Once again, the Sea Vee / Mercury Grove SLAM! set the standard for what fishing tournaments should be about.  181 teams and over 1,000 anglers competed in the 7th annual event. And the stakes this year were high with over $45,000 in cash prizes.

This event’s popularity has grown immensely and now reaches outside of South Florida, even outside the state. The teams came from all across Florida and even a few imports from New Jersey, Chicago and Texas made their way down to the Grove. In addition, our live streaming events were watched by people from almost every state in the Union plus Australia, France, Italy, Canada, New Zealand, and the Bahamas.  The Grove SLAM! is really living up to its title of the “Funnest Fishing tournament in the World.”

The Grove SLAM! takes place right on the water at Monty’s raw bar and marina.  The home to the Grove SLAM! is the perfect backdrop for all of the festivities and fishing.  Teams were treated to open Bacardi and Miller Lite bars. Free food and plenty of give-aways keep all the teams entertained throughout the tournament.  Anglers, friends, and family had plenty to do dockside with displays from the tournament sponsors like Brickell GMS, Potter Marine, HotFish, eBoat Loans and others.  The festival atmosphere of the event has contributed to its success. But this tournament is about fishing.

The Bimini Start (shotgun start) is the most exciting event in fishing. Over 180 boats were poised and ready to start their day of fishing; all waiting for the “go” call. With two helicopters in the air and all the bottled up horsepower, it’s easy to see why this is a crowd favorite.  Once the signal was given, it was full-throttle for all the boats.  Once the boats hit open ocean, they quickly disperse and head out of sight and may are also out of radio range.

The fishing reports were few and far between, but that is the norm for these type of tournaments. Teams don’t want to give any insight as to where they are fishing and what they are catching. Teams will look for any advantage, especially with $45,000.00 up for grabs. They refer to this as “stealth mode.”  But it’s all in the open when the fish hit the scales.

Teams trickled into to the Monty’s marina all day. Some teams made their way back early opting for the dock party over fishing. Others held out to the very last minute to make sure they used every possible moment to fish.   As the teams weighed their catch, it was evident that the fishing was a bit slower than expected.  All but for one team.  The crew on “Fish Up!” had a banner day and broke the current Grove SLAM! record by .3 pounds!  Their total of 121.95 pounds with five fish is an impressive 24.4-pound average and good for $20,000.00. Quite an accomplishment especially since they did not have the big fish of the tournament.  That honor goes to “Back for More” and their 48-pounder which was good for $5,000.00. “Fishin’ Magician” won $10,000.00 for their 2nd place dolphin because they were entered into a value-added category.  The top 5 teams were rounded out with “What” in second place followed by “Peacekeeper” in third.  “T-Ser” finished 4th with “Dusky 33” rounding out the top five.