Costa Rica – The USA Surf Fishing Team secured a Silver medal and individual Bronze at the 2024 Pan American Championships, held in the Caribbean waters of Parismina in Costa Rica over October 19-20, 2024.

Competing against anglers from across the Americas, USA’s performance culminated in a hard-won second-place team finish, with Vice President Ryan Lambert coming third in the individual standings.

The Championships saw competition between five teams, including Costa Rica, who claimed the Gold medal plus the top two individual spots on home soil – and Mexico, who rounded out the podium with a team Bronze.

Changeable conditions – especially on the second day – rewarded those who could find the clearer water on the rivermouth beach of Parismina. Head-high waves and low clarity added to the difficulty, but the team caught jacks steadily throughout at a variety of distances on artificial baits, often spending hours wading waist-deep in big surf across the three sessions.

Team President Ben Hervey-Murray praised the group’s teamwork: “This Silver medal is a testament to the whole team’s relentless hard work, skill and camaraderie over the entire weekend and build up to this tournament.”

“We came well prepared, worked some things out on day one and persevered with a plan on day two, despite the beautiful Caribbean ocean throwing everything at us. I am incredibly proud of the entire group’s performance – especially of Ryan Lambert’s individual third place. Taking relentless overhead waves whilst casting big baits significant distances into the clearer water for hours on end throughout the second day was superhuman and secured Silver for us.”

“Congratulations to Costa Rica for taking Gold – they were worthy winners, tremendous hosts and great competitors. A big thank you to our lead sponsors Fishbites and to Bass Pro, Cox & Rawle, Yo-Zuri, Scute Fishing, Penn Reels, GT Ice Cream and Century Rods for their support – we wouldn’t have won those medals without their help.”

“The Team and US Angling would also like to thank the Pan American Sportfishing Federation and Costa Rican Government, plus the Parismina Tarpon Lodge, all staff, beach judges, volunteers, organizers, runners and competitors for contributing to the success of this tournament,” added Ben.

Full Silver medal-winning team for the 2024 Pan American Surf Fishing Championships (A-Z first name)

• Ben Blegen (MN)
• Ben Hervey-Murray (CA)
• Blake Abbey (FL)
• Brett Erickson (IL)
• Brody Chait (CA)
• Hunter Hennings (ND)
• Joshua Edgerton (NC)
• Lydia Basnite (CA)
• Michelle Mitchell (LA)
• Nicole Hambrick (MN)
• Ryan Lambert (NC)
• Saul Osorto (TX)
• Shawn Hennings (ND)
• Wesley Brough (CB)

On an individual level, highlights included Saul Osorto’s star 57-point performance to lead the USA team scores on day 1 – and Wesley Brough’s encounter with a monster tarpon plus endlessly enduring huge waves over his 6’7” head on the second sandbar and hornet stings for a 50-point total.

Michelle Mitchell’s 46-point score, Lydia Basnite’s brace, Blake Abbey’s 36” jack and Brody Chait’s 34” jack were truly fish of a thousand casts and all caught down to their skill, focus and never-give-up spirit.

Ben Blegen, Nicole Hambrick, Brett Erickson, Hunter Hennings, Shawn Hennings and Joshua Edgerton all did outstanding work for the team on multiple levels, and were unlucky not to be much further up the scoreboard. The Silver was won by a tremendous team effort as they all worked together to steadily pick off fish one-by-one to beat Mexico in the final standings.

Beyond competing, the Pan American Championships provides an opportunity for the team to further strengthen the bonds between competing Pan American nations as they seek to grow the sport of surf fishing across different communities. Plus, professional catch-and-release competitions like this help further goals around conservation and sportsmanship.