Sixth Annual Stu Apte Fly Fishing Sailfish Tournament

[Marlinhunter2]

2011 Sixth Annual Stu Apte Fly Fishing Sailfish Tournament

Casa Vieja Lodge, Guatemala

Capt. Chris Sheeder tournament winning streak continues as he takes the top honors by winning the Stu Apte Fly Fishing Sailfish Tournament, January 27-29, 2010. The fleet faced excellent fishing conditions on all three days of competition with the billfish bite only 4 miles from shore. The top team included Capt. Sheeder, mates Ricardo and Zonder with anglers Gene Glad and Russell Texeira. They released 17 sails for the three days. The team aboard the Intensity took second place honors with Capt. Mike Sheeder, mates Flaco and Waldo and anglers Capt. Stu Apte (IGFA Hall of Famer) and Jeff Harkavy also with 17 sails. Stu and Jeff missed out on winning the tournament by only 13 minutes. Third Place honors went to our very own legendary Capt. Ron Hamlin aboard the Captain Hook with mates Nico and Hector and anglers Mark Boname and Bonifacio Galvan (Galvan Reels). Mark and Bonifacio released 13 sails for the three days and had their hearts in their hands as they had a visit from a large black marlin on the first day of fishing. Even Capt. Ron was excited as the marlin came in hot and heavy and blew up on the bridge teaser and quickly moved to flat teaser, “boy you should have seen this fish go”, he reported on the radio.

Here are the complete standings for the tournament:

Rum Line – Capt. Chris Sheeder
Day 1 – Eugene Glad 320 points / Rusell Texeira 550 points
Day 2 – Eugene Glad 440 points / Rusell Texeira 110 points
Day 3 – Eugene Glad 330 points / Rusell Texeira 110 points
Total Team Points = 1860 (Top Team)

Intensity – Capt. Mike Sheeder
Day 1 – Stu Apte 320 points / Jeff Harkavy 110 points
Day 2 – Stu Apte 440 points / Jeff Harkavy 330 points
Day 3 – Stu Apte 330 points / Jeff Harkavy 330 points
Total Team Points = 1860

Captain Hook – Capt. Ron Hamlin
Day 1 – Bonifacio Galvan 440 points / Mark Boname 330 points
Day 2 – Bonifacio Galvan 0 points / Mark Boname 110 points
Day 3 – Bonifacio Galvan 110 points / Mark Boname 440 points
Total Team Points = 1430

Makaira – Capt. Jason Brice
Day 1 – Ronald Mazzarella 220 points / Lloyd Jacobsen 110 points
Day 2 – Ronald Mazzarella 320 points / Lloyd Jacobsen 330 points
Day 3 – Ronald Mazzarella 110 points / Lloyd Jacobsen 110 points
Total Team Points = 1200

Spindrift – Capt. Nicho Alvarenga
Day 1 – Neal Rogers 220 points / Michael Mondloch 110 points
Day 2 – Neal Rogers 220 points / Michael Mondloch 330 points
Day 3 – Neal Rogers 0 points / Michael Mondloch 110 points
Total Team Points = 990

Afinity – Capt. Gilfredo Lopez
Day 1 – Timothy Wade 440 points / Kenneth Gaskell 0 points
Day 2 – Timothy Wade 0 points / Kenneth Gaskell 110 points
Day 3 – Timothy Wade 110 points / Kenneth Gaskell 0 points
Total Team Points = 660

First Place Individual Angler: Gene Glad – 1090 points

Second Place Individual Angler: Capt. Stu Apte – 1090 points

Third Place Individual Angler: Mark Boname – 880 points

First Place Captain – Capt. Chris Sheeder

First Fish Released – Bonifacio Galvan – 8:12am

Last Fish Released – Bonifacio Galvan – 3:35 pm

Hard Luck Award: Kenneth Gaskell

Special Thanks to:

Casa Vieja Lodge, Jeannine Apte (our Vanna White), Pat Ford and Neal Rogers (two of the world’s top photographers), Cortland Line Co, Nautilus Reels, Costa del Mar, King Sailfish Mounts, Guy Harvey shirts by AFTCO, Froggs Toggs, Creek Company, Ocean Potion, Mason Line Co, Fins, BogaGrip, Hook & Tackle, The Xcap, Enrico Puglisi Flies, Temple Fork Outfitter Fly Rods. Photo credit Dr. Neal Rogers

[Marlinhunter2]

additional photos - courtesy of Sam Clapp

[Squidnation]

Congrats to the whole fleet for an outstanding tournament. I was getting realtime reports from the mates on the cellphones. That is some really close fishing. Zonder is one bad *** mate. Have had a blast fishing with him many times. I think Chico or maybe eddie said they had caught a fish as close as 1.5 miles. thats incredible

[teddyp]

Awesome post. Love it.