Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24January 4 - 7, 2017 5 Capt. Art Sapp and his crew aboard Liquid demonstrated just how rewarding a change in game plan can be during last year’s Silver Sailfish Derby.  The Hillsboro based team bested a field of thirty- six other boats. Winning the pres- tigious billfishing event was a dream come true for the winners. “I’ve fished a lot of tournaments, but its the Derby that I have always wanted to win the most. This has been a long time coming and was really special for us,” said Liquid team member Keith McDonald.   Sailfish action had been ex- tremely slow prior to the event. A week of summerlike weather that saw temperatures in Palm Beach County climb into the mid-80’s was great for visiting tourists, but bad for those seeking sail- fish. Derby anglers had their hopes raised when a cold front pushed through south Florida a few days before the tournament. Rough sea conditions, temperatures in the high 50’s and a northerly wind shuffled the deck offshore and filled Derby anglers with anticipation. A foggy day with five to seven foot seas and a healthy northeast ground swell greeted the Derby fleet on the first day. As the day progressed the seas began to subside and temperatures began to rise. Team Reel Captivating jumped to an early lead registering the first fish of the Derby and several others soon after. They would finish the day with 6 releases overall, along with Good Call. It soon became clear that the best sailfish bite was taking place in the northern reaches of the tournament boundary. Reel Easy, captained by Derby veteran Chip Sheehan, ended up tak- ing top boat honors with 7 releases on the first day. Boats reported seeing lots of bait and clean water offshore the Stuart area. The heavy weight fish on the first day was a 26.3 cobia landed by angler Mike Donohue aboard the Griffin with Capt. John Adams at the helm. Unfortunately, the short lived drop in temperature did not yield the action most anglers were looking for. A total of 68 sails were released the first day of fishing. ‘Liquid’ Rallies to Win 79th Derby Nearly every boat in the Derby fleet headed north on the final day of fishing. Seas had subsided consider- ably, but a significant groundswell remained. For the dozen boats at the top of the leaderboard it was anybody’s tournament to win. “When the fishing is slow it doesn’t take many fish to climb up the scoreboard in hurry. A double or a triple can shoot you to the top,” commented WPBFC chairman and official Derby radioman Pete Schulz from Fishing Headquarters tackle shop in Jupiter. Pete’s words proved to be right on the mark. Several Derby boats were all mak- ing big moves on the second day ascending the leaderboard, among them Goin’ Raptor led by Capt. Will Sabayrac, last year’s Derby champs Wrenegade captained by Jim Garner, Lady Lane led by Capt. Robert ‘Fly’ Navarro and 2010 Derby champs team Double Take led by Capt. Mike Laufle. Double Take angler Mike Causley would end up earning the Top Daily Angler Award with 3 releases on time. Also rising to the top on day two wasTeam Liquid. After having caught only two sails the first day, Liquid decided to deviate from their plan early into the final day. “When the wind dropped out we had trouble flying the kites. In fact, we never caught a single fish off the kite the second day. We were seeing fish, but just couldn’t get the bites. So we decided to switch it up and start chasing the bait sprays and free jumpers we were seeing,” said Capt. Art Sapp. The tactical change to run and gun sight casting paid off. Team Liquid finished the day with 9 sailfish releases, claiming the Top Daily Boat award and earning the title Derby Champions. It was one of the best come- backs in recent Derby history and underscores the value of being able to adapt to changing conditions. With 11 sailfish releases in the tournament, Liquid won the Top Boat Overall Trophy. Joining them in the Derby winner’s circle was Second Place Boat Overall Reel Easy with 10 sailfish. Third Place Overall was Griffin with 8 releases on time and Fourth Place Overall was Good Call with 8 releases. TheTop individual angler was H. Wesley Schwandt of Wilmington, Delaware, fishing aboard the B eing able to adapt to conditions is critical when it comes to sailfishing. Back at the dock, team ‘Liquid’ celebrates their Top Boat victory.