Greetings from Casa Vieja Lodge, Guatemala:
January 13, 2011, the third and final day of the tournament produced another spectacular day of fly fishing for sailfish, with the 5 boats (teams), releasing a total of 33 sailfish caught on 20 pound class tippet on fly. The total for this tournament is 128 sailfish and one blue marlin caught on fly during the 3 day tournament. That is an amazing average of 8.5 sailfish released per boat per day. In this tournament the anglers managed to get the hooks and fly back without breaking the tippet from 86 of the 128 sailfish caught in this tournament. The anglers in this three day tournament managed to catch and release close to 70 percent of their bites these are incredible percentages. I have never heard of any billfish fly tournament with numbers like these, only in Guatemala! The final tournament results are as follows:
Rum Line:
Captain Chris Sheeder,
Danny Cline, Day 1, 950 points, Day 2, 700 points, Day 3, 400 points, (2050)
Don Butler, day 1, 800 points, Day 2, 650 points, Day 3, 450 points, (1900)
Total team points = 3950 (Tournament Champion)
Intensity:
Captain Mike Sheeder
Lucien LaFond, Day 1, 1050 points, Day 2, 600 points, Day 3, 400 points, (2050)
Tony Weaver, Day 1, 700 points, Day 2, 450 points, Day 3, 550 points, (1700)
Total team points = 3750 (Second Place Team,) (Most Sailfish Released)
Lucien LaFond = Second Total point Angler
Makaira:
Captain Jason Brice
George Maybee, Day 1, 900 points, Day 2, 650 points, Day 3, 1050 points, (2600)
Sharon Maybee, Day 1, 500 points, Day 2, points, Day 3, 0 points, (950)
Total team points = 3550 (3rd place Team) George Maybe = Total point Angler
Old Reliable:
Nick Smith, Day 1, 600 points, Day 2, 450 points, Day 3, 750 points, (1800)
Mike Smith, Day 1, 300 points, Day 2, 600 points, Day 3, 700 points, (1600)
Total team points = 3400
Decisive:
Joe O’brien, Day 1, 900 points, Day 2, 350 points, Day 3, 0 points, (1250) (first fish)
Scott Lund, Day 1, 900 points, Day 2, 300 points, Day 3, 0, points, (1200)
Total team points = 2450
Tournament Champions, L to R (top row), Jake Jordan, Danny Cline, Don Butler, Captain Chris Sheeder, Antonio Valdez, (bottom row) Mates, Ricardo de Leon, Zonder Melendrez
Second Place Team, Most Sailfish, Intensity, (L to R) Jake Jordan, Lucien Lafond, Tony Weaver, Chris Sheeder (accepting for Captain Mike Sheeder), Antonio Valdez
Third Place Team, Makaira, (L to R) Jake Jordan, Captain Jason Brice, Sharon Maybee, George Maybee, Antonio Valdez
Top Point Angler, George Maybee, Makaira
Second top point angler, Lucien LaFond
Points in the “Jake Jordan, Invitational, Sailfish Fly Challenge”are accrued at 100 points for winding the leader through the tip top of the fly rod. If you fight that fish until the mate gets the fly back without breaking the class tippet, that fish gets 50 bonus points. Any Marlin caught and released equals 500 points. In my opinion the top fly anglers, with the top captains, mates and boats in the world, who fly fish for billfish participated in this event to produce the best scores ever in a fly fishing for billfish tournament. Next year the dates for the third annual “Jake Jordan, Invitational sailfish fly Challenge” are January 10, 11, 12, 2012, with a practice day available on January 9, 2012. Contact Jake Jordan if you would like an invitation to be part of the 10 team limit next year.
I would like to thank the 10 anglers who fished in this event, along with our sponsors for helping make this event possible. Casa Vieja Lodge, Temple Fork Outfitters (TFO Rods), Mako Fly Reels (Jack Charlton), Cam Sigler Company (Flies), RIO Products (Fly Lines), Habervision (Sun Glasses), The Fly Fishing Show, Coastal Carolina Fishing Report are all tournament sponsors. Thank you all for your continuing support for my tournament and for the great products which you supply for our industry. Also thank you to Antonio Valdez and his Casa Vieja Lodge staff for the world class hospitality and service at our event. If you need high resolution pictures please E-mail to me and I will send them to you.
Capt. Jake Jordan
Tournament Director