Some two hundred tots to teens recently took to the docks at
St. Thomas’
American Yacht
Harbor for the 15th
annual Innovative Wireless Handline Tournament.
“This has become a regular event for us,” says Lisa Newton,
Innovative’s project coordinator. “We really enjoy it. The kids and
parents always seem to have such a good time.”
Good
times there were during the August 14th event, which benefits the
Virgin Islands Council of the Boy Scouts of America and is part of the
festivities for the USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament. Junior anglers
relished the entire fishing process, from baiting small hooks with slimy squid
and laying belly flat on the dock. peering into the water for denizens of the
deep, to winding in a catch and running with it up to the weigh station.
“I
just put the line in, waited a minute and there it was. I thought it was going
to snap my line,” said 13-year-old Corey Pardee, a visitor from
Sacramento, California,
about his 4-pound Puffer fish.
Ten-year-old Fritz St. Rose, a St.
Thomas member of Boy Scout Troop 1, caught a 1-plus
pound Barracuda. His secret to catching it? “I stayed quiet,” he
said.
Three
Puffer fish and one Red Snapper were 4-year-old Sky Moraino’s catch for
the morning. “He fishes here all the time, right off C-dock,” says
dad, Joe Moraino, who operates a powerboat rental company.
Even
those who didn’t catch anything weren’t totally skunked. Free pizza
and beverages, goodie bags and T-shirts were given to all registered
participants.
RESULTS
UNDER AGE 10
Most Fish
1st: Aileen Phelan
2nd: Christopher Smith
3rd: Jovani Ashtian
Longest Fish
1st: Fritz St. Rose
2nd: Thomas Cordelle
3rd: Christopher Smith
Largest/Heaviest Fish
1st: Fritz St. Rose
2nd: Christopher Smith
3rd: Dominique Lizana
Smallest Fish
1st: Javon Ashtian
OVER AGE 10
Most Fish
1st: Luke Perry
2nd: Rouil Oemar
3rd: Edric Martin
Longest Fish
1st: Alayna Belsha
2nd: Etienne Lazana
3rd: Jeffrey Jacobs
Largest/Heaviest Fish
1st: Corey Pardee
2nd: Antonio Urena
3rd: Mike Vogel
Smallest Fish
1st: Brandon Cardalho
