The 2009 Mercury/SeaVee Pompano Beach Saltwater Showdown wrapped up in championship fashion on August 9th. 76 of the best teams in competitive fishing were greeted by remarkably good fishing conditions in the tournament, including a moderate breeze out of the east.

Once again, this Pompano based tournament proved that success is not contingent upon long runs. The majority of the top ten leader board was occupied by teams that fished within sight of the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse. At the top of that leader board was the Native Son fishing team. Art Sapp and his teammates decided to fish the Deerfield Beach area in search of Wahoo and their tournament limit of 4 Kings. By 8:10am Sapp’s crew had an 80.32lb Wahoo in the box that would eventually seal their fate as top team in the 2009 Showdown and top overall team for the 2009 season with a record breaking 413.26 pts. 147.81 of those points came in the final leg of the Showdown championship. The Wahoo also set a new record as the heaviest fish ever weighed in the Showdown. The heaviest fish of the series, a 96lb Wahoo, still belongs to the Advanced Roofing fishing team.

None of the teams in the 76 boat field were able to bring a weighable (10 lb) Dolphin, Wahoo & Kingfish to the scale in pursuit of the $37,300 purse up for grabs in the Kay Dee Dubya Jackpot. The pot will now roll over into the 2010 Shootout where it is expected to exceed $50,000. Todd Richards and his O-Sea-D fishing team came the closest to collecting the KDW cash. His team caught all three species, but their Dolphin came up short on the scale at 9.77lbs! Rumor has it, they also pulled off a Dolphin around 40lbs within 10 feet of the boat. Total payouts for the Showdown exceeded $60,000. For a complete list of results click here.

August 9, 2009 will be forever etched in the mind of Ron Pangburn from Lighthouse Point, FL. Around 4pm Ron received an unexpected call to let him know he held the winning ticket (#2148) for a brand new 29′ SeaVee boat powered with twin 225HP Mercury engines. Congratulations Ron! SOUP du Jour

The tournament catch of a lifetime took place in the Saltwater Showdown for the Native Son team. They are the winners of our Soup du Jour feature in the August edition of FishHead Soup. This dinosaur has been roaming the open ocean for many years….that is until she met the mighty hook of the Native Son.

The fish smashed all previous big fish records in the Showdown tipping the scales at 80.32 pounds. Lamar Sapp, father of Captain Art Sapp, dubbed the fish as the catch of his lifetime in tournaments. “I’ve been fishing tournaments for 55 years and this is by far the best catch I’ve ever been a part of,” said Sapp Sr. Congratulations to the entire Native Son crew. Soak it all in boys….heck of a catch!