The March Merkin Permit Tournament will be held March 12-15, 2012 at Key West Yacht Harbor Marina. There will be an opening dinner and cash bar on March 12 followed by three days of fishing. Awards will be given on the last day of fishing following the last boat in.

2011 March Merkin Results

The sixth annual March Merkin, held at the Key West Harbour Yacht Club, ended on a high note last evening after 26 boats spent 3 days chasing the “Black Tailed Devils” from the Marquesas to the Content Keys with 10 fish caught. This fly fishing tournament for Permit, the most difficult flats species to corral on a fly, attracted a diverse cast of Permit fanatics from around the western hemisphere. The winner was Mike Dawes, a fishing guide from Victor Idaho who also won the Jackson Hole One Fly last summer. This was his fourth attempt to win the Merkin and he pulled it off going away with a Permit each day. His guide was Captain Don Gable of Key West and Victor. Second place went to Dr. Jon Ain, the tournament director, fishing with Captain Doug Kilpatrick, who had guided him to two prior championships in this most competitive of Permit tournaments. The second runnerup was Doug Behrman of Tallahasee, a prior Del Brown tournament winner, fishing with veteran Captain Kevin Guerin, a familiar winner on the Keys tournament circuit. They also won the largest fish award with a 29 inch fork length.


The Merkin was the site in 2010 of the kickoff of Project Permit, sponsored by Costa del Mar in conjunction with Bonefish Tarpon Trust. This represented the first ever attempt to tag Permit in order to answer basic questions about Permit population, growth rates and movements. This yearʼs tournament required anglers and guides to not only measure the fish before release but to tag them as well. The Merkin is a charity tournament benefitting Bonefish Tarpon Trust and the Don Hawley Foundation Tournament information is available at www.marchmerkin.com. Information about Permit tagging as well as scientific and conservation issues affecting Bonefish, Tarpon and Permit around the world can be found at www.tarbone.org

March Merkin 2011 Official PosterFor Sale – $20 + shipping
The 2011 dates for the March Merkin are March 14-17. Please contact us with any interest in fishing.

The Official March Merkin tournament poster is available for purchase for $20.00 plus shipping and handling. Please contact us for details.

2010 March Merkin began with a well received talk from Aaron Adams of BTT outlining the Permit tagging initative of BTT and Costa del Mar which used the tournament as it’s kickoff.

After a practice day which saw a good number of Permit landed, a cold front approached on the first day of fishing with clouds, wind and plummeting water temperatures. Adding insult to injury, the second day was greated by colder weather with a driving rainstorm for a good portion of the day followed by flat calm cold conditions.

The last day continued cold with water temps in the mid 60’s and quite a few clouds. The miserable fishing conditions will be long remembered as Greg Smith and Scott Collins won the 5th annual event. The team of Mark Hoskin and Captain Bob Paulson were second. The tournament raised over 17,000 dollars for BTT and Don Hawley Foundation which could not have been done without our wonderful sponsors whose donations made it all possible. The 2011 dates are March 14-17 with great weather forcast insured.

P R O J E C T P E R M I T

To address data shortcomings specific to the permit species, the Bonefish Tarpon Trust (BTT) and Costa Sunglasses are initiating a multi-year Permit Research Program in Florida. BTT plans to work with sponsors, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, anglers and guides on this multi-year effort.

In coordination with the BTT, Costa has dedicated fours years of funding to support a state-wide tagging program for permit. In 2010, Costa will make available 6,000 tags for the Permit Tagging Project. The Permit Tagging Project will be a statewide effort encouraging anglers and guides to tag permit. The catch and recapture data will finally inform permit movements in Florida waters, and provide managers with new data that might be applied to management zones. For example: are the permit that spawn on artificial reefs off southwest Florida the same permit that inhabit the Florida Keys, or do they come from elsewhere; are the permit of Florida a single large population, or are permit populations regional?

BTT and Costa sunglasses plan for this project to be just the beginning of a major permit program in Florida. If you fish for permit in the state of Florida, and want to take part in this program, please send us an email.

The 2010 March Merkin Permit Tournament is slated for March 15-18 in Key West. The new headquarters for the captain’s meeting, dinner and tournament start and finish are at Key West Harbour Yacht Club. The facilities will be better suited for our group gathering and for our cocktail hour after fishing.

Please note that all tournament spots are now filled. To get on the waiting list for the March Merkin please contact us.

All proceeds of the tournament after direct expenses will go 50/50 to Don Hawley Foundation and Tarpon Bonefish Trust.

The 2010 Merkin will begin with the Kickoff Dinner Monday evening March 15th. with fishing March 16,17 and 18. We are actively searching for a location for the dinner that would be less noisy with a larger single room. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Jacquie Horn has announced her retirement as the treasurer and all funds should now be sent c/o Shirley Ain at our address below.

Dave has sent in the paperwork in order to obtain tax exempt status for the March Merkin. This costs a bit of money to do but the advantage to all of us will be that when we obtain the status, we will be able to provide all anglers with letters of Donation for a good portion of your entry fee so that you can take a tax deduction for it.

As part of the tax free status, we will use 25 dollars from each of your entry fees to pay for your membership in the March Merkin organization. This will give you a vote in electing board members to insure the long term viability of the tournament. We are looking for volunteers who wish to be involved at any level in the organization and planning of the tournament so please let me know if you are interested in helping out.

The tournament fee for 2010 will be 650 dollars which will include your membership fee. This price is good till October 31st when it goes up to 750 dollars (Click here for the application).We do have a waiting list for anglers and would appreciate knowing asap if you plan to fish or not fish next year. If any of you have suggestions or possible contributions of items or trips for the auction, we would be most thankful. Looking forward to seeing you all in March.

checks should be made out to March Merkin Inc.
c/o Ain
17153 Buttonwood Drive West
Summerland Key Florida 33042

2009 March Merkin Results

The 4th annual March Merkin Permit Tournament concluded today after three days of fishing by 25 anglers and guides who ranged from the Marquesas to Marathon in good weather conditions and lots of comraderie as monies were raised for the Don Hawley Foundation and Bonefish Tarpon Trust.

Grand Champion-Mike Allen

Guide to Grand Champion-Will Benson

1st Runner-Up-Jim Bouma

Guide to 1st Runner-Up-Greg Poland

2nd Runner-Up-Rob Luehrs

Guide to 2nd Runner-Up-Kris Suplee

Largest Permit-Mike Allen

Guide to Largest Permit-Will Benson

There were 14 Permit caught including the 2 that didn’t score points. The quote of the tournament belongs to guide Chris McCreedy who said “Nothing can ruin a good day of Permit fishing like the Permit”. Next year’s event will be the second week of March in Key West. If you are interested in getting on the waiting list for a spot please contact Jon Ain at jonathanain@aol.com