On July 27th seventeen saltwater fly fishing teams descended on San Pedro for the 3rd annual Tres Pescados Slam Tournament with hopes of becoming the next Grand Champion of this international catch-and-release fly fishing event.

After a great kick off banquet Wednesday evening hosted by the San Pedro Lions Club where the angling teams consisting of a Belize Tourism Board (BTB) licensed guide and from one to two anglers received the latest does and don'ts of the competition, the 48 angler/guide team members began the 2011 Tournament Thursday morning with a blast of boat wakes at 7AM from the Central Park pier starting line. In a sport where the guide and anglers must rely on each other's skills and a bit of luck from Mother Nature, starting the first day of this three day event with heavy rain and low clouds required the teams to reach in their bag of tricks to come up with points.

The check-in at Central Park at the end of the first day filled the scoreboard with bonefish points for every team but one. Three of the teams found tarpon and were able to bring a Silver King to the boat. Team Pesca con Mosca, guided by Cesar Acosta, jumped into first place with their tarpon and five bonefish, while team Yellow Dog, guided by Nesto Gomez, found themselves in second place and team Fly Treks, guided by Parnell Coc, landed in third place with their tarpon and bonefish.

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Moving into the fishing awards, the 3rd Runner Up was team Yellow Dog, Ian Davis and Keith Paar from Bozeman, Montana and the Bahamas, guided by Nesto Gomez with two species and 2,050 points received their trophy along with $1,167 in prize winnings. The 2nd Runner Up, with a grand slam (all three species) and 850 points, team Anglers Abroad - Haywood Curry and Travis Then from Caye Caulker, guided by Ken Coc, accepted their trophy and $2,334.00 in cash. The Grand Champions of 2011, team Pesca con Mosca, Tim O'Brien and Kyle Kulig from Texas guided by Cesar Acosta, came to the stage to accept their trophy and $3,500 in winnings.

The award ceremony concluded with the handing over of a $12,000 donation to Mito Paz of Green Reef for continuation of the Sport Fish program designed to further the protection of these three fish, their habitat and the resource in general.

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