When the Key West S.L.A.M. Tournament began, the rules stated that if a team got a slam, they won. Well, over the years, the bar has been raised higher and higher by the new generation of flats guides on the water. Guides like Mark Krowka, Tim Hoover, Rick Murphy, David Denkert and others  have proven that not only is a slam possible, but more than one slam could be caught. In the history of the events, no one has ever caught more than 2 slams to win a Grand Slam title.
This year, with the weather cooperating nicely, historic catches were made to raise the bar to a height unimaginable even 5 years ago.

With Mitch Howell and his Father, we left Little Palm at 7 am on August 15 venturing out onto an ocean that resembled an oil slick rather than a moving body of water. There was not a ripple on the water all day. Mitch hooked 4 tarpon and landed 2 of them. In the final seconds of the day, we landed an 8-pound bonefish to complete a 2 specie combination and set us up for multiple slams the next day.
When we returned to the scoreboard, Mark Krowka and Dan Zicari had a great day of fishing accomplishing a slam and also getting second angler, Kal Blumberg a 2 specie combination. Tim Hoover and Jim Bokor landed 5 bonefish on bait and 1 tarpon to be in second place while Doug Kilpatrick had 2 tarpon on fly and 3 bonefish with angler Julian Robertson.

The next day, Mitch and I headed another direction with the goal of getting 2 permit and a bonefish to complete our 2 slams. I thought that 2 slams would be a great score and that we might be able to even exceed our hopes for the day. Mitch caught 5 bonefish on jigs but 3 were under the tournament size limit so we were only able to record 2 of them. We now only needed 2 permit and it was only 10 am. The permit fishing proved difficult at best even though the area we fished had been producing many multiple fish catches. We persevered and with an hour left on the tournament clock, found a few tailing permit. Mitch made a great cast and hooked our much needed permit to complete our first slam. I motored after the fish in order to keep all sharks from attacking it. What happened next was both scary and unexpected. From out of nowhere, a 15-foot hammerhead shark swam at maximum speed right at Mitch. At the last second, it veered to the permit and attacked it. Spirits dropped to dismal levels as we watched a 2-minute attack on our fish. I have never seen a permit attacked by a hammerhead in all my days on the flats. August is not a month I can ever remember even seeing a hammerhead. Only on tournament day!

We rerigged and poled back onto the flat. Another permit was tailing and this time Mitch landed the fish in shallow water.
We had about 7 minutes left and poled back up to the flat to try to catch another permit. With only 4 minutes left, Mitch hooked a permit on bait that ran off 50 feet of line and dropped the crab. It was disappointing but the clock showed that time was out. We packed up and headed back to the tournament location.

Upon return, I learned that we were in fair position. The surprising thing was that we looked to be in 3rd place. Mark Krowka and Dan Zicari completed a tournament record of 3 slams and the team of Hoover/Bokor had completed staggering 4 slams to win.

With our artificial points, Mitch won the Spin/Plug division and came in 3rd place overall. Scott Fly Rod Pro, Doug Kilpatrick and Julian Robertson won the Fly division while Krowka, Zicari and Blumberg won the team division as well as Grand Champion Runner-up. Hoover/Bokor deservingly took the rest of the awards for their spectacular catches.

This year proved that the bar could be raised higher than expected. For my part, I am simply honored to be a part of a tournament where the competition climbs to these world-class levels. The competitors all showed class and skill as they recorded 2 historical tournament records.