Sailfish Jump To New Records at Palm Beach
May 16, 2011
By Joe Richard, Assistant Editor
By Joe Richard, Assistant Editor
Anglers as far away as North Carolina are talking about the phenomenal catch
made last weekend in Palm Beach, Florida, where 958 sailfish were released during
the three day West Palm Beach Sailfish Derby, with 50 boats fishing.
This one is telling...there are a lot more below.
Florida Sportsman's Joe Richard and Matt Weinhaus just happened to be on
the winning boat,
Get Lit . Joe shot a great many photos for the upcoming sailfish book,
Sportsmans Best: Sailfish by Capt. George LaBonte, due out this spring. Matt
shot tons of video for the accompanying DVD that goes with the book.
It was non-stop action aboard Get Lit, and something like 47 sails were released the
while FS crew were on board. An obviously talented team of five anglers and
Get Lit's
captain, Ray Rosher of Miami, racked up 59 releases in three days. Ray was in the
tuna tower almost the entire day Saturday, with zero protection from the wind.
The tournament's last two days carried on during a terrific cold front,
with the Atlantic Ocean covered in "smoke" about two feet high.
Saturday morning saw temperatures of 42 degrees, with winds
howling at 30 knots. Raw weather, but the fish went wild. Kingfish
and dolphin were caught, along with one wahoo on another boat.
Almost all fish were caught within two to three miles of the beach, and the
wind fortunately held from WNW to NNW during the cold front---so the
coast did offer some protection.
FS