The Florida Boat Sweepstakes
From the backcountry to the beaches, the ‘Glades to the Gulf, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust is taking action today to make sure the world capital of fishing has a bright future! The Florida Boat Sweepstakes 2025 features three ultimate fishing vessels and prize packages ideally suited to these interconnected ecosystems. Enter for your chance to win while supporting BTT’s conservation efforts in Florida!
For more than 25 years, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust has been #BringingSciencetotheFight for clean water, healthy habitats, and effective management. Learn more about our current projects below!
Thank you to our generous Florida Boat Sweepstakes partners for coming together to show that we are all in this fight together. The three prize winners will be drawn at BTT’s 8th International Science Symposium on November 8, 2025.
Chance to Win One of Three Ultimate Fishing Boats
Floyd Skiff 6WT
Floyd Skiff Co. crafts lightweight technical poling skiffs that blend classic styling with modern construction, delivering timeless fishing machines designed to withstand the harshest wilderness conditions. The 6WT is the newest model from Floyd, hand-crafted at the family-owned company’s headquarters in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
Center-Console Technical Poling Skiff:
- Length: 16′
- Beam: 72″
- Draft: 5-7″
- Max HP: 70
- Yamaha F70 Outboard Motor
- Magic Tilt Aluminum Trailer
- Marquesa Marine Small Diameter Series Push Pole
Prize Package
- Sage SALT R8 8WT Fly Rod, ENFORCER 7/8 Reel, and RIO Premier Flats Clear Floater Fly Line
- Cody Richardson Original Tarpon Artwork Featuring the BTT Florida License Plate
- SIMMS Package Including Guide Plier, Dry Creek Boat Bag Large, Dry Creek Dry Bag Medium, Dry Creek Z Gear Pouch, and Dry Creek Roll-Top Backpack
- YETI Tundra 45L Hard Cooler and LoadOut GoBox 30 Gear Case
- Bajio Polarized Sunglasses
- Turtlebox Two Gen 3 Waterproof Speakers
- Danco Premio 6.5” Plier
- Costa Polarized Sunglasses
- Flylords Assorted Apparel
- Plus Assorted Apparel from Bonefish & Tarpon Trust!
Matecumbe 169
Prize Package
- Fishpond Package Including BTT-Edition Cutbank Gear Bag, Thunderhead Submersible Pouch, Nomad Mid-Length Boat Net, Thunderhead Roll-Top Dry Bag, BTT-Edition Tacky Pescador Fly Box, and Tracker Hat
- Sage SALT R8 8WT Fly Rod, ENFORCER 7/8 Reel, and RIO Premier Flats Clear Floater Fly Line
- YETI Tundra 45L Hard Cooler and LoadOut GoBox 30 Gear Case
- Bajio Polarized Sunglasses
- Turtlebox Two Gen 3 Waterproof Speakers
- Danco Premio 6.5” Plier
- Costa Polarized Sunglasses
- Flylords Assorted Apparel
- Plus Assorted Apparel from Bonefish & Tarpon Trust!
Matecumbe Skiffs specializes in handcrafted skiffs that provide superior shallow-water performance. The Matecumbe 169 prize is a center-console skiff paired with a powerful Yamaha F60 outboard motor. For work or relaxation, this versatile skiff is the ideal fishing vessel for gliding over the flats.
Note: prize skiff differs from model shown.
Center-console skiff:
- Length: 16’9”
- Beam: 70”
- Yamaha F60 Outboard Motor
- Magic Tilt Aluminum Trailer
- Marquesa Marine Small Diameter Series Push Pole
G3 Jon Boat
The all-aluminum, all-welded G3 Jon Boat is crafted for durability, versatility, and top-notch performance. Powered by a Yamaha F60 outboard motor, this boat will get you to the backcountry with all your gear in a comfortable ride.
Note: does not come with trolling motor shown.
Tunnel Jon Series - 2025 17 CCJ DLX:
- Length: 17’2″
- Beam: 83″
- Yamaha F60 Outboard Motor
- Black Kodiak Coated Trailer
Prize Package
- YETI Tundra 45L Hard Cooler and LoadOut GoBox 30 Gear Case
- Sage SALT R8 7WT Fly Rod, ARBOR XL 6/7/8 Reel, and RIO Premier Flats Clear Floater Fly Line
- Bajio Polarized Sunglasses
- Turtlebox Two Gen 3 Waterproof Speakers
- Danco Premio 6.5” Plier
- Costa Polarized Sunglasses
- Flylords Assorted Apparel
- Plus Assorted Apparel from Bonefish & Tarpon Trust!
Bonefish & Tarpon Trust: Fighting for Clean Water & Healthy Habitats in Florida
The sportfish we love need a diverse array of habitats and clean water flowing through them to survive. Like the flow of fresh water south through the Everglades into Florida Bay, bringing life to the Florida Keys, our fisheries are interconnected. Permit feed at the reefs and cruise the flats; bonefish stalk seagrass meadows and gather by the thousands at specific sites before spawning offshore; tarpon larvae drift into mangrove creeks, where they will spend years growing into the mighty Silver Kings that migrate thousands of miles along our coasts.
With mounting threats, time is of the essence if we want to pass on healthy and abundant fisheries to the next generation. Our best hope is to tackle conservation problems at scale. We need to address complex, state-wide issues with holistic, regional efforts.
Learn about BTT’s current projects below.
Science in Action: Policy and Management Advocacy
BTT is bringing science to the fight for clean water, healthy habitats, and effective fisheries management. Driving many of BTT’s achievements is our unique ability to conduct needed science and translate the results into effective advocacy. BTT is one of the only conservation organizations that takes this approach, with a public policy program at work full-time in Tallahassee and Washington DC.
Regional Conservation Strategies for Far-Ranging Tarpon
The findings of two BTT-funded research projects, the Tarpon Acoustic Tagging Project and the Tarpon Isotope Study, will fuel the fight for healthy habitats and forage fisheries for the Silver King. With these findings, BTT will continue to advance tarpon conservation along their migration routes, from Florida to coastal states on the Gulf and Atlantic.
Improving Water Quality in Tampa Bay
A new BTT-funded program from Tampa Bay Waterkeeper has University of South Florida researchers using DNA to locate sources of fecal bacteria entering the bay. Along with TBWK’s regular water monitoring program, this data will support solutions for a healthier Tampa Bay Estuary.
Restoring Tarpon and Snook Nursery Habitat
Boca Grande is known for giant tarpon, but the small juveniles that call the north of Charlotte Harbor home are in dire need of help. In Charlotte County we created a vulnerability index for the prioritization of juvenile tarpon habitats for protection and restoration, a process we plan to replicate for other Florida counties.
Restoring Tarpon and Snook Nursery Habitat
BTT has identified 600 juvenile tarpon habitat sites in need of protection or restoration statewide. Two restoration projects underway at Rookery Bay will restore natural water flows and enhance more than 1,000 thousand acres of marsh and mangrove habitat for juvenile tarpon and snook and increase coastal resilience.
Everglades Restoration
It’s the lifeblood of Florida’s world-class fisheries. Restoration of the Everglades is crucial for coastal ecosystems to the east, west, and south. We have seen the dire consequences of the disrupted flow of clean, fresh water through the system– think hyper-salty water, the result of no freshwater flowing into Florida Bay, sparking the great seagrass die-off of 2015. And nutrient-rich water discharges from Lake Okeechobee fueling harmful algal blooms on east and west coasts. BTT advocates for sustained, robust funding for Everglades restoration and water quality projects to benefit coastal ecosystems, communities, and fisheries.
The Shark Depredation Project
Interactions between sharks and anglers have increased in recent years. BTT launched the Florida Keys Shark Depredation Project in the fall of 2024, beginning with surveys and workshops with guides and anglers, and now researching shark behavior in the field. The goal of the project is to identify ways for sharks and anglers to coexist within a healthy flats fishery, and work with managers and stakeholders to implement these findings.
Saving Shallow Water Habitats
The flats of the Keys are being loved to death. The number of flats degraded by boat damage (propellor scars and groundings) has increased by 90% over the last 20 years. Working with Keys guides, BTT has made science-based recommendations for regulation changes to protect flats habitats, while ensuring responsible access to the resource. These include idle speed and pole-and-troll zones, and improving channel markers. We continue to work with state and federal agencies to adopt these proposed changes.
Protecting Bonefish Spawning Sites
BTT is working with state and federal partners to ensure that the first pre-spawning aggregation (PSA) site discovered in the Florida Keys in 2023 is protected. At the same time, BTT is documenting a second bonefish PSA, located in the Lower Keys, with the help of Florida Keys fishing guides.
First Responders to the “Spinning Fish” Phenomenon
BTT continues to coordinate the multi-institutional research effort to address the "spinning fish phenomenon." Cases are down this winter compared to last, but the underlying cause remains under investigation with funding from the State of Florida. The rapid response network that includes BTT, FWC, Lower Keys Guides Association, FGCU, USA, FSU and other partners is now better prepared for future ecological events.
Unraveling Keys Permit Mysteries
BTT is working to identify conservation priorities for Florida Keys permit from many different angles, including the effects of water quality, overfishing of spawning aggregations, boat traffic, and loss of habitat. The Permit Food Web Study will shed light on what Keys permits are eating and whether food webs in the Keys are changing.
Regional Approaches for Interconnected Fisheries
Florida’s flats fisheries are interconnected with those of the Caribbean and the Gulf through spawning and migration. Some of the bonefish in the Florida Keys were spawned in Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, or Southwest Cuba; After being spawned, bonefish larvae are exchanged between The Bahamas and the north coast of Cuba. Some of the tarpon swimming in the Florida Keys in the spring migrate as far north as Virginia on the Atlantic coast, and as far as the Mississippi Delta on the Gulf coast. These are just a few examples of why BTT takes a regional approach to our fisheries, including our internationally staffed Bahamas and Belize-Mexico programs.
Enter for Your Chance to Win!!
Email Share Disclaimer
Any personal and contact information will be confidential, HOWEVER: by entering the Sweepstakes you agree to receive email newsletters periodically from all sponsors of the Sweepstakes including BTT, Floyd Skiff Co, Saltmarsh/Ankona/Matecumbe, Yamaha, Magic Tilt, Unmatched Marine, Marquesa Marine, Fishpond, Simms, Costa, Bajio, Sage, Cody Richardson Creative, YETI, Turtlebox, Danco, and Flylords. You can opt-out of receiving this communication at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in each individual newsletter from each participating company.
Meta Disclaimer
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Meta Platforms, Inc. (Facebook or Instagram). You understand that you are providing your information to Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, and not Meta Platforms, Inc. (Facebook or Instagram). By participating in this promotion, you agree to a complete release of Meta Platforms, Inc. (Facebook or Instagram) from any claims.
Read the official rules for the sweepstakes here.
