In case you didn’t already know, saltwater fly fishing here in South Florida is a contact sport! And our latest film, SLAM, will let you feel it about as much as you’d feel a whack in the face! Filmed in our back yards here in Key West, the Everglades, and the Bahamas during the 2009 season, SLAM focuses on all the major species we target: tarpon, bonefish, permit, redfish, and snook. This film portrays the most important aspects of saltwater fly fishing. Beginning with what it looks like when you first see them coming in, to the adrenaline rush you feel when you hook up, to the heartbreak of watching them get away, and finally, the joy of releasing them to swim free. There’s no waxing poetic about the meaning of it all, we’ll let you figure that out for yourself — we just bring the goods and showcase the coolest fish in the world. We don’t have a big budget, or even a helicopter, just an incredible natural resource and a passion for what we do. For all of you out there that get it, and want more, WorldANGLING gives you SLAM!

Showing at the Drake Magazine video awards, 8:00PM September 10, 2009 at Cervantes Ballroom, 2637 Welton St. Denver, CO. Admission is free, and so is the beer. If you can’t make it to Denver, check out worldangling.com at 22:00 EST for the web release.

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The Ninth Annual Tournament, held in honor of the late Del Brown, came down to the wire as Justin Rea, angler Greg Vincent, Mike Allen and I [Will Benson] battled it out atop the leader board. With near perfect conditions on day one, Mike and I went four for seven to take an early lead. Rea and Vincent were one of many teams to post one fish after the first day. Day two saw the winds die and the attitude of the fish change. While Mike and I remained confident that our score from day one would sustain through day two, we concentrated on catching a big fish worth 250 points. We did manage to catch a nice fish, which was not quite big enough to score the 250pts, but we remained comfortable with our strategy given our three fish advantage from day one.

Then came the shocker! Day two saw yet another round of teams catch one fish with the big exception of Rea and Vincent who posted a whopping five fish to take the overall lead by one fish worth 100 points. Mike and I clearly had our work cut out for us the following day if we wanted to earn the Grand Champion title. With almost identical conditions as day two, we set out to do what we do best…whack permit! By 9:13 we were back in first place, having caught a fish worth 150 points. Needless to say, we were pumped. We did what we absolutely had to do, and now we just had to hope we could eek it out. Although we found fish and had shots, it wasn’t meant to be. Rea and Vincent also caught one fish worth 150 points to preserve their lead and claim the title. As we shook hands and congratulated each other on an excellent competition, Justin told me how his day two score came together with five fish caught on five different flats. My hat goes of to him and Greg on this point. That is simply good guiding and good angling hands down.

In the end it was truly a great tournament. Such a dramatic finish between two rival Sugarloaf guides is just cool. Congrats Justin and Greg on a great victory. Mike and I look forward to next year’s tourney and the opportunity to challenge you guys for the highly-coveted 10th annual champion title.

W

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If ever there was a school for permit fishing, and Permit 101 was the first course, the first thing they would teach you about is a man named Del Brown. Del Brown caught the most permit in the world: 513. It took him about 25 years fishing 100 plus days a year. The next thing they would teach you is, if you think you will ever catch that many, you are crazy. The truth is… most of you students will never pass this class. It takes a near total devotion to the pursuit, at least $100,000, tremendous skill, and a weird kind of patience. And that’s just the first hundred! Imagine what it would take to beat Del’s record. For most people Permit fishing is an elective or a class we stumble into looking for something else. Kind of like philosophy, no one actually majors in it. Except Mike Allen…

On monday Mike Allen actually passed Permit 101! We caught number 100 (thankfully not a little rat) in the afternoon and then quickly made sure we wouldn’t get stuck there by catching number 101. We celebrated with some champagne, then finished the flat. Congrats Mike! Keep throwing those pies and catching fish. You never know what might happen.

W

P.S. Does anyone know who might be in second, third, fourth? … Not that it matters.

From the: World Angling Blog