Sint Maarten Sportfishing Foundation
Follow Me 5 from French St. Martin was named Champion Boat at the 5th Annual Budget Marine Wahoo Tournament with a massive catch of 336.6lb of fish. Follow Me 5 also sailed off with the Top Angler trophy.
Second place went to Yellow Whip from St. Martin with a total 243.5lb.
The November competition attracted an outstanding 23 boats from around the region, fishing for a multitude of prizes.
Sian Hudson aboard Natalie Kate was named Best Female Angler, and Joey Erato, aboard Five O, won the Best Junior Angler award.
Largest kingfish (30.4lb) went to the boat Briana Jami from Saba. The largest Mahi Mahi (45.1lb) was caught by Challenge from St. Maarten.
Trimmed Out from St. Barth’s caught the largest wahoo, a 74.3-pounder, setting a new record for the event.
Champion boat under 25ft was Scamp with a total of 74lb.
Living the Dream from St. Croix won the prize for ‘Best Dressed Crew’. “This tournament really made its mark,” said a Living the Dream crew member. “I will encourage more boats to come from St. Croix to fish this tournament next year.”
Following the tournament, the St. Maarten Sports Fishing Foundation donated an undisclosed amount of cash to the St. Maarten Sea Rescue Foundation as a token of their appreciation. Fish caught during the tournament was donated to the St. Maarten Medical Center and the St. Maarten Home.
Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club
Clive Mahabir only caught one fish in this year’s Wahoo Wind-Up. Mahabir’s wahoo, however, weighed in at a whopping 91.3lb large enough to win him the top prize of $10,000 cash in this Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club (VIGFC)-hosted and Budget Marine-sponsored tournament held in November.
“That was our first fish, our first strike of the day, and I just concentrated on getting the fish into the boat,” explains Mahabir, who was fishing aboard the Luhrs 40 Express, Mixed Bag, north of St. Thomas when he hooked the huge fish. “It was only after we got it onboard that we realized how big it was.”
Meanwhile, the catch of eight wahoo earned Team Biscoe the title of Top Boat.
“We had a great time,” explains Dr. Byron Biscoe, whose 12-year-old son Billy caught three of the wahoo, while her nine-year-old son Brett reeled in one during his first-ever offshore fishing tournament. The team fished aboard DoubleHeader’s, a 35ft custom center console. “When we weren’t catching fish, we were telling fish stories and really enjoying our day together,” Biscoe says.
Cash prizes were awarded to the anglers who caught the ten largest wahoo.
In addition to Mahabir’s five figure prize, the team aboard DoubleHeader III caught seven of the ten largest wahoo: Chris Berry, second, with a 46.31-pounder and Tyler Maltby, third, with a 39.05lb wahoo.
Prizes were presented at an Awards Dinner at the VIGFC.
A fleet of 12 boats from all three U.S. Virgin Islands with 62 anglers fished the tournament. Personnel from the Department of Planning & Natural Resources Fish & Wildlife Department, headed by director Roy Pemberton, Jr., conducted the official weigh-in.
“We had a great tournament and we invite everyone to come out and fish with us in future tournaments,” says tournament director, Paul Meyer.
