15th Annual Islamorada SailFly Championship Results

Fly anglers gathered in Florida on January 7-8 for the 15^th Annual Islamorada SailFly Championship. Scott Lund and Justin Maker aboard Captain Alex Adler’s Kalex took home first place in the fly-only championship.

Read more in the press release below.

Alex Adler’s Kalex with Scott Lund and Justin Baker take the 15th Annual Islamorada SailFly Championship

On January 7 & 8 group of devoted and talented flyrod anglers gathered for two days of sailfishing in the 15th Annual Islamorada SailFly Championship. This competition allows only fly fishing according to the International Game Fish Association rules using 8 kg (16 pound) tippet supplied by the tournament. Sailfish are raised to the surface with hookless teasers which are pulled from the water when the fly is cast from an out of gear boat. A 50 point release is accomplished when the connection of fly line to leader is brought into the tip top of the fly rod. Leaders must be less than 12 feet in length. If the fish is later billed and the fly retrieved, the release counts for 150 points.

On Wednesday calm winds and warm temperature prevailed making sailfish both lethargic and hard to come by. Some fish were raised by most of the teams but there were no takers. Quite a few wahoo were raised in the unseasonable warm weather.

Thursday morning dawned to a different scenario. Blustery North winds at 25 miles an hour and confused 4 to 6 foot seas set the stage for prime sailfishing conditions. Teams began to raise fish but no hookups until Scott Lund on Captain Alex Adler’s Kalex stuck a sail solidly. They removed the fly and released the first fish of the 2015 SailFly at 12:15pm. Less than an hour later Tim Klein on Gotcha hooked up to land and release the second fish of the tournament. Many other sails were raised and teased, but extreme conditions prevented putting the magic fly fishing hookup moment together giving Kalex the Championship based on time of catch.

On Thursday Steven Pfeifer aboard MDLA with Captain Dave Vinson landed a cobia to take Best Other Fish honors. Dianne Harbaugh hooked a wahoo on fly Wednesday aboard Chrisma with Captain Chris Dillon, but the fish severed the shock tippet after a short time. Dianne is the world’s first woman to have ever landed a blue marlin on fly rod and very few wahoo have ever been landed on fly by any angler.

Tournament Director, Sandy Moret said “This may be the most difficult sailfish tournament in the Keys! Atlantic Sailfish are much more bashful than their Pacific cousins about accepting a fly after teasing with live bait. The first year we had 14 teams with no sailfish landed, but the sheer excitement and challenge keep us all coming back for more.”

The tournament anglers also raised funds for a donation to benefit the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust which provides leadership in developing research on those iconic fly rod gamefish species.

The Islamorada Sailfly Championship is sponsored by Florida Keys Outfitters, Rich Products Corporation, The Green Turtle Inn, Green Turtle Wine & Spirits, Craig Reagor of Riverwood Art Farms, Kaiyo’s Restaurant, Pasta Pantaleo’s Signature Gallery, The Islander Resort Guy Harvey Resort, Bacardi Oakheart and Print Source of the Keys.

For additional information contact Sandy Moret @ (305) 664-5423 or [email protected]

Florida Keys Outfitters
Box 603
Islamorada, FL
33036
www.floridakeysoutfitters.com
Phone: (305) 664-5423
Fax: (305) 664-5501