Stu Apte Fly Tournament

[Marlinhunter2]

Greetings from Casa Vieja Lodge,

We have six teams competing for the coveted Golden Sailfish Award presented to the top team.

Anglers have traveled from across the country to compete against each other and the the world renowned, IGFA hall of famer Capt. Stu Apte. "I love Casa Vieja Lodge and there's no better place on the planet I would rather fish this tournament," said Stu. Competing this year is the entire Casa Vieja Fleet: Makaira, Rum Line, Intensity, Release, Captain Hook and Spindrift.

Pre-fishing day for the Stu Apte Fly Tournament (23) has the Casa Vieja fleet boats out today:

• Dr. Jon Dee and Russ Texeira on the Release raised 13 and released 3
• Darin and Dino Colucci on the Intensity raised 20 and released 6
• Mick Kolassa and Bill Little on the Rum Line raised 8, released 1 and raised one marlin
• Stu Apte and Jeff Harkavy on the Makaira raised 8, released 1, and had one marlin bite
• Drs. Stephen Christensen and Michael Kish on the Spindrift raised 10 and released 1

The Stu Apte Fly Tournament got underway yesterday (24 Jan) with six boats participating.

* The first fish caught and released was by Stu Apte on the Makaira.
* Drs. Howington & Ochsner on the Captain Hook released 4 fish topping the leader board.
* Stu and team mate Jeff Harkavy finished the day in 2nd place with 3 fish
* Tying for third place are Mick Kolassa and Bill Little on the Rum Line and Drs. Stephen Christensen and Michael Kish on Spindrift with one fish each.

Stay tuned

[Marlinhunter2]

2012 Seventh Annual Stu Apte Fly Fishing Sailfish Tournament

January 21st-27th, 2012 – Casa Vieja Lodge, Guatemala

Everyone had a great time at this year’s event!!! The Marimba Band kicked off the festivities on Monday night right after the rules meeting. Chef Juan prepared an incredible five course dinner followed by his world renowned mouth watering desserts. “There’s is nothing like Casa Vieja’s Guatemalan Hospitality” said Capt. Stu Apte, "truly a first class facility.”

Day 1: We had the Captain Hook with the M*A*S*H team of anglers Dr. Jay Howington and Dr. Gage Ochsner in first place with 4 releases. The Makaira with Jeff Harkavy and Capt. Stu Apte came in second with 3 releases and both the Rum Line with anglers Dr. Mick Kollassa and Bill Little and the Spindrift with anglers Dr. Stephen Christensen and Dr. Michael Kish tied for third with 1 release. Our very own, Capt. Stu Apte released the first sailfish at 9:24am, way to go Stu!!!

Day 2: Darin & Dino Colucci aboard the Intensity started the day by breaking one of their new sage 13wt fly rods, but that did not deter them for coming in first place with 4 releases. The Rum Line came in second with 3 releases followed by the Captain Hook with 1 release.

Day 3: It was Intensity time!!! Darin and Dino did it again!!! Broke another Sage 13wt and came in first place with 3 releases - I hope this isn’t a new fishing ritual, ouch that’s a little to expensive for me!!! The Rum Line followed with 2 releases. This gave the Intensity the boost it needed to finish in first place overall with 7 releases. Darin also came in with top angler honors with 6 releases and caught the last fish of the tournament. Rum Line came in second with 6 releases followed very closely by the Captain Hook for third place with 5 releases.

Looking over all the Captains logs at the end of the tournament we noticed that the vast majority of the gameboats had raised well into the double digits every fishing day. The fish were just “in love” pairing up for their mating ritual, swimming along each other prolonging the normal tug of war we are accustomed to in Guatemala. Sailfish are opportunistic breeders and when the time is right they’re good to go!!! And they were in full swing our tournament week.

We thank Stu and Jeannine for their continued support as we do our great sponsors:

Galvan Fly Reel, Temple Fork Fly Rods, King Sailfish Mounts, Simms, Costa Del Mar, Fins Premium Superlines, Boga Grip, Mason, Ocean Potion and Casa Vieja Lodge.

[Marlinhunter2]

Dino and Darin Colucci with 7 released fish and winners of the Golden Sailfish pendants, Temple Fork - Lefty Kreh fly rods, Galvan engraved fly reels and King Sailfish release plaques