Fishing got off to a slow
start, real slow, for the crew aboard Oh Suzanna as they competed in the
Offshore Marine Dolphin Derby Fishing Tournament, held April 24.
“I have a tackle shop and all
the local guys said they were catching dolphin earlier in the week to the
south, so we went south,” explained St. Croix’s Mike Fuller, Oh Suzanna’s
captain.
Twenty-two miles later,
there were no birds nor bites. “We started working our way north and raised
three billfish, but couldn’t hook them. We did catch a nice size wahoo. No
dolphin, though,” Fuller said.
Then at 1:45 p.m., a lone
frigate bird proved a fateful omen. Angler Bill Griffin, Jr., hooked into a
colossal dolphin and pulled the beast into the boat twenty minutes later. “We
tried to bait the bull and catch it too, but we were a long way from the weigh
station,” Fuller said. With ten minutes to spare, Fuller pulled Oh Suzanna into
Christiansted Harbor where Griffin weighed in his catch at a winning
40.7-pounds.
Over 30 boats and nearly 150
anglers competed in this annual tournament that is fished simultaneously in St.
Thomas-St. John and St. Croix waters. Though in general angers felt the dolphin
“weren’t running”, some lucky anglers did catch big fish. Unfortunately, not
any big enough to earn the $25,000 top prize.
One angler who got skunked
on dolphin did end up having the time of his life. Twelve-year-old Sean
Connell, visiting from Chatham, Massachusetts, had a big surprise in store when
Capt. Danny Boland, who was driving a chartered 26-foot Pocket Yacht, asked him
to check the baits.
“I didn’t know what was
happening. It came out of nowhere,” Connell said, about the 150-pound blue
marlin that took his hook and proceeded to tail walk, splash and dive during
the nearly hour long fight, catch and release. “It was awesome!”.
RESULTS
TEN TOP ANGLERS
1. Bill Griffin, Jr., Oh
Suzanna, St. Croix, 40.7 pounds
2. Dennis McCormick, One
Eyed Wahoo, St. Croix, 32.3 pounds
3. Ricky Farmer, Black
Pearl, St. Thomas, 30.1 pounds
4. Kevin Bowles, Bare Down,
St. Thomas, 27.5 pounds
5. Warren Murphy, Fin
Addict, St. Thomas, 27.4 pounds
6. Terry Hudson, Bare Down,
St. Thomas, 27.0 pounds
7. Ali Slimming, Black
Pearl, St. Thomas, 26.3 pounds
8. Richard Belliveau, Golden
Eagle, St. Croix, 26.1 pounds
9. Lou Fiouri, Bare Down,
St. Thomas, 25.5 pounds
10. Todd Nurnberger, Leisure
Lady, St. Croix, 25.5 pounds
TOP BOAT
La-Mensagera, Capt. Alberto
Sanchez, St. Croix, 11 dolphin (196.4 pounds)
