the Emerald Coast Grand Slam

The Emerald Coast Grand Slam. Landing a jack crevalle, a pompano, and a redfish on fly in a single day. Sounds easy, right? Well, in the last 20 years the SLAM has been achieved only 4 times on my boat. It's a rare accomplishment that requires significant skill and a big helping of luck. Over the years many anglers have fallen just short and know all about the "3rd Leg Jinx", but the three anglers who've achieved it know the overwhelming sense of satisfaction (and relief) that comes when you net that last fish. Here are their photos. If you want to read the blow-by-blow from those epic days, follow the links that lead to the appropriate FFNWF newsletters. Scroll through the newsletter to get to my report.

Kevin Maxey

APRIL 12, 2012
The Emerald Coast Grand Slam!! Now THAT's what I'm talking about! Kevin Maxey, Tyler, TX, booked April 11 and 12 with the lofty goal of achieving the slam for the first time on my boat. On the first day we had good pompano conditions with calm, clear water and plenty of light, so we ran east of the observation tower and poled the beach... Read about it.

Bob Jenkins

May 7, 2016
The BIG news for May is that Bob Jenkins, Woody Creek, CO, achieved the Emerald Coast Grand Slam on May 7! It's just the second time in 13 years that someone has accomplished The Slam on my boat, and it takes both skill and luck to bring it home. Jenkins had never landed a pompano, and we started our day... Read about it.

Bob Jenkins

April 23, 2019
It happened April 23 for only the third time in 16 years. For those of you who don't know about the Emerald Coast Grand Slam it's a redfish, pompano, and jack crevalle caught the same day on fly. You might think it wouldn't be that difficult, but I've had over a thousand fly-casters on the boat during the past sixteen years, and it's happened just three times. Long odds. What's even more incredible is Bob Jenkins from Aspen, Colorado, achieved it in 2016 and last Tuesday he did it again! It was a perfect day for fly-fishing with bright sunshine blue skies, clear water, and a light northerly breeze. The migrating jacks and pompano showed up... Read about it.

Matt Smith

May 3, 2023
Matt Smith from McKinney, Texas, got The Emerald Coast Grand Slam on May 3. We were just coming off the neap tides, and the water around Pensacola Pass was off-color. So, we ran east through patches of light mud until we found some decent water for sight-fishing. The silty water made visibility challenging, but it was greasy-calm, and we had good light. I got us right in tight, and we found plenty of redfish... Read about it.