2005 Capawock Cup Invitational Fly Fishing Tournament

         Origins of The Capawock Cup Invitational Fly Fishing Tournament

          In 2001 a bunch of us saltwater fly fishing nuts got together and decided to stretch the annual “Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club Fly Rod Striped Bass Catch & Release Tournament” into a week long excuse to fish some more. I guess you might say that our fishing passion was not satisfied with a one-night event. We needed a good excuse to tell our families that we had to fish for an entire week! 

          To fulfill that passion, the Capawock Cup was born. Capawock is a Wompanoag Indian word which translates to a “place of refuge” and it is what the native inhabitants originally called Martha's Vineyard. I can not think of any better refuge from the work-a-day world than to hunt the shorelines of Martha’s Vineyard with a fly rod in hand looking for that "once in a lifetime" striped bass. The first event saw 10 anglers spending one week in search of the perfect catch. Now the Capawock Cup attracts top saltwater fly rodders from both on and off island who all participate by invitation.

          Results of the 2005 Capawock Cup

     The 5^th Annual Capawock Cup Invitational Fly Fishing Tournament is now in the history books. The 2005 event hosted 27 accomplished fly fishing anglers competing for several prestigious trophies.

     The invitational tournament ran from sundown on Sunday, June 5 through sunup on Saturday, June 11. A total of 247 striped bass were caught and released along with no bluefish being reported caught. The Capawock Cup award for the most striped bass caught was presented to Jay Cronin who logged in an impressive 67 bass total. The "Cup", a perpetual trophy will be inscribed and left with Jay for the next year. Second place in the most bass category went to Gary Hoffman with 45 bass and third place to Wilson Kerr with 37 linesiders. The "Pisces est Humongous" trophy (largest striped bass) was awarded to Chip Bergeron with a fish that measured 35 inches long by 21 inches girth. Jay Cronin placed second in the big bass category with a fish 34 by 16 inches and Gary Hoffman placed third. Of note was the fact that Clint Eller had caught a 42 inch bass just prior to the start of the tournament. Other awards presented at the post-tournament cookout at Phil Cronin’s house were: Largest Boat Bass to Jeff Sayre with a 38.8 inch long by 19 inch girth fish. As expected, the Young Jack Sayre Trophy was again awarded to young Jack Sayre for allowing his dad to fish all week.

     The tournament began with a social and rules briefing at Jeff Sayre’s home on Saturday, June 5 and ended with the awards ceremony at Phil Cronin’s home on Saturday, June 12.

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Special thanks to Wilson Kerr for contributing his photography to this page.