The Critter Control Fishing Team led all boats for most of day one of the three day event, catching three sailfish in the first hour and fifteen minutes of the tournament. They ended the day in 8th place, and after catching three more sails on day two, they moved up to 7th place in the record 116 boat field. On the final day of the event, fishing slowed and the team would manage just a single release for a total of seven fish - which tied six other boats for 10th place. A total of 394 sailfish were released during the three-day tournament.
Two years ago the Critter Control team ended up in 8th place overall at the world championships. "I feel like the bridesmaid that's never been a bride," said Clark. "We've had several second, third and fourth place finishes in tournaments - but first place always seems to elude us. Not to worry though - we've only been fishing sailfish tournaments for three years, so we're only gonna get better."
Top honors for this year's World Sailfish Championship went to skipper Tim Maddock's crew from Pompano Beach, FL, fishing aboard the Vitamin Sea Too. They had 14 sails, finishing two ahead of runner-up Sea Wolf and third place Counter Culture. The Vitamin Sea Too team caught most of their sailfish on goggle eyes, a live bait that is dangled from kites. That allows the anglers to get the baits far from the boat, and the actual fishing lines are ran through releases off the kite strings so the line can't be seen in the water by the fish.