Outdoors

Daily fishing report

By DAVID A. BROWN
Published August 21, 2006

Chris Galati led the Anna Maria-based Team Galati to top honors Sunday in the 35th annual Old Salt Loop Tournament headquartered at Spa Beach in St. Petersburg. The first-place prize was $20,000.

The tournament's release format awarded 500 points for blue marlin, 200 for white marlin and 100 for sailfish. The winning team totalled 1,800 by releasing two blues, three whites and two sails. The billfish hit a mixed bag of soft-head lures and dead ballyhoo - some bare and some rigged with skirts or Islanders.

Aboard a 45-foot Cabo, Team Galati fished with Wayne Harris of Bradenton, Jason Lozeau of Sarasota, Daniel Menard of Anna Maria, Artie Davenport of Destin and George Crenshaw of Orange Beach, Ala. They trolled the northern gulf between Lloyd Ridge and DeSoto Canyon.

"The DeSoto Canyon is notoriously a good area because baitfish accumulate there, plus you get a good push of cobalt blue water," Galati said. "The contour of the continental shelf causes upwellings that disorient the baitfish, so you get all the billfish, plus big wahoo, tuna and dolphin in the canyon."

Tournament format allowed boats to launch at noon on Thursday. Fishing began at midnight and ended at 9 p.m. Saturday. Official weigh-ins and release division judging were held Sunday.

On Friday, Harris caught the event's first-place dolphin 33 pounds, and Lozeau released a white marlin. The next day, Davenport released a blue marlin and caught a 51-pound wahoo, Harris released a white and a sailfish, and Menard released a gulf grand slam - a blue, a white and a sail.

Team Galati's win qualified it for the World Billfish Series World Championship, Dec. 6-9, at Los Suenos Resort and Marina in Costa Rica.

Scott Morrison of the Attitude Adjustment caught the winning wahoo (74.56 pounds), and Rick Hawley of the Manta Ray boated the top tuna (24.52).

David A. Brown covers area fishing tournaments and can be reached at tightlinecomm@aol.com.

[Last modified August 21, 2006, 01:51:32]