The idea of fishing competitions/tournaments is met with utter disdain not universally embraced by the fly fishing community… at least the trouting part of it anyway. In the salt, it seems there is a whole different attitude… one that includes lots of tournaments for lots of species, including bonefish.
I saw the results of the Redbone Deep Water Cay Celebrity Classic. I couldn’t find a list of folks that entered, or what makes them “celebrities,” maybe they don’t wear panties, I don’t know. Deep Water Cay is the uber-exclusive lodge/operation on the far, far end of Grand Bahama… actually, just off shore on their own cay… Deep Water Cay… they have their own airport.
I caught my first bonefish right behind Deep Water Cay, although I was with an independent guide. I don’t begin to have the the kind of obscene wealth resources it would take to have bought in at DWC.
The story can be found on the ESPN site here. The winner was Cal Collier Jr. who posted 22 fish over two days. Points were given for Permit too, but no one caught one (no one caught one the year before either). Sounds like he had to battle some difficult conditions (like a 57 degree morning and 20 mile per hour winds). He got 16 in the final day to end up on the podium (do they use podiums?). The guide was Cecil Leathen… can’t find too much about him. I’m guessing he should have won half of whatever was won if he’s like any of the many, many guides I know.
The biggest fish of the tournament went to David Collier (yes, related) with a 28.5 inch fish. Um… that is frigging massive, by the way… 12-13 pounds according to the chart I looked at. TWELVE PLUS POUNDS. I would have liked to have seen that fish.
- Nice location… not cheap.
