We are excited to announce the 2023 Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament will be starting very soon.  Our Pre-tournament will start on February 1st, 2023 and continue until May 18, 2022.  We will be pushing our Pre-Tournament portion very heavily this year. This allows the “average lionfish hunter” to participate and win prizes without having to be a top-tier competitor.  We will conduct a drawing every month to give out multiple prizes to any diver who turns lionfish in for that month. It will not be based on the number of lionfish you turn in, but the fact that you participated – even one fish makes you eligible!

We have some new additions to our sponsor program to help drive business to you! We are starting the Charter Captain Sponsorship Program. This will be limited to licensed charter boat captains only. There will be several components to this program.

Listing on the Emerald Coast Open website under Charter Captains. 

This will include your business name, phone number, website and social media links, and if you provide lionfish specific gear for divers to use (ie: polespear and zookeepers). This page will stay live permanently, and your profile listing will stay up until January 2023. You can update your information at any time. When the tournament gets inquiries for who participants can go with to lionfish hunt, this is the page that we will refer them to.

Please keep in mind that even though you may have your “team” already set for the main tournament, this program will be a resource for the divers who don’t have a boat and would like to participate in the pre-tournament from February 1 – May 18, 2023.

Listing in a special email about the Pre-Tournament

An email will be sent to all participants on our distribution list from the last 4 years. This email will encourage divers to participate, and push the pre-tournament. Individual captains will be listed in the email so that divers know who they can go with to hunt in the pre-tournament, as well as a listing of the Charter Captain’s page on the website for them to refer to.

Social Media posts upon signup

We will post on the Emerald Coast Open Facebook and Instagram page about your charter and your willingness to take people lionfish hunting during the pre-tournament.

Advertise your lionfish hunting trips on our Facebook page. 

During the pre-tournament (February 1-May 18, 2023), if you are running a trip where participants can hunt lionfish, or a lionfish specific trip we will make an original post about the trip, or we can share your post. The post will tag your business and they will be told to contact you about getting on the trip or a future trip. We are not trying to be a middleman for you trips, but again, drive the traffic to your business. We ask for at least 48 hours to post the trip on our social media.

Social Media post about your success

When you return from a trip where lionfish were harvested, if you send us pictures of your customers with lionfish (preferable next to your boat or logo), then we will post a “trip report” about your lionfish hunt. We will again mention your name and tag you in the post. This is a really good way to show hunters you are successful and will encourage them to dive with you.

We also invite you to our Tournament Kick-off party on February 12, 2023 at TBD in Destin, Florida. This event is well attended by divers who are looking to participate, as well as the general public that is just coming for a great time and are interested in lionfish. We have made lots of introductions between divers and boat captains. We highly encourage you to attend and meet the divers that will be hunting and make connections and future customers. For those that have signed up before the kick off party and attend, we will formally introduce you as a charter captain during the announcements and let people know they can talk to you about going out and hunting in the pre-tournament. Bring LOTS of business cards to pass out!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Brady Hale or Andy Ross. We look forward to another great ECO Tournament year and look forward to your participation!