About Cheeky Schoolie Tournament

 

The World's Largest Fly-Fishing-Only Tournament

2023 Dates Tournament Date: Saturday May 20, 2023

Conservation Partners Logos

Rules at a Glance 

  • Cheeky Schoolie is a one-day, catch-photo-release, fly-fishing-only tournament with teams of two anglers.
  • Scoring is a team's top 4 striped bass photographed and released safely in accordance with Keep Fish Wet Guidelines. The team with the most total inches wins.
  • Boundaries are all of Cape Cod (you cannot cross the canal), and no use of any boats, paddles, flippers, ladders, etc. of any kind.  Two feet on the ground and no swimming.  If you can’t get there by walking, it’s out of bounds.
  • The minimum fish size you can measure and enter in the Tournament is 20 inches.  This will ensure little fish are released safely and quickly.

Conservation:

The Cheeky Schoolie Tournament is about the fish. This is a Catch-and-Release-only tournament, and proper fish handling during a release is of paramount importance. Cheeky Fishing partners with Keep Fish Wet to provide an opportunity for everyone to learn more about best practices for catching and releasing fish.

In addition, it was our great privilege to donate $27,380 from last year’s event following the more than $21,000 donated in 2021. The proceeds go to Stripers Forever, a nonprofit dedicated to striped bass conservation,
American Saltwater Guides Association, who work on striped bass conservation policy for all fishermen, and Keep Fish Wet. Thanks to all the participants and sponsors for making the Cheeky Schoolie Tournament possible.

Thank you to our 2022 sponsors: 

2022 Recap

The 11th Annual Cheeky Schoolie Tournament was held May 21st on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. More than 550 anglers competed in teams of two to safely catch, record, photograph, and release striped bass. While the weather leading up to the tournament wasn't great, the weather cleared for tournament day, many fish were caught and new champions were crowned. Even though we still had to keep our distance because of the pandemic, we were able to virtually connect and broadcast winners of not only the tournament but also the more than $10,000 worth of raffle prizes. Check out our virtual awards show here. Now, on to the Winners…
To view the entire 2022 Leaderboard click here.  

2021 Press: 

Once again the Cheeky Schoolie Tournament garnered millions of eyeballs before, during, and after the event. With almost 10 live Instagram look-ins with our sponsors, to on the ground reporting from the biggest names in fly-fishing journalism, it was hard not to stumble into something of interest if you are following fly fishing media. See some of the coverage below. We would like to give a special thanks to Max Holmes from Science on the Fly and the Woodwell Climate Research Center who hosted fly fishing press from around the country on the Tournament's  Conservation Day to give them insight into the impactful research that is being conducted in Woods Hole and on Cape Cod in general.

Fly Lords: https://flylordsmag.com/2021-cheeky-schoolie-tournament-recap/

American Museum of Fly Fishing: https://www.amff.org/amff-heads-cape-cheeky-schoolie-tournament/

Star Chef Brad Leone even made an appearance: https://www.themanual.com/outdoors/brad-leone-fishing-guide/

Angling Trade: https://www.anglingtrade.com/2021/05/17/cheeky-schoolie-tournament-raffle-for-striped-bass-conservation/

Berkshire Eagle: https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/northern_berkshires/phyllis-mcguire-view-from-the-village-buying-in-to-the-berkshires-hook-line-and-sinker/article_5c2ec2bc-c3b8-11eb-be67-df52c724b8bd.html

William Henry https://williamhenryoutdoors.com/2021/05/25/2021-cheeky-schoolie-tournament/

The Sun Chronicle: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/sports/local_sports/no-fluke-release-those-large-breeding-size-stripers/article_634950a3-12cd-55ae-8128-b9e849f09be1.html

Cape Cod Wave: https://capecodwave.com/schoolies-were-in-session-at-ministers-point-chatham/

Fly Fishing Film Tour: https://flyfilmtour.com/f3t-on-tap/the-10th-annual-cheeky-schoolie-tournament/

Moldy Chum: https://www.moldychum.com/schoolie-raffle-for-striped-bass-conservation/

Bear’s Den: https://www.bearsden.com/product17193.html

Trout Magazine: https://www.tu.org/magazine/fishing/trout-talk/how-to-know-if-a-caught-fish-is-in-trouble/

Midcurrent: https://midcurrent.com/2021/05/17/cheeky-schoolie-tournament-raffle-for-striped-bass-conservation/

Seven Striped fishing: https://sevenstripesfishing.com/2021/03/03/peter-vandergrift-of-cheeky-fishing-talks-schoolie-tournament-strategies-podcast/

Fly Fishing Blog: https://flyfishing-blog.com/flyfishing-blog.com/2021/01/19/the-worlds-largest-fly-fishing-tourney-is-turning-ten/

Yeti Twitter: https://twitter.com/YETICoolers/status/1307078248824745985