For Immediate Release

POMPANO BEACH , FL --- Anglers in the 2008 Mercury/SeaVee Pompano Beach Saltwater Shootout had much to celebrate this year. The tournament added another notch in its belt, celebrating its 10th anniversary in memorable fashion with many anglers that have been a part of the tournament for years and others who were drawn into the tournament for the first time ever. The majority of tournaments this year have felt the effects of sky rocketing fuel prices, a plummeting real estate market and an economy that is unstable at best. Despite the reality of those circumstances, the Saltwater Shootout still managed to field 130 boats in the 2008 event, 10 better than the previous year. “We have great teams and great sponsors that support these tournaments on a regular basis,” said Jamie Bunn, director for the event. “I think they really appreciate how hard we work to offer up the most angler friendly tournaments around. You can see that when you come down to a kickoff party or the weigh-in. It’s wall to wall people,” said Bunn.

The 2008 Shootout offered many new categories that may have forced teams to reevaluate their strategy for the tournament. While the tournament has always offered lucrative prize money for the top 15 teams, this year the Shootout offered up a substantial cash prize for the heaviest fish of the tournament. Mark Miller and his teammates on Living Water took full advantage of that opportunity with a 40.28 pound Kingfish caught by angler Joe Pusillo. That fish earned them a paycheck for $15,355. The second heaviest fish of the tournament, a 39.18 pound King, was caught by Chip Sheehan aboard his boat Chips Ahoy. Sheehan’s teammates brought their tournament limit of Kings to the scale with a kicker Blackfin Tuna for a total of 133.64 pounds, earning them the 3rd place spot and a check for $7,300. Both Living Water and Chips Ahoy fished off northern Palm Beach to locate their tournament winning catches.

Bill “Nemo” Niemann and his Off the Wall teammates had a big year in 2006 earning the top spot and an H3 Hummer in the highly touted Gauntlet Elimination Series. Shortly after, Nemo found himself in a fishing funk, unable to make it to the scales with any quality fish when the money was on the line. 2008 may prove to be his comeback year as the Off the Wall team rebounded with a stellar 2nd place finish and a payday of $10,410 in the Shootout. Off the Wall weighed in 4 Kings and 2 Tunas for a total of 146.86 pounds. Buddy Tight, a junior angler on Off the Wall, put his name in the record books with a 36.83 pound Blackfin Tuna – the heaviest Tuna in the 10-year history of the tournament.

Off the Wall wasn’t the only team looking to make a comeback in 2008. Art Sapp and his Native Son fishing team enjoyed great success in fishing tournaments over the years, however, Sapp and his teammates had not struck gold in a PBSC tournament for over 2 years. Gold came in the form of three Blackfin Tunas and 4 stout Kingfish totaling 169.83 pounds at the first leg of the PBSC this year. That catch was good enough to secure the 1st place spot and a paycheck for $18,160 in the Saltwater Shootout. 

Mediocre Dolphin fishing has left the wildly popular Bionic Bait ‘Show Me the Mahi’ division wide open heading into the Saltwater Slam event on June 14th. The division, which pays to 3 places with a $9,000 purse, is being led by the Shade Maker team with a 2 fish aggregate of 42.36 pounds. In the Electronics Unlimited Novice Division, many new teams found their way into the winner's circle for the first time. At the top of the novice leader board, was the GogFather, fishing team with 66.58 points. They earned a check for $2,500 compliments of Electronics Unlimited. 

A lottery style Kay Dee Dubya division, targeting Kingfish, Dolphin & Wahoo was also created as an added value prize category for the 2008 Shootout. No team was successful in bringing the trio of fish to the scales during the Shootout, so the $4,860 purse will roll into the Saltwater Slam tournament on June 14th where the purse will continue to grow until someone hits the KDW Jackpot! For more details on leg 2 of the PBSC, the Saltwater Slam, held on June 14th log on to www.bluewatermovements.com or call 954-725-4010. 

2008 Saltwater Shootout Results Top Teams:

1st Native Son 169.83 pts 2nd Off the Wall 146.86 pts 3rd Chip’s Ahoy 133.64 pts 4th Conched Out 124.51 pts

5th Never Satisfied 108.88 pts

6th Get Sum 106.91 pts 7th Hard Way 96.35 pts

8th Woody 95.87 pts

9th Keri-n-On 95.7 pts

10th Living Water 94.43 pts

Top Anglers:

Male Lamar Sapp/Native Son 105.6 pts Female Nancy Diaz/High Gear 42.59 pts Junior Buddy Tight/Off the Wall 112.7 pts PeeWee Tommy Tight/Off the Wall 79.72 pts

Heaviest Fish:

Dolphin - Jeffrey Hand/Shade Maker 31.29 pts

Kingfish  - Joe Pusillo/Living Water 40.28 pts

Tuna - Buddy Tight/Off the Wall 36.83 pts

Cobia - James Howell/Spiced Rum 37.74 pts

Wahoo - Chuck Walker/Get Sum 33.70pts 

Novice Division:

Top Team Gogfather 66.58 pts

Top Small Boat: More Magic 66.97 pts

Top Family:

Native Son 169.83 pts

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