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!

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See the O-Sea-D  Fishing Charters Florida

Pompano Beach Saltwater Circuit Showdown Results
POMPANO BEACH, FLORIDA, August 15, 2008

71 teams cleared the inlet on Saturday, August 10th in pursuit of victory in the championship leg of the Pompano Beach Saltwater Circuit, the 10th Annual Mercury/SeaVee Pompano Beach Saltwater Showdown.

Many teams were aware that the fishing in the local waters outside Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano Beach had been very productive all week leading up to the championship tournament. Several large wahoo, some blackfin tunas and numerous kings were caught in the area all week long. Despite that knowledge, many teams opted to make a run in search of better fish in other locations. However, it was the boats that stuck close to home that reaped the benefits of success in the 10th annual Showdown tournament.

After the 7am Bimini start the wake from the boats had not even settled by the time that Mike Selvanik and his Rush Rolloff fishing team had their first bite right outside Hillsboro Inlet and they knew it was a good fish. Thomas Sebastyen battled the fish for about an hour before they finally got a shot at the fish and sunk the gaff in what ended up being a 59.7 pound wahoo! The wahoo was caught on 20 pound test fishing a flat line pilchard with a 1/0 hook and #3 wire.

Sebastyen’s fish turned out to be the heaviest fish of the tournament and a new tournament record in the Saltwater Showdown. Unfortunately his team was not entered in the value added Bluewater Challenge or Big 3 categories, which would have earned them an additional $7,850.

The fish did however earn them a $1,000 bonus in the Sunshine Sportswear Let It Ride Category for the heaviest fish weighed in all 3 tournaments in the PBSC series. 2nd Place team from the previous tournament, team Crescent Solutions, scored the heaviest fish of the added value categories, a 33.19 pound Wahoo. That fish rounded out their season winnings to over $16,000.

The most exciting showdown in the Saltwater Showdown tournament took place in the prestigious Miller Lite Showdown Crown category for the top overall team in the entire PBSC series.

Heading into the Showdown, three time champs Native Son led Bill Niemann’s Off the Wall team by less than 7 pounds. Native Son’s strategy took them north to the waters off Jupiter. Niemann’s team stayed close to home and pounded the waters off Hillsboro Inlet. Both John Tight and his son Buddy Tight landed four kings, one blackfin tuna and one wahoo to deliver Capt. Niemann his first victory in a PBSC tournament as well as the prestigious Miller Lite Showdown Crown. Buddy Tight also captured the elite title as the top junior angler for the entire series.

Art Sapp’s team finished with 4 kings at 70.75 pounds and his father Lamar Sapp was the Master Angler in the PBSC series with 180.4 points for the season. Off the Wall turned in 121.38 points in the Showdown and a stellar 341.24 points for the season to bring their total earnings to $30,975. The 2nd and 3rd place spots in the 2008 Showdown were occupied by Makin’ Time 113.42 points and Get Sum with 101.79 points. Brian Sanders on team Get Sum was also the top male angler of the tournament catching two kings and a tuna for a total of 63.41 points.

Captain John Land’s Shade Maker fishing team made an offshore investment in all three legs of the PBSC, targeting dolphin in the Bionic Bait Show Me the Mahi division. Their efforts did not go unrewarded. Land’s team secured 1st place in the Bionic Bait division with a final tally of 125.69 points of dolphin for the season and a $5,000 paycheck. Land’s Yanmar sponsored team also made history by becoming the first team to catch the heaviest dolphin in all three legs of the PBSC. In second place, earning $2,500 was the No Vacansea team with 63.59 points and Get Sum in third earning $1,500 with a 24.48 pound dolphin.

The grand finale of the Saltwater Showdown tournament took place on Sunday, August 10th around 4pm. The Pompano Beach Civic Center, host venue for the tournament series, was filled with people anxiously awaiting to see who would be the ultimate winner of the brand new Mercury powered 29’ SeaVee boat. In the end, it was Ashley Maloney of Lighthouse Point, FL who was the big winner for 2008. Ashley’s Shutter Up fishing team received a ticket for the boat drawing with their $325 entry into the Showdown championship tournament. $325 entry = $132,000 boat! Congratulations to Ashley. The results of the drawing and all finalists are available online at www.bluewatermovements.com

The next event in the lineup for the production team of the PBSC is the ABC/World Diamond Source Billfish Challenge on February 21, 2009.

2008 Saltwater Showdown Results
Top Teams:
1st Off the Wall 121.38 pts $7,500
2nd Makin Time 113.42 pts $3,250
3rd Get Sum 101.77 pts $2,000
4th Conched Out 95.29 pts $1,500
5th Shock Wave 86.55 pts $1,250
6th Spiced Rum 84.87 pts $1,000
7th Alli Cat 80.51 pts $900
8th Reel Circus 79.90 pts $800
9th Pop a Top 78.11 pts $700
10th Pumpkin Eater 77.03 pts $600

Top Anglers:
Male Brian Sanders/Get Sum 63.41 pts
Female Nancy Diaz/High Gear 37.31 pts
Junior Buddy Tight/Off the Wall 62.53 pts
PeeWee Anthony Moore/Ice Box 40.55 pts

Heaviest Fish:
Dolphin Ray Cabrera/Shade Maker 25.81 pts
Kingfish Francis Santos/Shock Wave 32.88 pts
Tuna Ashley D’ellena 28.55 pts
Cobia none caught
Wahoo Thomas Sebastyen 59.70 pts
Novice Division:
Top Team Long Hours 76.55 pts
Top Family:
Off the Wall 121.38 pts
Showdown Crown Standings:
Top Team Off the Wall 341.24 pts
2nd Place Native Son 297.24 pts
3rd Place Get Sum 265.4 pts

Sunshine Sportswear Let It Ride Standings
Heaviest Fish Overall: Rush Rolloff 59.7 lb Wahoo
2nd Heaviest Fish:  Chip’s Ahoy 51.4 lb Wahoo
3rd Heaviest Fish:  Kimbuktu 51.23 lb King

Show Me the Mahi:
1st Place Shade Maker 125.69 pts
2nd Place No Vacansea 63.59 pts
3rd Place Get Sum 24.48 pts

Top Season Winnings:
Off the Wall $30,975
Chip’s Ahoy $19,850
Native Son $19,610
Living Water $17,215
Crescent Solutions $16,330
Diversification $16,100

Total Season Payouts:   Over $204,120!!!!

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This was going to be one sword trip none of us would ever forget. Saturday afternoon, Pushbutton2 called and had a spot on a friend of ours Conch to head out swording. It was the two of us, Sean and a friend of his Eric. We left Hillsboro around 6:00pm and got out a little early.
While waiting for it to get dark, Sean put out a single feather and started to troll south at about 5mph. In less than two minutes, the rod bend over and my immediate reaction was, ” you’ve got to be kidding?” A nice 20lb dolphin starts jumping behind the boat. No followers but still pretty damn lucky. A good omen for the night maybe?
We got set up with the usual spread and started our drift. Nothing happened at all, very slow. At 11:10pm our night changed. The 300′ double hooked squid started singing and we were tight. Eric had never caught a sword so we had our winder, er angler. He was in the harness in a second and away we went. The fish never jumped or came to the surface, just dogged it out down low for awhile after dumping more than 2/3’s of the 80W. The drag was on the lighter side to start but after a few hours it started to get pushed up. This was a continuing theme of the night. I started thinking shark because of the way it fought but you never know so the fight continued. Not really sure when but at least 3-4 hours into it with Eric still on the fish, we started to gain, slowly, a crank at a time. Finally, up comes the double line, then the wind on shows. I can see the LP down low and the fish is still swimming strong, heading east as she had been doing the entire fight. I’m in the bow with the harpoon waiting for the shot. He gets 3-4 wraps of the wind on on the reel and all of a sudden up she shoots, launching herself 3/4 of the way out of the water. 30′ from the boat she explodes. All I remember was the huge bill pointing to the sky and the biggest set of shoulders I have ever seen. She grey hounded away from the boat in a shot I’ll remember the rest of my life. The only thing I could say was ” Holy Sh#@!!!” All of us were speechless.

It was confirmed, we had a sword and it was a monster. Several hundred yards later and we were back to the fight. After 5 and 1/2 hours, Eric was whipped and the fish was showing absolutely no signs of weakening at all. It’s now 4:45am and Todd puts on the harness and takes over. I’m thinking, ok, fresh angler, 5 plus hours of heavy pressure, we’ll get her soon. If the hook set wasn’t any good it would have pulled by now, we have two stainless 7691’s in her, an 80W with a mile of line and lot’s of experience in the boat, just wait till we get the shot, and she is coming home with us. Todd gets the wind on on the reel three more times in the next couple of hours but we never got her closer than 30′ and never saw her. Each time it was 45minutes of solid work to get her close then she takes off like nothing. Lifting the rod with each pump was like trying to lift a manhole cover with an ultralight, the sheer weight was enormous.

By this time we had drifted well north of where we hooked up, around the 26.10/79.50. Daylight is starting to show and I started thinking about what my wife was thinking when I never came home that night, I’m sure it wasn’t “Oh, they’re just fishing, probably got a big one on, he’ll call whenever” Probably more like death and disfigurement. I figured we were probably off Palm Beach by now and could try and get someone on the radio who could possible make a cell call or a relay. After 30 minutes of not getting a response, the Radio crackles “This is the U.S. Coast Guard for vessel Pushbutton2″ I was able to relay our position to them and they called her so she new the worst hadn’t happened. The CG operator kept asking when the voyage would end and we would be expected back. I kept trying to tell him we had no idea but he wanted a response. ” When we land her” was all I could think of. Whew, now back to the fish.
Todd on the fish as daylight starts to break.

Todd Richards

Just before daybreak, Todd hands off to Sean which I’m thinking means only one thing, gulp, I’m next. Those of you who know me know how much I love to be on the rod. Sean has alot of experience as well so I’m thinking “this fish is in trouble”, all this time she has to be getting tired, we obviously have a good hook set and the gear is up to the task, we’ll get her up again. What a joke. He is fighting her and can barely lift her as well. After an hour of not gaining anything, he puts the rod in the holder and we apply maximum pressure. Not sure how much drag was on but it was well past 45lbs. We tried running in circles, we tried backing down, we tried everything. This fish would not come to the surface for anything.
Sean putting some serious heat on

A little after dawn, I started thinking that she may have died and we were not going to be able to get her up, so we started planing her up, which was working. Slowly but surely we would gain some line planing her. When we got to about the 300′ mark, she burned off another 100yds or so. I’m pretty sure dead fish don’t take drag like that. This kept on for another few hours.
A helpless feeling

Finally, at 10:30am, after almost 11 1/2 hours, we decided to do the only thing we hadn’t tried, lock up the drag and see if she comes up. I know she wasn’t dead because she was still making runs as late as 10:20am. We locked up the 80W and slowly came to a stop. She kept taking line a few inches at a time until it finally broke off at the reel. I expected to feel really upset and disappointed but didn’t really feel that at all. The better player won. We gave it everything we had and she was better than us. It was just not her time. I have seen some amazing things on the water and this will be one of the most incredible things I’ve seen. I’ve been swordfishing for almost 7 years and never had I dealt with anything like this. My biggest has been 250lbs and that was a 4 hour fight on a 50. There was never, in 11 1/2 hours one time when I felt like we were in control. That fish did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to and there wasn’t a damn thing any of us could do about it.
So, how big was she?? We were very fortunate to get a good look at her up close. When she jumped next to the boat, we could all tell she was huge, but how big? No way to say for sure. I know she made my 250lb’er look like a rat. We ended up about 10 miles North of Palm Beach and about 20 miles offshore.

Fortunately, we had enough fuel to get home, almost a two hour run. What did I learn from this?
1. a few bags of chips don’t make dinner, breakfast and lunch
2. give a little more information to my wife about where I am and who I’m with
3. 50TLD’s with 80lb power pro are fine for 90% of the fish out there but when the one comes along, forget it. You can’t have a big enough rod/reel.
4. Some fish just can’t be caught
5. you never know if that next bite is going to be a rat or the one, that’s what makes swordfishing so great for me.
6. anybody want to go swording tonight?

Written by: Dpdash