As a father-and-son team, Kevin and Mike Warren have had plenty of success fishing local tournaments from the Crosthwait and Fire Charity to the Sarasota Slam and Suncoast Saltwater Shootout.

With Team Big Game, they always turn heads with an exotic-looking converted Cougar Race Hull with Quad 300 Suzukis that is a fishing machine.

“We have been doing this for a long time. My father Kevin has been competing for 20 years,” said team captain Mike Warren. “The last four years I’ve been competing as a captain. We’ve probably done 20 tournaments together and couldn’t do it without each other and our teammates including my little brother Tyler, Paul Sloat, Joe Super Jr. and Grant Gual.”

At the 17th Annual Fire Charity Fishing Tournament, they welcomed calm weather that allowed them to venture more than 350-miles during the course of their two days offshore. The biggest problem might have been the amount of ice they returned with as hundreds of pounds of fish filled their fish boxes.

“It started great for us Friday afternoon. We went to 200 feet and found some fishy looking water so trolled up a couple wahoo. We then moved from there and got a couple big American red snapper that we were happy with. That was four of our fish, so we went deeper for bigger,” said Warren.

In 300 feet of water late Friday night, they put their heaviest tackle to the test. Fishing a big bait on the bottom for a sea monster resulted in a tug of war.

“We knew it was the man, just a matter of the gear holding up,” Warren said. “Paul was on the rod and knew it was big. It came up in about 15 minutes, which was relatively quick! Paul had caught a 395-pounder before so was experienced.”

Getting the giant Warsaw grouper they had raised to the surface into the boat proved to be another issue. It was so large it took the entire crew with ropes pulling together. After a few pictures, it was secured in an icy hold where it would remain.

With five of their six fish, they ventured deeper. Over the course of nine hours, they would catch two of their target species, kitty mitchell grouper.

Not entirely confident in their catch just yet, they spent Saturday night on the continental shelf for swordfish, but their only bite would come off. As the sun rose, they set a course for Tampa Bay more than 100 miles away.

Returning to the scales in Bradenton Sunday afternoon after using nearly 500 gallons of gas, they tested the strength of the committee members and the durability of the weigh-in platform. The giant Warsaw grouper wowed the crowd as it was hoisted and host Erik Nicholson exclaimed “She ain’t little! 294 pounds! Team Big Game! What a heck of a fish.”

Along with a 26-pound and 21-pound wahoo, 33-pound kitty mitchell grouper, 26- and 24-pound red snapper, they would be crowned champions of the 2024 Fire Charity Fishing Tournament for a prize of $5,000 which they donated back to the scholarship program along with the Warsaw grouper.

Their 431 points would best Team Gotcha’s 391 and Team Cortez Cove Marina Fountain Boats 371 in the offshore division.

With 205 points, Team Wake and Bait would win the nearshore division, following up their victory in the Crosthwait Memorial nearshore division.

Team Richardson Stinton Roofing Powered by Skeeter would get back to the top of the podium with a first-place finish in the inshore open division with 382 points. They beat Team Hurricane Fishing Adventures by Brothers America Moving’s 372 points and Team Rats on Da Cheese’s 346 points.

Team Rats on Da Cheese would take the win for the Triple Crown Series with a consistent spring tournament performance.

Team Shrimpin Ain’t Easy would take the inshore Amateur Division with 310 points, while Junior Team Poon Shiesty’s Sponsored by Drift in AMI would win their division with 292 points.

Over 180 kids participated in the Fire Charity Kids Fishing Tournament. The overall tournament was able to raise $51,000 for charity.