The 13th annual “Ding” Darling & Doc Ford’s Tarpon Tournament raised an incredible $266,780 from sponsorships and donations to support the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel.
The 2025 tournament paid out $65,400 in prizes to five winning teams out of 61 registered teams comprised of 256 participants. Anglers hooked and released a record 89 tarpon catches this year. The first-place prize of $29,430 went to Team Spartan Stix, led by captain Cory McGuire. The team caught and released a total of seven fish.
“Congratulations to Cory! He now wears 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 taking first place in the tournament. “It’s kind of like the green Masters tournament jacket in golf. The winning captain gets the honor of wearing the pink tarpon jacket each year.”
Second-place Team Sanibel Sport Fishing Charters, led by captain Nathan Wider, caught six fish and won $16,350. In third place, captain Kyle Applefield’s Team Loaded Down also caught six fish, but with a later last-catch time, and took home $9,810. Fourth-place winners Team Salt Rock, with captain Peter Frederiken, won $6,540 with five fish; fifth-place winners Team Tarpon Time, with captain Ryan Clase, took home $3,270 for five fish.
The tournament also handed out awards for female angler to Stephanie Miller with Team Tarpon Time, senior angler to Kevin Breece with Team Cool Breece, and amateur team to Brock’s Loss with captain Jonathan Tongyai.
“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.”
To date, the tarpon tournament has raised $1,571,780 for refuge water research, wildlife research, and education. It has awarded $504,590 to tournament winning teams during its 13-year history. 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 their incredible show of support these past 13 years,” said DDWS Manager of Events, Communications, & Marketing Angeli Chin, who organized and led the 2025 tournament. “They’ve already committed for the 14th annual tourney, which will take place May 15, 2026.”
“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 “Ding” Darling Supervisory Refuge Ranger Toni Westland. “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 dingdarlingtarpontourney.org.