2019 Louisiana SLAM

 

Written by:  Julie Hebert, Co-chair of Louisiana Slam 2019

Louisiana Slam 2019 Chairwomen: Suzie Villere, Rebel Caplinger & Julie Hebert

Once again, the I.W.F.A. anglers were guided by Louisiana’s best professional fishing guides operating out of the Venice Marina.  They used many different tactics such as targeting inland marsh coves for reclusive redfish, open bays for bull reds, taking a ride to the west in search of flocking birds for speckled trout, and bouncing the drop-offs for flounder to hit the most Louisiana Slams.  Regardless of their plan, our Venice Pros put almost 1500 fish in the boat on 10# class PowerPro Braid.

The individual awards are as follows:

First Place Over: all Angler trophy for the second time Susan Villere, a local angler who fishes Grand Isle and resides in Mandeville, LA.

Second Place: Linda Harper

Third Place: Nancy Llacuna, who also took home the prestigious Newcomer’s Award, whom resides in North Carolina and Florida respectively.


High Point Angler Day One: Linda Harper started the tournament with a bang.

High Point Angler Day Two: Becca deRosa

High Point Angler Day Three: Ellen Matthews who turned on the heat on day three to earn High Point Angler.

The “First Fish Caught” award went to Linda Dockendorff; the “Last Fish Caught” award was earned by Ellen Matthews, competing to the very end!  Ashley Bahen also fishing the tournament for the first time received the just-for-fun “Most Spots” award for her redfish with 21 spots. Brenda Moore just edged out Linda Harper for capturing the coveted “Louisiana Slam” trophy by catching all 3 qualifying fish of Redfish, Speckled Trout and Flounder in a single day!  

The following ladies took home impressive Team Awards:

First Place Team: Nancy Llacuna, Aledia Tush, Addie Caplinger, and Linda Harper

Second Place Team:  Ashley Bahen, Rosemary White, Connie O’Day, and Rebel Caplinger

Third Place Team: Jill Gaddis, Mary Weingart, Kathy Gillen, and Serena Wilson

Without a doubt, the rest of the fabulous ladies just had a lot of fun!

Special thanks go out to our hard-working Louisiana guides who excelled to capture 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively.  Congrats to Boola Landry for being “Top Captain”, Richie Taranto, Jr., and Cade Thomas for their professionalism and dedication to the success of our tournament! 

As one can imagine with almost 1500 fish caught, Venice is definitely hot, hot, hot!  Put us on your bucket list of tournaments, as we welcome back the ladies of the IWFA to the beautiful and fruitful waters of Venice, Louisiana!  Until next year…tight lines!

“A special thank you to the sponsors of the IWFA Louisiana Slam Tournament to include:  Columbia, Shimano, PowerPro, Venice Marina and the New Orleans Big Game Fishing Club!”