What a great venue to hold a fishing tournament. Sarasotans know how to do it right. The 8th Annual Sarasota Slam took place at the beautiful Marina Jack in Sarasota, Florida. The facility is first class and played host in a most remarkable fashion to a capacity crowd of fishing enthusiasts and their friends to benefit Camp Florida Fish Tales, Inc., Suncoast Foundation for the Handicapped, Inc. and the Food Bank of Manatee, all favorite charities of local fishermen and boaters.

 
Even though the weather didn't exactly cooperate, the tournament wrapped up without any major hitches. Once the morning rains stopped pounding and the storm driven winds quit gusting hundreds of spectators setteled in for an afternoon of watching battered anglers, who had spent a rough night in stormy weather, show off their catch in the hope of winning some decent prize money,

The competition was divided into three categories. Billfish, the big fish stalked by the big boats. Offshore, medium sized cruisers and Inshore which was mostly fished by flats type boats and smaller. There were no restrictions on boats or boat size. I'm guessing that we saw 50 footers down to well...
Okay...don't laugh...These guys were a crowd favorite when they showed up!

I shot a bunch of other boat photos for you. Enjoy!














Okay, this guy didn't fish the tournament, but I still like the boat!


The master of ceremonies/ringleader/educator/cheerleader for the event,  Mark Gauthier, never stopped talking and he never got boring. He went out of his way to make sure the capacity crowd got a little education about each species of fish along with a constant reminder that all fish killed in the tournament were to be donated to the hungry through the local food bank. Many of the fish were weighed in alive and he was the cheerleader for each successfully released fish and congratulations went out to each of the anglers who were able to catch, weigh and release.

There was only one Billfish brought to the docks. It was brought in for educational purposes and the meat was also donated and not wasted. Most people never see a Swordfish up close and personal. The sword itself was approximately 36 inches long. All of the other Billfish were documented on video tape and released out in the Gulf. Points were awarded for each catch to determine the winner.
The weigh-in scale was kept busy all afternoon with special priority given to any fisherman with a live fish. Special carry bags were used for the live fish to minimize any trauma to the fish.
























I'll be honest...I left before the awards ceremony. I don't know how these guys do it. They probably spent the last 36 to 48 hours with little or no sleep. Must be some mixture of adreniline, Red Bull and some adult beverage that will keep them going through the banquet, awards ceremony and after party. Thanks for a good show guys... I'm tired and ready for dinner. I think I'll have the fish!

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