Shark Challenge Festival returns to Beach
What do sharks, jet skis, a fishing derby, live music and vendor displays have in common?
They are all involved in the “Are You Man Enough Shark Challenge 4” and Shark Fest 2010 this weekend on Fort Myers Beach. The festival will be held on Old San Carlos Boulevard from Third Street to the Bay waterfront. Both events will take place Saturday, June 19, and Sunday, June 20.
The format of the catch-and-release shark challenge will feature a ladies division, kids division, Big Bad Bull Calcutta and a Hammer Calcutta. Kayak teams and beach teams will join the traditional boat teams in the competition.
Fishing action will take place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday with a party for “The Are You Man Enough” teams held afterwards. The top five teams on Saturday will go head to head on Sunday in the first ever “Are You Man Enough Sudden Death Shark Challenge.” The first team that passes the target amount of shark (21 total feet; excluding nurse shark) wins the big prize. More cash prizes are available.
Teams will send video verification of their shark catches to the tournament committee where they will be played for the crowds at the festival on a 9-by- 12 Jumbo-tron LED screen center stage from Production ToolBox, Inc.
“The reason we were able to change the format this year is American Communications (Sprint/Nextel) has teamed up with us,” said Capt. Jack Donlon, the tournament director. “They worked out a format where anyone can video tape the shark using their cell phone and send it to a special location that American Communications has set up. It will allow us to broadcast the images on the Jumbo-tron. We’ll be utilizing Sprint Family Locator to keep track of where the land teams are. In the past, we couldn’t involve land teams because we couldn’t keep track of them. Now, we can keep track of them and see where they are actually fishing.”
Team Tim’s Tree Service of Cape Coral will be returning as the defending champion. Captain Tim DiGennero, Paul Fischer and Tim Heyer captured first place with 150 points and the largest shark award with a 7 1/2 foot greater hammerhead shark at last year’s event. The 2009 winners pulled in $4,041 for most points on the catch-and-release format; an additional $1,000 for the largest shark of the night; and $300 extra for being a Sea-Tow member.
“The new format is great because it gives excitement to the tournament by allowing the festival goers to watch the action as it happens on the Jumbo-tron,” he said. “It allows us to take the tournament to the next level in a responsible manner.”
The festival will feature live music; a free kids fishing derby at 2 p.m. Saturday where free rods will be given to the first 50 children; family activities; a bounce house; shows; and the ladies from Finlandia Vodka. More than 100 vendors are expected to be on site, including new boats on display. Donlon believes the festival portion should be better than 2009.
“The festival will be better because we have both streets completely utilized,” he said. “We have the big Jumbo-tron. We also have a jet ski stunt show by Sun Sports Cycle & Watercraft of Fort Myers at 1 p.m. on Sunday. There will also be educational shows like Capt. Rob Modys, the host of Reel Talk Radio on ESPN 770 AM.
According to Donlon, the Fort Myers Princess will be running dolphin cruises and dinner cruises right from the site. There will also be hourly raffles.
“We’re thrilled to be back on Fort Myers Beach,” said Donlon. “We’re holding this family-fun event and the excitement of the Are You Man Enough Shark Challenge on Father’s Day weekend because we thought it would be great to bring dad and the whole family down to have fun and see the show.”
Rob DiGennaro, the owner of Nervous Nellies Crazy Waterfront Eatery, is the Beach sponsor of the festival.
“We’re trying to bring the focus to the Beach for the summer season and bring some new awareness to Bay Walk,” said DiGennaro. “There will be some art and craft vendors. Nervous Nellies will have live island music featuring reggae and tropical music from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on both days. We have quite a few bands coming in. We’ll be running happy hour all day as well. It should be a lot of fun.”