How Team Sick Leave caught a 1st-place black grouper at 2022 Sarasota Slam tournament

Team Sick Leave had big plans during the 2022 Sarasota Slam fishing tournament aboard boat owner Don Paxton’s 52-foot Scout.

They dreamed of getting deep for big grouper, unique snapper, swordfish and many other rarely seen Gulf of Mexico species.

An extra day was added for this year’s tournament, letting offshore teams leave early Thursday morning before returning for the Saturday afternoon weigh-in, and Sick Leave was prepared.

“We had a total of 875 gallons of gas on board, rigged to the T with everything,” explained team captain Gabriel Lippert. “But we were down one of the five engines, and with so much weight couldn’t get on plane leaving the pass. We were able to make about 15- to 18- miles per hour.”

Sixty miles out and running on four engines, they soon lost another when a prop blade was broken. With three engines and only able to make idle speeds, they started trolling west toward their desired location.

At 118 miles out, they made it to where Lippert wanted to target queen snapper and gag grouper, but the slow trek meant it was 2 a.m. Not wanting to fish that deep in darkness, he opted for safety to head for shallower grounds as their trip was becoming an unfortunate series of events.

“I was looking at water temperature, the bottom and my wheels are turning as good as they can without sleep. Everyone else was asleep and I made the executive decision to turn around to get back to 55 miles offshore.”

After another eight hours of motoring, they made it to a spot Lippert found a week prior while fishing on a charter.

“We were really just fun fishing at that point, trying to put meat on the boat,” Lippert said. “I knew there were big fish on the spot. Almost immediately Dawson Day hooked up and lost a fish. Then Don hooked up and lost another fish. AJ (Grande) lost a fish too.”

With the big fish biting the crew rigged heavier gear. Day hooked up to another bottom species, but one he was able to turn.

“He got that one up, it was about a 25-pound gag. At that point we were stoked to see a good fish on deck. We regrouped, dropped everything back down and only a few minutes later Don was back on.”

Struggling to get the fish turned, Lippert jumped in to help. With the amount of pressure Paxton made no headway. The crew knew it was large and took their time. Lippert pulled the line as Paxton turned the reel, working it off the bottom. Lippert saw it as it approached the surface.

“I just lose it and see this big black grouper coming up. Dawson, AJ and Brandon Anderson work on getting this fish in the boat, and when it does all hell is breaking loose,” the excited Lippert said.

“Almost no one catches them that big. The morale of the team had spun 180 degrees, boosting with energy. We had a nice fish on the boat and said let’s attempt to do it again to see if we can get another one.”

Dawson saw the size of the big black grouper. They took turns guessing the weight but didn’t want to weigh it on the boat.

“We didn’t want to know,” Dawson said. “We knew it was huge and wanted to keep it a surprise.”

He sent down another bait, soon getting a big bite, but that fish got the best of the tackle. With miles still to cover and no way to run fast, the crew headed for home.

After going 280 miles without getting on plane, they arrived back home early.

At the weigh in, their black grouper was put on the scales, where it passed triple digits at 103.21 pounds for first place in the grouper division, beating Big Naasty’s 53.4-pound black grouper.

Also stretching the scales was team Top Fish with their 301.99-pound Warsaw Grouper, taking first place in the Warsaw division. That fish was caught by Connor Cruise, the son of actor Tom Cruise.

Double Nickel would win the Swordfish division at 146.5 pounds, while Knot Responsible would best Gulf Coast Offshore by only 0.1 pounds in the wahoo division with a 45.91-pound wahoo.

Team Startron would win the inshore division with 165-inches in their slam. Their total included a pair of redfish totaling 78 inches and a 42-inch snook.