If you haven’t heard, the 2nd annual Marathon Premier Sailfish Tournament is again around the corner. Main Attraction Co-Owner, Katie Lewis founded a non-profit organization hosting a yearly two-day Sailfish tournament in Marathon, Florida.

After many years of competing in Sailfish tournaments in Islamorada and Key West, Katie decided Marathon, Florida, deserved to have one too. Her involvement with great organizations like Mission Fishin’ made her want to use any proceeds from the event toward making a difference in the lives of families here in the Keys and throughout Florida.

Katie and Marty have a long history of participating in fishing Tournaments together.

Years ago, Marathon had a sailfish tournament called the Leon Shell Sailfish Tournament based out of Key Colony Beach. After several years of waning participation and the devastation of Hurricane Irma, the tournament disappeared, leaving Marathon fishing professionals, residents, and weekend warriors, to search elsewhere for Sailfish competitions.

Katie and Captain Marty had previously discussed creating a tournament, but that was the same year Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys. They had just bought the family business and had a newborn baby, which made life a bit hectic. Between the fishing charter business, boats to maintain, and a Marina to run, the Lewis family is still as busy as ever, but Katie decided the timing was right. Katie looked into everything involved and took action, and the Marathon Premier Sailfish Tournament was born.

A ton of work goes into creating and running a tournament; Katie says the fishing is the easiest part! Many hours were spent developing a website, setting up live scoring, researching with fellow tournament directors, organizing the kick-off meeting and awards ceremony, collecting raffle prizes, finding sponsors, and getting donations.

One of the lucky winners of some great prizes last year.

Katie heard about Mission Fishin’ several years back when they were down in Islamorada fishing on the Miss Islamorada. Katie loved the idea of an organization that helped special needs children, foster kids, and families get out on the ocean and experience what mother nature offers. After discussing it with her husband, she contacted the founder and asked how they could help. Since then the Mission Fishin’ family has come to Marathon every year to fish with the Main Attraction fleet bringing some well-deserved families fishing for a day of stress-free fun and excitement.

Katie Lewis (in pink) with Mission Fishin’ organizers and participants after a day of fishing with the Main Attraction team.

In the Marathon Premier Sailfish Tournament’s first year, with the help of all the sponsors and tournament participants, the organization raised $10,000.00 for Mission Fishin. Mission Fishin’ was very appreciative of the donation, and Katie was thrilled to help out.

With the second year of the Marathon Premier Sailfish Tournament just a few weeks away, we are excited to see the fishing competition back in full swing, raising money for such a worthy cause. Three Main Attraction boats are registered, and our Captains can’t wait to fish it!

Three of our boats are registered for the tournament so far.

There is a significant discount available to early registrants until April 8. So don’t wait! Sign up your team if you want to compete with some of the Florida Key’s best sail fishing teams. Weekend warriors and anyone else that would like to compete are welcome. There will be a Kick-Off Meeting and Awards Banquet with fantastic food and drink, catered by Brutus Seafood Market and Restaurant.

If you have any questions, contact Katie Lewis at (305) 783-8313 or visit the tournament contact page.

Brutus Seafood Market & Restaurant provide great eats again this year.