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……… Owl’s Nest prevails with 14 sailfish
Awesome job Matty and the crew of Owls Nest!
Congrats to all... Always plenty of heavy hitters in the top!
Miami Florida, March 17, 2008……… Owl’s Nest prevails with 14 sailfishreleases in incredible finish.
Twenty eight boats hosted by Miami Beach Marina went head to head for two days March 15 and 16, in the second leg event of the $30 Contender Boats’ Libertad Challenge, contesting for the win and over 160 thousand dollars in this CARBON NEUTRAL fishing tournament. Day one dawned with a light south west wind and expected high temperatures of 90 degrees. Not
quite perfect sailfish conditions. Much to everyone’s surprise, the first sailfish
release was called in at 8:04 by Rudy Espinosa fishing on the Rock Star. The fleet averaged a release every two minutes for the next two hours and when the smoke cleared the Owl’s Nest was on top of the leader board followed by Fish Tales, Advanced Roofing, Weez in the Keys, 4 Aces, Sandman, Get Lit, and Qualifier. The Owl’s Nest was able to stay on top throughout the day with 10 releases, while the fleet registered a respectable 146 releases
\ for an average of 5 sailfish per boat. In second for the day was Fish Tails 9), followed by Sandman (8), Weez in the Keys (8), Advanced Roofing (8) and Miss Costa (8).
The Second day was just like the first, with a light west wind and temperatures expected at a record setting 90plus degrees. The smallest boat in the fleet, 25 foot Island Girl, released the first fish at 8:06 and with 44 fish letgo in the first two hours, it looked like the previous days results would be repeated. However, that was not to be.
As the fishing slowed, Owl’s Nest lost the lead to Fish Tales posting four releases in the morning. Qualifier released a triple that tied them for the lead and with only an hour to go, there were seven boats with 13 fish apiece. Fish Tales continued to hold the lead even though they didn’t get a fish in the afternoon. With only 45 minutes left, Owl’s Nest released another to give them sole possession of first place, placing the other six boats at a disadvantage as they would need to catch two more fish overtake the leader.
Coming to the wire with one fish able to make a difference of tens of thousands of dollars for the six boats tied for second, Miss Costa hooked a fish only 3 minutes before lines out. Fish Tales second place finish would evaporate should this fish be released. It was to be as Miss Costa, releasing the fish 18 minutes after lines out, dropping Fish Tales to third. The fleet headed back to the marina, after releasing 98 fish on the day, to a dock party hosted by Contender Boats and featuring ice cold beers and an incredible spread from Texas De Brazil Churrascaria. Catch cards and digital photos were checked by the tournament committee and the winners polygraphed. At 5 pm tournament director Captain Dan Kipnis presented award checks totaling more than 160 thousand dollars andtrophies to eleven different winners.
Defying the elements and proving that they are truly Billfish Masters, the 28crews, anglers and boats showed why south Florida’s billfishermen are truly the best in the world. The Billfish Masters offset 90.5 tons of CO2 with AgCert’s DrivingGreen program, helping to recapture methane from dairy farms to make clean Americanproduced electricity.
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