The biggest names in the plumbing industry came together recently to host dozens of the leading plumbing and mechanical contractors at the 2015 Buds & Suds Contractor Invitational, the industry’s premier big game fishing tournament.

The two‐day event—celebrating “Good Friends, Cold Suds & Big Fish”—was held Oct. 23‐24 at the Buena Vista Beach Resort on the Sea of Cortez in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Twenty‐seven teams of contractors from across North America partnered with their host sponsors to compete in the 2015 BSCI for cash prizes totaling more than $56,000.

Participating Team Sponsors included Sloan, HOLDRITE, Rheem, Uponor, Oatey, Gerber, Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, MIFAB, TracPipe, Milwaukee Tool, Delco Sales, & Hugh M. Cunningham.

The teams had to contend with uncharacteristically rough sea conditions on the first day of competition, but the billfish action was plentiful and virtually every team found itself in the running for a share of the prize money. The second day theatrics proved out once again with a major shuffle of the leaderboard. As the last team checked in on day 2, the tournament officials had to carefully re‐check their final tallies, as just one fish separated the top five teams.

First place ($28,050) was awarded to the Delco Sales sponsored team from Southern California fishing on the Dorotea III. Team anglers included Kevin Hampton of Delco Sales; and Jeff LePere and Shannon Chapman of Pan Pacific. Second place ($16,830) went to the Sloan sponsored team from New York fishing on the Finatic. Anglers included Bill Madison of Sloan; Mark Beneway of Mengler Mechanical; John Botto of Botto Mechanical; and Matt Deely of Edward, Platt & Deely. The Oatey sponsored team from Florida, fishing on the Jen Wren 31, captured third place ($11,220). Mark Marsh of Marsh & Moore, Inc.; Paul Osborn of Modern Plumbing; Rick Crowell of Lake Mechanical; and Luis Aguiar of Randall Mechanical comprised the team.

The Buds & Suds Contractor Invitational is an exclusive, invitation‐only event. For additional information, including how to earn a coveted entry into next year’s event visit www.fishbudsandsuds.com.