Sugarloaf Showdown Results, Current Conditions

On Saturday the Sugarloaf Showdown came to a close. This was the tournament’s third year, and there were 15 boats competing. The rules are designed to have both spin and fly fishing count toward each team’s total, with a points premium being placed on the fly-caught fish and a total number of species premium conferring a benefit on the spin fishing crowd. With that in mind Justin Rea guided Kyle Giampaoli took full advantage of the fly fishing premium by catching their barracuda and bonefish on fly, supplementing it on the first day with a permit on spin for a solid lead over the rest of the field that held through the end of the tournament. Will Benson and Zack Drazner took second place honors with all three on spin as well as some extras, and past champions Luke Kelly and Bo Carter rounded out the leaderboard with all three species but lost points total. Of note was John O’Hearn and his son Finn, who caught a total of five permit in two days.

The tournament was a great success, and the LKGA would like to thank everyone for competing and showing up for the silent auction. If you’re on the fence about fishing it next year, my sincere advice is to give it a shot. There’s a pile of great stuff in the silent auction, and the rules keep it fun and interesting for all types of fisherman.

In other news, the current conditions remain sunny and windy. with the permit fishing solid. We are in need of a cold front, which will kick the water wolves into a howl, but until that time the permit fishing is keeping everyone that doesn’t mind the wind happy.

My hope for a cold front will peak next week, at which point I’ll stop wanting one to show up for my trip with Steve and Chad in pursuit of the six.

nathaniel