provided to The Santiva Chronicle
The 14th annual “Ding” Darling & Doc Ford’s Tarpon Tournament on May 15 reports another record-breaking year of tournament sponsorships, donations, and anglers to support water-quality research and conservation at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island.
The “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge (DDWS) organizes the annual tournament with Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille. The captain’s meeting and Silver King Awards ceremony take place at Doc Ford’s Sanibel Island location.
The 2026 tournament paid out a total of $67,600 in cash prizes to five winning teams out of 65 registered teams comprising 309 participants. Anglers hooked and released 63 tarpon catches this year.
The first-place prize of $30,420 went to Team Loaded Down, led by captain Kyle Applefield. The team was the first to catch and release six fish.
“Congratulations to Kyle and his team! They now wear the coveted pink tarpon jacket,” said Joe Harrity, partner at Doc Ford’s. The Harrity family introduced the jacket in 2017 as an added incentive for winning the tournament. “It’s kind of like the green Masters tournament jacket in golf. The winning team gets the honor of wearing the pink tarpon jacket each year.”
Second-place Team Salt Rock, led by captain Cody Chivas, caught its sixth fish later in day and won $16,900. In third place, captain Kyle Potts’ Team Towboat US Charlotte Harbor caught five fish and took home $10,140. Fourth-place winners Team Maastricht Engineering/Window Plus, with captain Ryan Stoa, won $6,700 with latter-caught five fish; fifth-place winners Team Seareaper Sportfishing, with captain Chris Argiro, took home $3,380 for its five fish.
The tournament also handed out awards for female angler to Stephanie Swank with Team Costa Customs, senior angler to Aaron Black from Team Side X Side Enclosures, and amateur team to Rad Raz with captain Kyle Nifong.
The tarpon tournament has awarded nearly $600,000 to winning teams during its 14-year history.
“Because all boat registration fees go into the awards purse, sponsorship partners are extremely important to this tournament,” said Ann-Marie Wildman, executive director of DDWS. “They make it possible to raise vital financial support for the conservation mission of DDWS and the refuge.”
The first-of-its-kind tournament to benefit conservation and award 100 percent of its fees to winners, the competition began to support local professional fishing guides and connect with anglers to educate and make them part of conservation efforts.
“We can’t thank Doc Ford’s enough for its incredible show of support and partnership these past 14 years,” said DDWS Manager of Events, Communications, & Marketing Angeli Chin, who organized and led the 2026 tournament. “They’ve already committed for the 15th annual tournament, which will take place May 7, 2027.”
“We are so grateful for this fundraiser, because not only does it add much-needed dollars to the ever-shrinking refuge budget after a few tough years of hurricane recovery, it also supports our conservation mission,” said SW Florida National Wildlife Refuges project leader Kevin Godsea. “Plus, it is an opportunity to remind anglers, both professional and amateur, about the importance of ethical and responsible fishing.”
For more information on the tournament and this year’s winners, visit dingdarlingsociety.org/tarpon-tournament.
Tournament sponsors for 2026 include: Title Sponsor: Doc Ford’s Rum Bar & Grille; Silver King Sponsor: Bill & Laurie Harkey; Champion Sponsor: The Szymanczyk Family; Presenting Sponsors: David & Judy Baum, Captiva Divas, Diversified Yacht Services; Platinum Sponsors: Gary & Cheryl Biltgen, Captain Shawn Kelly Fishing Charters, Congress Jewelers, Custom Tees Now, Organized Chaos, Pacifico, Sanibel Captiva Community Bank, Whitney’s Bait & Tackle; Gold Sponsors: Anisa Jewelry, HighTower Advisors – Fort Myers, Fort Myers Marine, Law Office of Janet M. Strickland, Palm Printing, RS Walsh Landscaping & Design, Trophy Case of Fort Myers; Silver Sponsors: The Historic Bait Box, Peter & Barb Rogers.
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