Marina Jack

Jon Cannon, BJ Grant and Blake Trace hold up their catch from the Sarasota Slam in 2009.

SARASOTA – The 2011 Sarasota Slam Fishing Tournament will kick off on August 2, with the final weigh-ins on August 6.  All events will take place at Marina Jack's, in beautiful downtown Sarasota.  

The Sarasota Slam is a premier stop on the West Coast of Florida for the World Billfish Series.  The tournament has three divisions: billfish, inshore and offshore.  The species of fish caught will include blue and white marlin, swordfish, mahi, wahoo, tuna, amberjack, grouper, snapper, redfish and trout.  Last year’s winner of the billfish division took home over $20,000!

Events begin on Tuesday with a Kickoff Party.  Then the billfish division boats leave port at noon on Wednesday and head out into the Gulf of Mexico, some as far as 200 miles west.  There is a Texas Hold’em poker tournament on Thursday evening, with the grand prize being $1,000 towards a vacation of the winner’s choice and Friday will be the captains meeting for the inshore and offshore division.  The four-day tournament concludes on Saturday with the weigh in at tournament headquarters, Marina Jack, where there will be a festival atmosphere on the docks as the captains weigh their catch.

”The waters off the Coast of Sarasota County contain some of the best fisheries in the world.  This tournament allows us to showcase that asset to fisherman from across the country, and it highlights that we are a tourism-fishing destination.  Some of the best captains in the world dock their boats in Sarasota County,“ states Jason Puckett, Director of Sports for the Sarasota County Sports Commission, an organization sponsoring the event. 

Each year the Sarasota Slam fishing committee selects a charity.  The unanimous choice this year is Homes for Our Troops, in particular the home being built for US Army SSG Juan Roldan in Parrish, Florida. SSG Roldan was severely wounded in Iraq and lost both legs.  The 2011 Sarasota Slam’s donation from the tournament, along with contributions from the HBA Manatee-Sarasota members is supporting this build for SSG Roldan.   

Members are contributing labor, materials, services and equipment with the hope of bringing this project to completion.  The event Sarasota Slam also donates fish caught to those in need.  TJ Nutter, President of John Cannon Homes and founder of the Sarasota Slam, stated, ”Last year at the Slam, the anglers donated over 1,000 pounds of fish to the Salvation Army of Bradenton and Sarasota.“

For more information and pictures, please contact Kelly Boeve with the HBA at kelly@hbamanatee-sarasota.org or visit www.sarasotaslam.com.