The captain’s meeting was held at Lansdowne Street Pub in Bonita Springs. After the late registrations were completed, Tournament Director Bob Bramblet went over the event rules. Shortly thereafter, the signal cannon was fired marking the beginning of competition, and most of the anglers ran for the doors to get to their favorite spots first. Many stayed out all night looking for those monster nighttime snook until the weigh in the next day.

Anglers submitted their catch and release photos to Tournament Co-Director and Photo Judge Jim VanPelt during the Saturday weigh in at Lansdowne Street. The majority of anglers caught fish, and only a couple of inches kept many of them out of the Top Five. After submitting their photos, anglers enjoyed great food courtesy of Lansdowne Street and listened to the Michael King Band as they played music from their newest CD.

In the end, five anglers rose above the rest to place. In fifth place, Preston Haytac represented Team Kaku Kayaks with his 69” slam. Doug Shallamoser, always a force to be reckoned with, came in fourth and won $250 cash. Third place and $500 were earned by Bill Fazio with a 71.25” slam. Jared Tetreault won the second place Kaku fishing kayak with a 72.75” slam. Leading the pack with an incredible 80.75” of fish was Jerry Burdine, the winner of a new Hobie Outback. Jerry is from Ft. Lauderdale and fished the Tarpon Bay area of Sanibel. He said he researched the area well before coming over to fish. That explains how he distanced himself from the rest of the field.

Congratulations to Jerry and all the rest of the anglers at this year’s event. See you all next year!