Captain Harvey Shiflet runs the Anticipation, a 61’ Spencer (hull number 2). TheAnticipation splits time between Virginia Beach (its hailing port), South Carolina, and Florida.  The team, consisting of Shiflet, mate Frank Riganto, owner Paul Coury and a core group of angler that includes Coury, Chris Gepford and Frank Pohanka, posted wins in the Bohicket Invitational and the Virginia Beach Invitational Marlin Tournament. The 1,000 points that Shiflet tallied on the year was good to win the tightly contested East Coast Division.

 

Just how close was the finish? In all, eight captains finished with 400 points of the lead. Captain Dennis Endee of the A-Salt Weapon wound up in second place, with 900 points. Sportin’ Life’s Captain Bobby Garmany finished a close third with 850 points on the year.

In describing his season, Shiflet credits the hard work and dedication exhibited by his team. “I’ve worked with these guys for the last seven years. The team has worked hard to fine tune themselves. Everything has come together in the last few years and it really shined this year,” the captain explains.

In spite of Shiflet’s deflection of credit to his team, the fact remains that with a steady hand at the helm, boats would not catch fish. When describing his approach to tournament fishing, Harvey Shiflet is insightful. “I like to fish on my own. In each of these tournaments we found a body of fish without another boat in sight. This allowed us to bank up a lead,” he says.

Stay tuned to InTheBite.com for updates on when and where Shiflet’s award will be presented. Congratulations on a banner year.