Monday at 7 a.m. sharp, 32 skiffs with teamed anglers and guides will blast onto the Florida Bay waters in the Florida Keys for the start of the eighth annual IGFA Inshore World Championship (IWC), June 29 - July 2, sport fishing's premier international fly and light tackle tournament.
The champion anglers, winners of International Game Fish Association qualifying tournaments held across the U.S. and across the globe, are coming from as far away as Ornskoldsvik, Sweden; Murchison Falls in Uganda, Africa and the Daly River of Northern Territory, Australia to compete.
The fly and light-tackle event has been dubbed the "super bowl" of inshore fishing. The catch-and-release format features anglers stalking the Florida Bay, and Atlantic coastal waters for bonefish, tarpon, permit, snook and redfish.
The 26 men and six women gained entry as winners in one of over 55 fly and light tackle tournaments during 2007 held in eight countries around the world and in 12 U.S. states. They represent nearly 3,000 anglers on four continents and were invited to compete in the "tournament of champions" event.
"This prestigious tournament attracts some of the finest men and women fly and light tackle anglers to gather and compete in one of the highest rated fishing regions in the world with top rated guides," said Ms. Denise Hartman, IGFA tournament coordinator.
Fifteen of the champions are first-time invitees to the tournament.
"The field also includes a father and son (Calvin and Cal Collier Jr. of Lake Forest, Ill., and Atlanta, Ga.) and two brothers (Jim and Art Bokor, from Tavernier, Fla. and Robbinsville, N.J.) all who have won separate events to get here. We also have two-time NASA space shuttle astronaut and avid fisherman Bruce Melnick (Inglis, Fla.) and former NFL Denver Bronco lineman Mark Cooper, (Aurora, Colo.) entered."
Fresh from another win as members of a five-man team to take a victory in the IGFA Offshore World Championship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in mid-May, are local Keys' competitors John Timura and Robert Collins, who out fished 63 teams from 27 countries.
"Collins is also a two-time and current defending champion of the IWC," she added.
Anglers will participate Sunday night in a captain's draw matching a different guide and angler each day. The IWC features three days of fishing with the contestants vying for timepieces. The four major award categories include: Grand Champion (the angler who accumulates the most points for all five targeted species); and first places in the fly, artificial lure and bait casting divisions. Second and third place divisional winners in the three categories will win trophies and merchandise as will the top three guides.
The point value of the fish is determined by species and the angler's preference choice of fly fishing, artificial lure or bait.
"Some anglers will use one fishing approach or all three over the three days," said tournament director Mike Myatt. "With so many different fishing disciplines represented by the qualifying champions, this format levels the on-the-water playing field. Within moments of the captain's draw and right up to the final day of competition the anglers are strategizing and playing mind games."
Fishing and daily scorekeeping take place from the World Wide Sportsman marina and the Islander Resort serves as the tournament headquarters. Both are located near mile marker 82.
Sponsors this year include Mercury Outboards, Bacardi, Costa Del Mar, G. Loomis, Hook and Tackle, Islamorada Fish Co., Islander Resort, King Sailfish Mounts, Rapala, Shimano, Stiffy Push Poles, 3M Scientific Anglers, Reel Life Art by Pasta, World Wide Sportsman, Zane Grey Lounge, KD & G Sea Life Masterpieces, Redbone Gallery, Image Graphics 2000, Momoi, Diamond Illusion and Daiichi.
Results of the IGFA IWC along with photos of the previous day's round will be posted each morning on the IGFA's home page at igfa.org.
