Salty Fly 2013 official tournament resuts

Lefty Kreh once said “..now..we fish for Islamorada bone fish to practice for Tampa bay red fish..”

Tampa bay is consider by many as the toughest place to catch a redfish on fly. It seem quite appropriate that the largest saltwater fly fishing event in the US is held right here in Tampa Bay.

The Salty Fly 2013 presented by Hell’s Bay Boat works had a full roster of 80 teams that sold out in 41 minutes of open registrations. We had a waiting list of 45 teams that did not make it on the roster this year.

We had anglers who traveled to the Salty Fly from the Cocoa Beach, Miami, Jacksonville, and the Florida Keys. Out of state participants came from Texas, Georgia, Massachusetts and as far away as Oregon. We had fly anglers from beginners to seasoned veterans competing for the gold. Factory reps and sponsors were also present to do a some networking as well as having some fun getting some fishing time in.

The three months of anticipation concluded at Little Harbor resort on Saturday Feb 23rd 2013.

If the tough spooky Tampa red fish wasn’t enough to contend with, the anglers battle cloudy skies, and 15 mph winds for the first part of the morning. In the afternoon the skies cleared up allowing for some sight fishing finally.

When it was all said and done, the size of the fish this year were bigger than ever. The winning total of two red fish one trout by Team Slayer, Chris Cenci and Cody Chivas came out to 82.5 inches. This won them cash and prizes but mostly bragging rights for the being the top dog of the biggest saltwater fly tournament in existence.

The runner up team of Conch Republic made up of Fred Hannon and Justin Cauffman hit a respectable 73″ mark. Rounding out third is team Carbon Marine with Joe Welbourn and Dave Preston with 71.25″.

Congrats to all the teams and especially our sponsors for making it all happen. 2014 the roster opens to 100 teams and promise be bigger and better than ever. Mark it on your calendar Feb 21st to the 23rd 2014.