THE SHORT REPORT - ST. THOMAS

2009 Sept. Moon Numbers: 439 blue marlin, 3 whites, 1 sail, 1 spearfish releases. 715 blue marlin bites. 68 no bite. 167 boat days, 10.4 boats per day.

09/11/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Capt, Keith and crew on Black Gold will depart for Florida tomorrow and the Bud and Mary's gang fishing aboard J.A.C.S. are also finishing out their trip. Today the Black Gold was 1/1 and they saw 2 more in the teasers. Harry Sargeant of Black Gold fame released 30 for the moon and he was 64 for the season which is respectable in that he missed the August bite! J.A.C.S. was 1/2 and George Lorton owner of Therapy went snapper fishing today and he reported having a great time. This will conclude our Sept. Moon Report but stay tuned for the Oct. Moon fishing which promises to be another record setting stretch. There will be at least 14 boats hanging around for the show!

09/10/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands When Kent, Cathy and the famed Capt. Billy Harrison walked down the dock tonight we hit them with the big question - what did you see today? The response was "1 for a lot." That got our curiosity up so we asked Capt. Raymond on Therapy, how many did you see? He replied "don't know... a lot." Ok we finally pinned him down and sure enough...they were 1/ for a lot! Black Gold was 1/4 +1 and J.A.C.S. was high boat going 3/4. Bottom line is the boats have slowed down but the fishing hasn't! Imagine leaving them still biting!!

09/09/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands The fishing continues as do the reports! Black Gold had the most excitement today when a blue marlin stuck it's bill through the hull into the engine room. They were back in by noon to plug the leak and Harry has decided to fish a few more days. Marlin Prince went 2/2, Therapy 1/3, Reel Excuse 2/4, Hoora 1/2, End of Line 2/3 and J.A.C.S. 0/1. Check out the fishing reports that have been coming in from around the world. See "Global Reports" button at bottom of this page.

09/08/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Revenge closed the Sept. Moon in style - going 3/4 on blue marlin in a half day. Congratulations to Sam, Capt. Mike, Dean and Ryan on their 54 blue marlin in 12 1/2 days of fishing acheivement! You certainly made the Virgin Islands look good!

The fleet report today: Revenge 3/4, Black Gold 3/3 (fishing one more day then headed home), Reel Excuse 1/3, Therapy 0/1, Marlin Prince 1/1, Mixed Bag 2/? and J.A.C.S. 1/1 (Lisa again). A few boats will continue for a few more days and then the fleet will pretty much shut down until the 10 day Oct. Moon period begins. Just when we think the species is in decline - we have a record moon bite like this one. The entire fleet deserves a round of applause!!

09/07/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands We all knew that Sam, Mike and crew of Revenge were going to do it... 51 blue marlin (Sam catching 42) in 12 days of fishing! They go tomorrow for a half day and then lucky for the blue marlin, Sam hops on a plane and gives them a break until the Oct. Moon. They are 106 for the 2009 season so far!

The fleet had a decent day too - the fish are still biting for everyone. Lisa Kettenacker, top female angler in recent ABMT, is back fishing onboard J.A.C.S. with Capt. Ed Yannetty. Today they went 4/6 with Lisa catching 2. It was 4/4 on Lady Lane, Revenge 3/?, Black Gold 0/1+1, Mojito 2/3+2, Reel Excuse 2/2, Tangled in Blue 1/2 (just two hours spent on the edge), Therapy 1/2 (Kent and Cathy are fishing until Thurs.).

09/06/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Back to beautiful weather and we are 2 days behind the moon. Arrived the docks a little late tonight to catch everyone before they washed down and got away. The fleet report that we managed to get was not bad: Black Gold 2/3+1, Revenge 1/4 (they are now 48 for the moon and Sam isn't going to quit until they hit 50 for the moon), Lady Lane 1/1, Cow Poke 1/1. Sharky's 1/2+1, Marlin Prince 0/0, Therapy 0/3, Reel Excuse 1/3+1, Mojito 1/1, Dona Lucy 1/5, Freedom 2/2, Fishizzle 0/?, Reel Pushy 1/?, Prime Time 1/?. Thirteen fish for twenty five bites between fourteen boats. Fishing is slowing down now but that is expected. We'll see the boats go for another day or so and then they'll shut down or head back to the states. Bet on it... there will be some exciting catches by those who stayed behind to fish the Oct. Moon.

09/05/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands We are on the backside of the moon now with rain and more rain ... we needed it bad and we are getting our wish! That didn't stop the fish from biting. Revenge is now 47 for the moon - Sam was 4 for 4 today. Marlin Prince 2/2, No Excuse 2/2, Mojio 2/2, Black Gold 1/5, Therapy 3/5 (Kent and Cathy doing this on one outrigger!), Lady Lane 1/2, Freedom 0/1+1, Dona Lucy (PR) 02, Fishizzle 0/0, Reel Pushy 1/4+1, Loaner 2/3+1, J.A.C.S. 3/4, Bandolera water/water, Reel Tight 0/2. Carlos Garcia owner of 'Peje' came in with a cooler full of queen snapper - they are the popular boat tonight! Therapy Ray and crew were helping the outrigger repairman in the rain. Pretty soggy report but not bad, the fleet of 15 boats went 21/38. We are only reporting on the boats at AYH. The boats at Sapphire Marina and St. John have not been reporting their catches.

09/04/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands They say a picture tells a thousand words... can you guess who was first mate on the high boat today? Aileen read about this gal fishing with Captain Tito (her first mate) and Jose Valdes Jr. of Mojito were top guns today going 5/9. The rainy overcast weather from ex-TS Erika probably put a bit of a damper on the fishing today - but still it was pretty good. Today's fleet report: Mojito 5/9, Revenge 4/8+1 (the + one means they raised a fish to the teasers that didn't bite). No Excuse has finally started up and they went 3/3, Black Gold 2/3 on blues + they saw a white, Reel Excuse 1/5, Therapy 0/3 (they spent the day with rigger problems), Prime Time 3/4, Reel Tight 1/? (short day), J.A.C.S. 1/3.

Sept. fishtoids and dock walk news: Revenge is currently 43 for the moon and fishing for 3 more days - angler Mike Callahan and Eileen Maxwell ended up with 12 blue marlin and a white on Therapy in 4 1/2 days of fishing. Eileen caught her first 2 this week. Kent and Cathy Hammell will be fishing Therapy for the next few days. Harry on Black Gold has caught 21 blue marlin in the past 7 days. Bandolera came in tonight from PR to join in the fun. Capt. Billy Harrison is down visiting us as the guest of Kent Hammell. Rudy has gone home and the Rude Awakening is headed home tomorrow. Dino of Freedom will go tomorrow for a few days.

09/03/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Today's high catch award goes to Team Reel Tight! They released eight blue marlin and saw another eight. On their heels was Revenge going 7/7 and Reel Excuse going 7 for 8. Counting? Here is the fleet report: Revenge 7/7, Reel Excuse 7/8, Marlin Prince 0/1 blues and a white, Angry Scot nada, Mojito 2/3, Black Gold 6/10+2, Prime Time 3/6, J.A.C.S. 2/4, Give It Away 1/11 (they had a great day of seeing fish!) and Reel Tight 8/16.

Capt. Mike and his crew are around 38 fish for the moon with a few days to go. It's no wonder with Sam Jennings batting 17/17 the past two days!

09/02/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Does anyone doubt that angler Sam Jennings and Capt. Mike Lemon reign over the North Drop? Today Sam was 10 for 10 on the blue marlin and they saw 2 more that managed to escape the rath of the Revenge. It was not a big suprise to those of us who have seen this scene played out before. The fleet also had a great day with everyone seeing multiple fish. Here we go: Lady Lane 2/2, Marlin Prince 3/6, Reel Excuse 3/6+3, Therapy 3/?, Black Gold 2/4+3, End of Line (Sapphire) 7/9, Revenge 10/10+2, Mojito 4/8, Angry Scot 1/2, Gulf Rascal 1/? (early day), Topless 2/3+2, Rude Awakening 1/5, Give it Away 1/3 (they were uncredited with releasing 4 yesterday), Reel Pushy 3/4, Prime Time 4/10, Reel Tight 4/4, J.A.C.S. 2/2 and a big welcome down to Matt!

The fishing is so good the boats will probably try it tomorrow even though Tropical Storm Erika is breathing down our neck. At 11:56 p.m. tonight the storm is shown to be passing to the South of St. Thomas tomorrow.

09/01/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands If not the best day ever seen, it certainly ranks among the top! The fleet of only 14 boats released 52 blue marlin today. Together they saw 140 blue marlin. Boat owner and angler Rudy Polselli Jr. of Rude Awakening fishing w/Capt. Alan Fields and crew was high boat with 6 blue marlin. Following behind were 8 boats of the 14 boats with 4 fish each. Fleet report: Lady Lane 1/2+1, Cowpoke 2/6, Revenge 4/7+2 (Sam all the way), Marlin Prince 4/4+3, Angry Scot 0/4+3, Therapy 3/4, Mixed Bag 2/8+1, Black Gold 4/8+2, Topless 1/4+5, Rude Awakening 6/10+1, Prime Time 3/5, Reel Pushy 1/6, Loaner 1/4, Reel Tight 4/8+1+1 missed spearfish, Freedom 4/9, End of Line (Sapphire) 4/6, Gulf Rascal 4/11+5. It will be hard to beat today... but we keep saying that every day! It appears we'll be only slightly brushed by the passing weather.

08/31/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Today was special for many reasons. Not just because of the good bite but because of two highlights. First was the catches aboard Therapy. Angler Mike Callahan of Port Orange Fl. and Eileen Maxwell of New Smyrna Beach will be fishing the next five days aboard George Lorton's Therapy. And get this...Eileen has never been marlin fishing before today. Mike is an experience, well traveled angler who today had his best day ever! Mike released 5 blue marlin, a white and a sailfish acheiving a Virgin Islands regal slam and in total, they raised eleven blues! Capt. Walters and crew are hot!!

The other big story of the day was that of Damon Chouest. Today he reached his 500th Blue Marlin mark. He was fishing aboard the family owned Freedom with Capt. Albert and crew (including Capt. Terry and Bonny). Freedom backed into the dock with 4 flags flying and Damon with a big smile on his face! Damon caught his first blue marlin when he was 13 years old and the majority of his marlin have been caught here in the Virgin Islands. Bet on it... the late Ralph Christiansen and Sam Jennings will someday have this young man chasing down their all time record!

The fleet report: Therapy high hook w/5 blue marlin, 1 white, 1 sailfish. Angry Scot 0/2+2, Black Gold 1/2, Cowpoke 0/2, Gulf Rascal 2/?, Liquid Gold 3/4, Loaner 2/3+1, Prime Time 0/2, Reel Pushy 1/3, Revenge 3/5+1, Rude Awakening 3/4, Give It Away 0/1, Topless 1 blue, 1 white, Reel Tight 1,2+1, Lady Lane 2, Freedom 4/6. Also, Congratulations to Luis Bacardi's Team Rum Bum who we hear is leading in Puerto Rico.

08/30/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Like the bunny, St. Thomas keeps going! High boat today was Liquid Gold 4/6+3 (Serina now up to 8 for the week), Black Gold 3/3, Angry Scot 1/1, Gulf Rascal 3/4+1, Cowpoke 3/6+2, Revenge 1/2+1, Sharky's 1/5+some, Marlin Prince 1/?, Loaner 0/4, Chach 1/3, Reel Pushy 1/3, Prime Time Butch 3/3, Rude Awakening 3/5, Give it Away 0/5, Lady Lane 0/1, Topless 1/1+1, Freedom 1/2. Heard Prime Time PR had 4 fish but didn't get the report. Reel Tight Jimmy and crew will enter the fray tomorrow and it should just keep going and going!

08/29/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Better and better each day! Cowpoke 2/3, Black Gold 3/4, Revenge 4/4+1 (Sam 2), Therapy 5/7+ 1 swimmer - 22 year old Summer McPhillips of Tampa (photo right) 1 yesterday and 2 today, Marlin Prince 2/3+ 1 swimmer (Fred's guest), Sharky's 1/3, Angry Scot 2/10+a few (they are due to become high hook soon), Chach 1/4+2, Freedom 4/5+1, Liquid Gold 0/3, Blackout 4/7, Reel Pushy 2/4, Prime Time PR 5/6 (photo left). Stay tuned!

08/28/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands It was a great day for Capt. Flash Clark and clients onboard the Loaner. Sandra T Serina and friend released 6 blue marlin and Capt. Frankie was a happy camper because they let him wire 3 of the fish. Actually we heard that Frank was caught hiding the gloves from the young mate. Second high was Cowpoke going 5 for 5 and they had another teaser bite. Sam and crew on Revenge were 4 for 6 and they saw 2 more. Prime Time 1/3, Chach 1/3, Therapy 1/3 and Blackout 0/3. Today's rubber hook award went to the Angry Scot who went 2 for 10.

08/27/2009 - St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands The blue marlin are snapping! Capt. Butch Cox of Prime Time was hot stuff today, going 7 for 15. Angler Joe Davis of Chapel Hill, NC released six, saying it was an unbelieveable fishing day! Bob DeGabrielle and John Tierney will be fishing on Prime Time tomorrow. Revenge was 6 for 8 and they saw another 4. Sam caught 3 of the 6 and his friend caught the others. Liquid Gold was 3/7 and was back to the dock early . Chach was 5 for 11 and they saw a few more. A great beginning for the Sept. Moon- 4 boats with 21 blue marlin releases!

Capt. Frankie Branch and Serina of Sandra T fame arrived today. They'll be fishing with Capt. Flash Clark on Loaner tomorrow and with Capt. Cool and Troy on Liquid Gold the following days.

Tonight we also welcomed Capt. Terry Stansel (Patriot) and his wife Bonny back to St. Thomas. They will be enjoying the marlin fishing aboard Chach and Freedom this weekend. Terry spoke highly of the fishing off Louisiana - he's seeing and catching blue marlin almost every time they go out - plus getting in some great bottom fishing. He described the fishing there as "like having my own piece of the pie." There are few sport boats in the area to share with.