The 2015 March Merkin Invitational Permit Tournament

The annual fly-only permit tournament, The March Merkin, will be held March 15-19, 2015, at the Key West Harbor Yacht Club. Proceeds from the tournament go to help the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust for furthering permit research.

Read more in the press release below.

The 2015 March Merkin Invitational Permit Tournament

The March Merkin tournament was first held in March of 2006. It is a fly fishing only tournament for permit. It is limited to 25 anglers. The angler must have a guide and fish from a flats boat or wade. All caught fish must be measured on a tape attached to a measuring board, tagged, photographed on the board showing the tape and the tag, and released unharmed. The first year 23 anglers participated. In each subsequent year, 25 anglers participated and there has been a waiting list. About 80% of the anglers are repeats from the prior year. About 20 % of the anglers are from Florida with the balance coming from all over the United States. Most of the anglers are world class fly fisherpersons The tournament is held in Key West, Florida and the fishing area stretches over 40 miles from the Content Keys to the Marquesas.

The tournament was organized by Jon Ain and Dave Horn, both Lower Keys residents and permit fisherman. The basic principals followed in the tournament’s organization were: (a) provide a venue for serious permit fisherman and their guides to get to know each other and possibly exchange ideas; (b) subject to weather conditions, provide a good fishing experience; and (c) raise money for appropriate fishing related Keys charitable organizations. The tournament is now owned by March Merkin, Inc, a Florida non-profit corporation which is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a Section 501(c)(3) organization. The tournament initially donated revenues in excess of the direct tournament expenses to the Don Hawley Foundation for the benefit of Florida Keys guides in need, but who had medical insurance. More recently, the tournament has donated nearly all of it’s raised money to Bonefish Tarpon Trust for permit research. This is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. The tournament’s revenues come from entry fees, a silent auction, modest funding from The Florida Keys and Key West Tourist Development Council, and cash donations. The entry fees started at $600 in 2006 and have increased over time to $850. These fees are significantly lower than most of the other Keys’ fly fishing tournaments. The reason behind this was to make the tournament affordable to younger and/or less affluent anglers. The tournament has a long list of sponsors. These sponsors give the tournament: (a) items give to anglers, guides and volunteers; and/or (b) items to sell at the silent auction; and/or (c) cash donations. The tournament accepts anything it can use and all sponsors are treated equally. There are no levels of sponsorship. The sponsors are listed on our web-site and if one “clicks” on their logo, the site visitor goes directly to their web-site. Some of our sponsors include Patagonia, Simms,Truflies, Sage, Thomas & Thomas, Scott, Echo, Hardy, Orvis, Tibor, Abel, Nautilus, Hatch, Cheeky, Rio, Airflo, Cortland, SS Flies, Enrico Puglisi Flies, Yeti, Oakley, Costa, Smith Optics, and a number of others. Patagonia, Simms, and Truflies give us shirts, hats, and belts which we give to anglers, guides and volunteers, Most of the other sponsors give us merchandise for the silent auction or cash donations.

We also receive reimbursement from The Florida Keys and Key West Tourist Development Council for some expenses incurred. Reimbursable expense items include t-shirts and hats, posters, programs and trophies. In most instances, this reimbursement only covers part of the cost, particularly in the case of the trophies.

The two significant tournament expenses are trophies and food. After reimbursement, the total expenses for trophies and food is estimated to be about $7,500 in 2015. Unlike most Keys fishing tournaments, all labor is voluntary and unpaid. The tournament has donated $25,000 to Bonefish Tarpon Trust in both 2013 and 2014 for permit research. We hope to match this amount in 2015. We also purchased initial memberships in BTT and the Lower Keys Guides Association for those anglers who were not already members. Both of these organization are active on conservation issues effecting the Florida Keys sport fishery and are supported via membership dues and donations.

We will be trying a new/additional method of fundraising in 2015. We are organizing a group of individuals and organizations that would be called “The Friends of the March Merkin.” Each of the 25 boats in the tournament would be sponsored by an individual, an organization, or by a group of the Friends. An angler would have an opportunity to sponsor his or her boat or create a sponsorship group by February 1, 2015. If an angler, declines to sponsor his or her boat, the tournament would find sponsors/friends for any thenunsponsored boats. The minimum sponsorship is $1,000 per boat. The winning boat-the tournament winning angler and guide’s boat, would receive $1,850 to be distributed to that boat’s sponsor/sponsors. The $1,850 is a combination of the minimum sponsorship amount and the entry fee. The proceeds from this fundraising initiative would be donated to BTT to purchase satellite tags. These tags will provide very helpful information to BTT’s researchers. All donations received from Friends will be 100% tax deductable. This initiative has the potential to raise as much as $25,000. All the “Friends” will be listed on our web-site. We will see how it goes.

2015 will be the 10th year of the March Merkin. It has been successful beyond the co-founders’ expectations. Our co-founder Jon Ain passed away several years ago. At the time of his death, he had caught 340 permit on a fly. This was a monumental accomplishment for an angler. More important though, Jon would take great pride in the “giving back” to the fishery he loved and wanted to preserve and make better through our charitable efforts.