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FRISCO — In the understatement of the tournament, local guide Steven Bowka summed up his team's performance in The America Cup fly fishing competition.
“We found some fish, that's for sure,” he said with a wry smile.
To be more exact, Bowka and teammate Adam Boehlke caught 71 fish — in just four hours Friday.
The incredible final-day total helped the local Blue River Anglers team leapfrog their competitors and take home the prestigious title. They also swept both spots in the “Biggest Fish — River” competition.
“We didn't think we had a chance this morning. We were just hoping to stay in third,” Boehlke said. “So, we're really excited, man.”
The America Cup, which began Wednesday, is an international, three-day tournament, where teams of two anglers receive points for fish caught and size of the fish. Teams received 100 points per fish and 20 points for every centimeter in length.
Anglers could fish anywhere in the area that they chose, as long as they were back to the Frisco Bay Marina each day by 4:30 p.m.
The Blue River Anglers team netted a whopping 98,960 points, due in large part to their incredible final day. The North Carolina Fly Fishing Team, using split squads, finished in second and third.
Ten teams, overall, competed in this year's competition, including one team from Australia. But none of them could match the local boys, who guide at the Frisco fly shop they represented.
America Cup co-organizer John Knight couldn't have been more pleased with the tournament's outcome.
“The North Carolina guys led for the first two days, but today, in the last inning, the local guys pulled it back,” Knight said. “Love the drama, love that it went down.”
Knight's partner in setting up the competition, David Pehle, guessed that there were more than 900 fish caught (and released) over the three days of fishing.
“They ripped ‘em,” he said. “It was amazing.”
No one “ripped ‘em” like Bowka and Boehlke, though.
The two anglers said that local knowledge certainly played a role, but even more important, was that they stayed almost exclusively on the Blue River.
“Our plan was to limit our driving time and stay local,” Bowka, 25, said. “While (other teams) drive two hours, we might have caught four or five fish.”
Also, Bowka admitted, their was a little bit of pride on the line.
“It's our namesake,” he said of the Blue. “We had to at least give it a day and show people that you can catch numbers there.”
Boehlke, 24, said winning the tournament on the Blue made it much more sweet.
“That's what I'm most excited about, because it's our river,” he said.
“We found some fish, that's for sure,” he said with a wry smile.
To be more exact, Bowka and teammate Adam Boehlke caught 71 fish — in just four hours Friday.
The incredible final-day total helped the local Blue River Anglers team leapfrog their competitors and take home the prestigious title. They also swept both spots in the “Biggest Fish — River” competition.
“We didn't think we had a chance this morning. We were just hoping to stay in third,” Boehlke said. “So, we're really excited, man.”
The America Cup, which began Wednesday, is an international, three-day tournament, where teams of two anglers receive points for fish caught and size of the fish. Teams received 100 points per fish and 20 points for every centimeter in length.
Anglers could fish anywhere in the area that they chose, as long as they were back to the Frisco Bay Marina each day by 4:30 p.m.
The Blue River Anglers team netted a whopping 98,960 points, due in large part to their incredible final day. The North Carolina Fly Fishing Team, using split squads, finished in second and third.
Ten teams, overall, competed in this year's competition, including one team from Australia. But none of them could match the local boys, who guide at the Frisco fly shop they represented.
America Cup co-organizer John Knight couldn't have been more pleased with the tournament's outcome.
“The North Carolina guys led for the first two days, but today, in the last inning, the local guys pulled it back,” Knight said. “Love the drama, love that it went down.”
Knight's partner in setting up the competition, David Pehle, guessed that there were more than 900 fish caught (and released) over the three days of fishing.
“They ripped ‘em,” he said. “It was amazing.”
No one “ripped ‘em” like Bowka and Boehlke, though.
The two anglers said that local knowledge certainly played a role, but even more important, was that they stayed almost exclusively on the Blue River.
“Our plan was to limit our driving time and stay local,” Bowka, 25, said. “While (other teams) drive two hours, we might have caught four or five fish.”
Also, Bowka admitted, their was a little bit of pride on the line.
“It's our namesake,” he said of the Blue. “We had to at least give it a day and show people that you can catch numbers there.”
Boehlke, 24, said winning the tournament on the Blue made it much more sweet.
“That's what I'm most excited about, because it's our river,” he said.
