Permit, No Permit
"No permit" results in broken rod
KEY LARGO, Fla. — Duke Benevento fought a permit for 30 minutes Sunday; Ryan Cecil had a giant permit hooked for about 8 seconds. It's not difficult to guess who had the "one that got away" story on the final day of the ESPN Saltwater Series Mercury Redbone Key West S.L.A.M. Celebrity Tournament.
A fishing rod shattered in two pieces in guide Bryan "Bear" Holeman's boat was another sign that Cecil's short story didn't end well. But it had one helluva beginning.
"All of the sudden we saw two permit in front of the boat," said Cecil, who along with partner Joe Bru, works for Westin Hotels & Resorts in Pensacola, Fla. "It was the only two we saw all day.
"They were 15 feet in front of the boat. They just came out of nowhere."
One of them was about the size of the 26 3/4-inch permit that Bru landed Saturday. The other was "a monster."
"It was gi-normous," said Holeman, a veteran guide who has seen more than his share of permit. "That was about a 25-pounder that was next to it, and (the monster) made that one look like a midget."
Holeman guessed the bigger permit was 35 to 40 inches long, and wouldn't even attempt to estimate what it weighed.
Cecil flipped a crab in front of the two permit and the bigger one took it.
"It ate it, then did a 180 (degree turn) and took off," Holeman said.
"I think it saw the boat at the same time it ate the bait," Cecil said. "He split."
After ripping about 30 or 40 feet of line off Cecil's reel, the 12-pound test braid broke, about a foot above Cecil's reel.
"I don't know why it broke there," Holeman said. "I tested the drag and it was fine.
That's how the rod ended up in two pieces, as Holeman grabbed the rod, which he owned, and banged it against the side of the boat until it broke. Considering that Bryan "Bear" Holeman's nickname is obvious with one look at him, you can imagine that it didn't take many whacks to put the rod in two pieces.
"He's an emotional guy when you lose a fish," laughed Cecil.
Especially when it's an equipment failure that results in the loss.
Benevento, on the other hand, was all smiles when he came to the Hurricane Hole Marina with his partner, Len Partin, and guide Connan Lehmkul. He had photos to prove that the 32 1/2-inch permit he caught Sunday easily topped his previous personal best - a six-pounder. (Permit, by the way, like bonefish, are measured to the fork of the tail.)
Benevento also used a crab as bait to entice the permit bite. He hooked it at 12:45 p.m. Sunday and the fish was released at 1:15.
"It would get close to the boat, then take off; then get close and take off," said Benevento, who was using 10-pound test line.
Benevento admitted that 30 minutes seems like an eternity when you've got a big fish hooked. And since both he and Partin are from Port Clinton, Ohio, where they are more accustomed to catching walleye, Benevento doesn't have a lot of experience with half-hour fish battles.
That's another reason why it was obvious who had the fish-caught story and who had the one-that-got-away tale, when the two teams of anglers set foot on the Hurricane Hole boat dock Sunday.
Light tackle means light tackle
The acronym SLAM, as in Redbone Key West SLAM, stands for "Southernmost Light-tackle, Anglers Masters" tournament.
And in this case, light tackle definitely means just what it says. The maximum strength line permitted in this Redbone Series event and several others is 12-pound test. Redbone Series founder Gary Ellis said that's pretty standard for a "light tackle" tournament in International Game Fish Association standards.
And it is plenty strong for catching bonefish and permit, but maybe not quite as much as you'd like if you happen to hook a bigger tarpon, like Brooke Denkert did Saturday when she fought an estimated 40-pounder for 15 minutes before it came unhooked.
That's when she remarked that she "hooked too big a fish" when she made a cast into a rolling school of tarpon. In this tournament, catching all three species is the key to overall success, not necessarily the size of the various species caught, although there are "big fish" awards given during Sunday's tournament closing banquet.
That 12-pound test requirement does allow for stronger line sections near the hook, to prevent the teeth of a tarpon, bonefish or permit from grinding through 12-pound test line. (Technically, the main line allows for six-kilogram breaking strength, which translates to 13.2-pound test. It allows for the use of non-U.S. manufactured lines, which adhere to the metric standard.)
"In the spinning artificial and bait categories, the length of the leader cannot exceed the length of the rod," Ellis said. "In the fly category, there must be 12-pound test within 12 inches of the hook. That also adheres to IGFA standards."
But that 12-pound maximum doesn't apply to all Redbone Series events. A 20-pound maximum was in place for the weather-canceled Montauk, N.Y., event in September, where striped bass, bluefish and false albacore were the targeted species. A 30-pound max has been used for tarpon-only events.
Former Bronco most comfortable with fly rod
At first glance, former Denver Broncos offensive lineman Mark Cooper appears to be an angler who would naturally grab the heaviest fishing tackle possible. But the long-time Redbone Series celebrity competitor is most comfortable with a fly rod in his hands.
Cooper has made his home in Colorado and annually hosts the Redbone at Large Rocky Mountain Fly Fishing Classic in Aspen.
When Cooper saw that no one caught a fish on fly tackle Saturday in the Key West SLAM, he knew a fly rod wouldn't leave his hands Sunday. And that tactic paid off.
Cooper used a Drew Dalaschmit-created shrimp pattern to land a 20-inch bonefish at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
"There was an incoming tide," Cooper said. "It was on the edge of a deep channel."
As Cooper expected, when the Sunday catches were added to the leaderboard, he was the only angler to catch a fish on fly tackle during the Key West SLAM, which earned him an individual award for the event.
"I'd rather catch one on a fly anyway," Cooper said. "It's what I do all the time."
