Team Ripper

Team Ripper

Team Ripper is a two man billfishing team, fishing out of Treasure Island, FL. Matt Taylor and Darren Impson form Team Ripper, fishing Florida’s west coast waters together for almost 10 years. They started fishing offshore bottom-fishing tournaments and kingfish tournaments together as a two-man team. After a few years of slowly making a name for themselves in local west-central Florida tournaments, Matt and Darren wanted to go further and catch bigger fish. They discovered a 2003 36-foot Yellowfin center console that needed some major work. After re-powering and completely rebuilding the boat in order to customize it for long-range bluewater trips (a typical marlin tournament trip for Team Ripper means running 800 or more nautical miles), The Ripper was born. Going farther and faster is what Team Ripper is all about. In the first billfish tournament The Ripper entered, the team tied for first place in the Billfish Release Division, won first place Swordfish, and won the WBS Top Angler award. These two guys were quickly making a name as Team Ripper in the offshore billfishing world.

Matt and Darren are not simply identified as just two crazy fishermen chasing giant fish to the edges of the oceans, but also as true hearted American family men. Both Matt and Darren own their own businesses in the Tampa Bay area and come home everyday to a loving family and young children. Weekdays are spent working hard to provide for their families, but when the weather is right and the bite is on, these two thrill seekers are back on the Ripper and headed to the edge of the Earth to claim their glory. You can follow their adventures at theripperfishing/facebook or theripperfishing, as well as their TV show Offshore Renegades: Tales of the Ripper on the World Fishing Network- coming soon.

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