St. Thomas,
the third and final leg of the 2nd annual Bermuda Triangle Series,
proved the good luck charm for David Clapp and his Team A-Fin-Ity. The lucky anglers
released six Marlin to win the series, which started in the
Bahamas in May and included Bermuda in July
before finishing up in the Virgin Islands.
“We
caught one in Bermuda, but going into the last
leg we were four fish down from the leader,” Clapp says. “But, Eddie
(Morrison, captain of the St. Thomas-based sports fishing boat,
Marlin Prince) and I have fished
together for years and I knew I could catch the leaders if Eddie did what he
usually does and that is show me fish.”
Greg Talbott’s Team On Line led the series going into
St. Thomas. They did this by being the only
team to release a Blue Marlin during the
Bahamas leg, thanks to angler
Richard Limegrover. Then in the Bermuda
leg, Team On
Line held on to their series lead with the release of two Blue Marlin.
The
St. Thomas leg, fished as
an event within an event at the USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament,
kicked off with Clapp as the only series angler to release a Blue Marlin the
first day. Clapp and fellow Team Af-fin-Ity angler, Jay Croyle,
released another two fish the second day, yet Team On Line continued to lead the series
thanks to a pair of released Blue Marlin by angler, O.B. O’Bryan.
It was
Day Three that the tide turned and Team Af-Fin-Ity rocketed into the lead with another two releases
by Clapp. Both Team Af-Fin-Ity
and Team On Line
went fishless the last day, thus preserving the first and second place finishes
respectively that they had secured. Only Team
Rum Bum, thanks to a release by angler Louis Bacardi, caught a Marlin the
tournament’s last day. Team Rum Bum
finished the series in third place.
Clapp
sum’s up his thoughts on the series, “We just caught the first two
events at the wrong time. I am hoping that working around the moons next year
produces better overall results.”
He adds,
“The series was really fun to fish, especially since we hadn’t
fished Bermuda or Harbour
Island in the
Bahamas before. The teams involved
are very nice people, the destinations are spectacular and the fishing can be
great. What’s not to like about all of that put together?”
