Caloosa Catch & Release regains sense of normalcy

Ron Riley’s “crown jewel,” as tough as it may be for the organizer of the Caloosa Tournament Series to admit, lacked a bit of its luster last summer.

The 56-year-old, who hatched the four-event fishing fund-raisers 17 years ago, was forced to move his 2005 kickoff — The Caloosa Catch & Release — to the Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa after Hurricane Charley temporarily closed the South Seas Resort on Captiva, its home the previous five years.

It’s not that the event, again a record-setter with over 100 teams on the water, was a disappointment last summer, by any means.

It’s just that, as Riley tells it, “It hurt us and it hurt the island. South Seas was a partner of ours, a helper from a pricing standpoint that influenced how much we give” to over 40 local organizations, Florida Gulf Coast University chief among them.

This morning, a record 125 teams with 375 anglers return to South Seas, marking the largest and certainly most significant group to return to the resort after almost 20 months of rebuilding.

“For six months, it was a matter of them literally trying to clean the property,” Riley said. “There wasn’t a month that went by that we weren’t talking about how we could get back there. They’re still under construction, but the area we’re in, it’s almost back to normal. It’s a great place for friends and family, and it’s really worked out for us.”

Indeed, with the kickoff to the 2006 series — the Back Country Classic follows in July, to be followed by the Summer Slam Flats Tournament in September and the Grand Championship in November — looking like another record-setter.

Including teams, over 500 will cast their lines through Sunday, with the catch-and-release format awarding a point for each inch of snook, redfish and trout/snapper hooked.

The two biggest in each category count toward the day’s scores, with “Fun Fish” categories awarding points for “mystery” catches or even the redfish with the biggest spots. A total near $30,000 (including $10,000, with a special entry fee required, to the winner of the “Hooters Catch the Big One Redfish Bonanza”) is available in prizes this weekend.

It should be a heartfelt return for Riley, who scrambled after Charley to move the 2004 Summer Slam to a Fort Myers hotel.

“We pulled that off then and it was pretty amazing, so there’s excitement and enthusiasm to be back here,” he said. “People missed being here, period. We live in Southwest Florida and we’ve got beauty in our backyard, but people get so busy. They get to come here, enjoy the festivities, and we’ve got special divisions for the kids and ladies. It’s just a great time, period.”