#20 ALL TIME

In the long history of the IGFA (International Game Fish Association), 174 anglers have achieved the ROYAL SLAM OF BILLFISH: Black Marlin, White Marlin, Striped Marlin, Atlantic Blue Marlin, Pacific Blue Marlin, Atlantic Sailfish, Pacific Sailfish, Spearfish, and Swordfish. Of those 174, 154 have done it once and 20 have done it two or more times. KEN WILSON BECAME #20 on September 6, 2022 with the Swordfish he caught after a 4.5 hour battle aboard Broad Minded with Captain Mike Varney and Mate Danny Lombardo out of Islamorada, Florida (shown below).

Swordfish - Islamorada, Florida

L to R:  Angler Ken Wilson, Captain Mike Varney, Mate Danny Lombardo

KEN THANKS LAD SHUNNESON

Lad was a hunting outfitter for 40 years, and he is now in his 50^th year as a deep sea fishing outfitter, first out of Mazatlan and now out of Zihuatanejo. He was also Ken’s hunting companion and videographer for 30 years. After Ken first fished with Lad in Zihuat, he realized that Billfish are the Big Game of the oceans and added a species here & there. Then when Lad caught a Spearfish in Kona to complete a Royal Billfish Slam, Ken got started in earnest.

Lad Shunneson

Balcony of Hotel Del Pescador

Zihautanejo, August 2022

Sailfish - Zihuatanejo

Catch and Release

August, 2022

KEN THANKS HIS CAPTAINS

Captains and Mates and Boats are the key to fishing success. Ken couldn’t have done it without the following:

BLACK MARLIN: Capt Billy Billson, Viking II, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

WHITE MARLIN: Capt Arch Bracher, The Pelican, Oregon Inlet, North Carolina

STRIPED MARLIN: Capt Dave Harshbarger, Ship of Fools, Cabo San Lucas,

     Mexico and Capt Steve Colwell, El Jefe, Los Barriles, Mexico

ATLANTIC BLUE MARLIN: Capt Zak Conde, Amelia, Cape Verde

PACIFIC BLUE MARLIN: Capt Tim Hicks, Illusions, Kona, Hawaii and Capts

     Gene Vanderhoek and Sam Choy, Jr., Fiesta, Kona, Hawaii

ATLANTIC SAILFISH: Capt Nick Stanczyk, Broad Minded, Islamorada, Florida

     and Capt Scott Stanczyk, Catch 22, Islamorada, Florida

PACIFIC SAILFISH: Capt Lad Shunneson, El Pescador, Zihuatanejo, Mexico

     and Capt Martin Garcia, Llamarada, Zihuatanejo, Mexico

SPEARFISH: Capts Gene Vanderhoek and Sam Choy, Jr., Fiesta, Kona,

     Hawaii

SWORDFISH: Capt Nick Stanczyk, Broad Minded, Islamorada, Florida and

     Capt Mike Varney, Broad Minded, Islamorada, Florida

Spearfish - Kona, Hawaii

Catch and Release

Ken with Capt Gene Vanderhoek

Hat says Hawaii, but this is Australia, and an eventual Catch and Release of an 850-pounder with Capt Billson

Fighting one of four Atlantic Blue Marlin, Cape Verde

L to R:  Mates James and Jack,

Capt Zak Conde and Ken with

Catch and Release Flag for an

est. 650-pounder, Cape Verde

WHO ARE THE 20 ANGLERS

WITH MULTIPLE ROYAL SLAMS?

Atlantic Sailfish with Nick Stanczyk, Islamorada, Catch and Release

Flying Catch and Release Flags

for White Marlin, Oregon Inlet,

North Carolina

WHO IS MARK DAVIS

Mark Davis has achieved an astounding 21 Royal Billfish Slams. Most of them were aboard his boat, Silver-Rod-O, and with his captain, Yoan Alcala. He is the only person to catch the Slam on the same boat and with the same captain … multiple times. His wife, Wendy has caught 3 slams and their daughter, Katie, is a Slammer. Mark and Wendy travel the world fishing and have numerous world records including many billfish records on light tackle. They are also the developers of Las Ventanas del Mar, a resort-style, private community elevated over the Pacific coastline of Costa Rica.