment to this tournament and our veterans is heartfelt.  We hope you will join us to fish this great event next year.”  Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to conserve and restore the bonefish and tarpon and permit fisheries and habitats through research, stewardship, education, and advocacy.  In the Florida Keys and South Florida, the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust is working to determine and address the causes of declining fish populations.  The group has defined a series of research steps for actions that will protect and restore habitats throughout the range of bonefish and tarpon and permit to return to healthy populations of these and associated species.

To learn more about BTT, visit https://www.bonefishtarpontrust.org/btt-mission/.  To see what is happening at Cheeca Lodge and Spa, visit https://www.cheeca.com/.

 

Fun Walleye Day for Military Veterans – Lake Erie Fishing!

Posted on by Forrest Fisher
  • 154 Military Veteran’s, more than 50 volunteers as charter guides/hosts
  • Clear weather, smooth sailing, hundreds of pounds of walleye fillets for veteran freezers
  • Stickbaits, spinner worm rig tactics were key to catching fish, details follow in story below

By Forrest Fisher

US Army Infantryman Al Sawyer (L) and Captain Jim Klein with a nice 7-pound walleye taken from eastern Lake Erie near Dunkirk, NY.

It was a tad before 6:00 a.m. when the morning sky-glow of bright yellow on the horizon of the cliffs to the east started to light up the day. It was a special day.

A warm forecast with windless air was perfect weather for Operation Boots – a sponsored fun-fishing activity for military veterans from WNY Heroes, Inc., a not-for-profit organization established in 2007 to provide veterans and their families with access to essential services, financial assistance and other needs that they might not be able to find any other way. And today, to provide some fishing fun on the water.

Military vet’s and volunteer fishing guide hosts began to gather at Chadwick Bay Marina in Dunkirk Harbor at this early hour. Their mission for the day? To fish for walleye on the Lake Erie waters of Chautauqua County, NY.  I could feel there was electricity in the air. Good energy!  To help control over-crowding at the event, the veterans were asked to pre-register and numbers were capped at 145. Yet, these numbers grew on site and who could say no to our dedicated military and wartime veterans?

Bantering, good-natured jokes, and warm-hearted conversations kept a mega-box of Tim Horton’s donuts busy. Dark roast java – better than the Uncle Sam version of early morning rocket fuel, complete with all the fixings, added to that feeling of “the guys” getting together for morning service work. This time, for the fun of it, the goal was to catch the biggest walleye. Fun battles. The morning was off to a great start.

Captain Jim Steel (www.InnovativeOutdoors.com) with Diane Rae behind him and volunteers from the WNY Heroes Inc. group at registration.

In their third year of helping to host this event, Charter Captain Jim Steel and Diane Rae from Innovative Outdoors (www.innovativeoutdoors.com, 716-481-5348) managed to satisfy the unthinkable task of finding more than 45 volunteer fishing boats to host the veterans, all of them providing fishing expertise. No small mission! In a very well-organized manner, veterans were assigned to their respective captains and a small armada to fishing boats headed to eastern basin Lake Erie to enjoy some fishing on the water. Even organizer, Captain Jim Steel, took time to host veterans aboard his 31-foot Tiara. The guy never stops!

It was a pleasure and an honor to serve as 1st mate aboard the brand new 24-foot fishing boat of Captain Jim Klein – Eye-Fish Charters. As we boarded the sleek-looking blue/white boat, the 225HP Yamaha 4-stroke outboard stood large and impressive on the stern. Captain Jim said, “This will get us to where the fish are in no time, then once we get there, we’ll switch to get better boat control for trolling with this smaller 9.9HP Yamaha motor. Both of them have autopilot for hands-free operation. He added that the Lowrance sonar would help us find the fish.” He also added that he had scouted the day before and knew where we should start.

US Army Infantryman, Chris Corcoran, with a double-header walleye catch!

It was a privilege to meet US Army Engineering Battalion veteran, Chris Corcoran; US Army Infantryman – Al Sawyer (79 years young), and Rick Shick – US Army Vietnam Veteran with the 1st Infantry Division where he and his buddies tried to stay alive doing battle about 80 miles east of Saigon.

The fishing was good and we shared line-stretching time for the next 4 hours. Chris Corcoran could be a regular 1st mate on any charter boat, he caught on to details that quick and had lots of energy in this, his first boat fish trip ever. Corcoran helped set lines, rig lines, he was quite amazing. By the end of our 4 hour fishing day, we caught 30 walleye, keeping 24 for the freezer. While we caught fish on various stickbaits too, the hot lure was the Eye-Fish spinner/worm rig in Mixed-Veggie color (https://www.eye-fish.com). We fished a Figure-8 trolling pattern just west of Dunkirk in 40 to 70 feet of water.

US Army Vietnam Veteran, Rick Flick with a nice ‘eye.

Al Sawyer caught our biggest fish at 7.23 pounds, while Rick and Chris took turns at the rods. We had doubles on three times! A testament to pre-scouting by Captain Jim on where to fish for this event.

Lynn Magistrale, Program Director for WNY Heroes, Inc., greets veterans as they arrive. That’s Al Sawyer on the right.

Hats off to the event organizer at WNY Heroes, Inc. Program Director, Lynn Magistrale, and WNY Heroes co-founder, Chris Kreiger – an Iraqi War veteran, and so many groups that donated, to help make this event unforgettable. In total, 154 military veterans participated.

Pre-scouting by Captain Jim Klein provided a good place to start the trolling pattern and resulted in a take-home catch of 24 tasty walleye for veteran freezers.

More than 45 volunteer fishing crews donated their time, gear and services to help host this extravaganza fishing event to say thanks to our military veterans for the freedoms that we enjoy in America every day.

Fishing guides and hosts provided all the gear, boats, and bait, for all the military veterans, all gratis, in a special salute and thank you for our freedom.

Before we hit port, Al Sawyer was beaming with a giant glowing grin and said, “This has been the most fun-fishing day of my life.” For Captain Jim and myself, that said it all! To fish with Captain Jim Klein, you don’t need to empty your pocketbook. Two people can fish a half-day charter on Lake Erie for walleye for $250. Imagine that! If you want to try it, give him a call at 716-597-9421. Don’t wait, the fishing is hot right now.

Even event-organizer, Captain Jim Steel, found time in his busy day to take a full complement of military veteran anglers out to catch a few fish.

Hats off to all of the volunteers and host fishing guide/hosts, many from the Eastern Lake Erie Charter Boat Association (ELECBA), and to the host kitchen facility, the Northern Chautauqua County Conservation Club with food preparations by Brunner’s Bayside Catering. Every veteran left the banquet that followed the fishing event with a brand new Zebco open-face fishing rod and reel in red/white/blue colors, an additional thank you for their military service in the past.

One last thing, let’s not forget prayer and a toast to all of those veterans that did not make it back home. I, for one, say thank you to the good Lord for these brave friends of our America.

To learn more about the WNY Heroes, Inc., check out www.wnyheroes.org.

At the end of the day, biologists from the New York State DEC joined forces at the dock to clean all the fish for the military veterans, adding data collection for this special event to historical fish tracking records. Military veterans are now part of NYS fisheries research too!

Western New York for Whale-Sized Walleye

Posted on by Dr. Peter Brookes
  • Thriving with walleye and smallmouth bass, Lake Erie is the most biologically productive of all the Great Lakes.
  • The “Come-Fish-Lake Erie Program” provides one and all with access to many choices of affordable charter fishing services.
  • Fishing with artificial lures, live bait, and planer boards – Lake Erie walleye fishing from Chautauqua County, NY, was exciting, educational AND tasty!
Look at those teeth! Keep your fingers in your pocket!

By Dr. Peter Brookes

As all three (!) of my social media followers know, I’m mostly a fly angler. But I recently went over to the “dark side” and did some—this is hard for me to write…deep breaths, deep breaths—spin fishing.

Yes, I said spin fishing…even trolling on a powerboat.

Perhaps even more egregious for a fly angler, I kept the fish I reeled in from the depths of Lake Erie. And then going even more off the rails for a fly fisher, I cooked and ate my catch of walleye and yellow perch when I got home.

Phew!

I’ve been keeping that secret bottled up for a bit now; it’s so good to get it off my chest. Indeed, despite going astray, it was such a fabulous trip that I wanted to share it with you all—fly anglers or otherwise.

I was invited to Western New York (WNY) by the Chautauqua (pronounced” “shaw-taw-kwa”) County Visitors Bureau to do some fishing on Lake Erie and Chautauqua Lake in early August. It’s a six-to-seven-hour drive—plus stops—from the DC area through rural Maryland, Pennsylvania and then into the Empire State.

It’s a beautiful trip north through some very picturesque countryside.

My destination was Chadwick Bay in the town of Dunkirk. The first thing I noticed when I arrived on the sunny August day was the seemingly endless expanse of blue water and the cool breezes coming off Lake Erie.

It was in the high 70s and a welcome drop in temperature from the DC area.

At one point, I mentioned to the hotel staff that my air conditioner was having a hard time keeping my room cool. Without a second thought, she told me: “The AC is working really hard today…it’s almost 80 degrees out there.”

Being from DC, I burst out laughing.

Our ride for the day. Safe and comfy with Captain Jim Klein, even in the waves.

I was very excited about getting back to WNY and out onto Lake Erie. I grew up along the Lake in a town called Orchard Park, the well-known home of the Buffalo Bills and some very snowy winters. (Go Bills!)

Orchard Park is often one of the places the cable weather channels report from when WNY gets a big snow. Last NFL season, the Bills had to move a game with the Browns out of town to Detroit due to an impending November snowstorm.

I left WNY for the Naval Academy (courtesy of the late Rep. Jack Kemp) and, after my Navy time, settled in the DC area. I’ve been back a few times for steelhead fishing (on the fly), but it had been a few years, so I was really looking forward to getting back “home.”

We’d planned for two days of fishing, but a weather front came through the day before my arrival, making the Lake a little too rough for a comfortable ride on Day One.  As one charter captain said to me at a lunch gathering, “If the Lake looks like it’s covered in fluffy white sheep, don’t go fishing.”

Indeed, when he shared that with me, I laughingly wondered if he had “Ovinaphobia” (i.e., a fear of sheep), but then I looked out at the Lake and saw the white caps. It actually looked quite pastoral, as if there were gently rolling hills of blue dotted with a large flock of chalk-colored lambs happily grazing.

Not a very nautical saying—using sheep, that is—but it’s great advice.

On Day Two, we made a run for the Lake to hit a weather window before the winds and waves picked up. Out from shore a mile or two, our charter captain, Jim Klein, hustled to get our trolling lines in the water.

The first set of trolling lines out! Planer boards and diving planes were rigged with lines to reach the thermocline.

I was gobsmacked at how technical the fishing was. We used both artificial lures, live bait, and planer boards, trailing the boat at different depths and distances behind and out to the side, away from the boat.

In no time, we were reeling in good-sized walleye and yellow perch.

I’d heard that Lake Erie walleye could be big, but I have to say that I had no idea.  The first walleye exceeded 20-inches and a couple of pounds.  Locals told me that they catch walleye over 30-inches regularly, tipping the scales at five to six pounds.

No “Dirty-30 Club” membership card for me this time, but it turns out that Lake Erie is a world-class walleye fishery and, not surprisingly, the home of some very big walleye fishing tournaments.

After a couple of runs up and down the coastline, as predicted, the winds and the waves started to pick up; it was time to head into port. I’m OK with following seas, but a head sea coming right at you can be a bit uncomfortable—even for a salty old Navy guy.

I loved the Chautauqua County fishing, the mild summer weather, and getting back to WNY. But I was also really happy to see Lake Erie thriving. In the 1960s, Lake Erie was “dead” due to the pollution that poured in from the heavy industries and large cities that ring the Lake.

In fact, in 1969, the Lake infamously caught fire near Cleveland.

But now, Lake Erie, which is the 11th largest freshwater lake in the world, is now the most biologically productive of all the Great Lakes. Besides (great tasting) walleye and perch, it’s also a top fishery for lake trout, musky, steelhead, and largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Not too shabby!

My first Lake Erie walleye!

My only regret is that due to commitments at home, I didn’t have more time to root around the area more, including visiting Jamestown, the historic Lake Erie lighthouses, local wineries, the Concord Grape belt, the famous Chautauqua Institute—and some childhood friends.

Of course, being disappointed in this case only means one thing: I’m going to have to go back soon.

Editor Note: Dr. Peter Brookes is an award-winning outdoor writer. Brookesoutdoors@aol.com