QUE MAS WINS THE 2010 BLAST
GRANDER IN CAPE VERDE TAKES WORLD CUP
The 5 blue marlin released by "Que Mas" on Day One were more than enough to
comfortably win the 6th Annual Bermuda Billfish Blast. The team added a
white release late during Day Two to finish with 2,700 points. This sets a
new points record for the Blast, and the 5 blue marlin released on Day One
are the most ever caught in a single day during a tournament in Bermuda.
Team "Que Mas" also become the first to win all three of the Bermuda Triple
Crown events - they won the 2007 Sea Horse and the 2008 Big Game Classic.
So they sit alone in achieving this "career slam" so to speak. Can anyone
win all three tournaments in the same year? I seriously doubt it, but I
would not bet against them holding on this year to become the first ever
repeat winners of the Bermuda Triple Crown Series (they won the 2008 Triple
Crown).
For the first time since 2002, Bermuda did not weigh a qualifying blue
marlin in the World Cup, and this is also the first time ever that no blue
marlin were weighed in a Bermuda Triple Crown tournament. Of course, this
was bound to happen one day in the Blast given that it is only a two day
event and one of the days is mandatory release. In fact, on Day One there
were at least a couple of 500 lb+ blue marlin released. This all meant
that "Que Mas" pretty much cleaned-up with official cash prizes. They won
$27,300 for 1st Place, a further $48,510 for the Day One Release Jackpots
and because no blues were weighed the big Blue Marlin Jackpots of $94,050
all rolled-into their hands also. In Bermuda, we are not used to seeing
the dock money defaulting to the top release team, but 5 blue marlin
released in a single day was great and one of those releases was a slob -
so it's fully deserved. Team "Que Mas" cleared $169,860 of official cash
awards and many more prizes and trophies - HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO CAPT.
TRAVIS BUTTERS, WALLY WHITLEY AND THE AWESOME QUE MAS TEAM !!!!
"Weez in the Keys" released a crucial blue marlin at 4:16 pm on Day Two to
secure 2nd Place overall with 1,200 points and $15,600 of cash winnings.
"Click Through" held on to 3rd Place overall with 1,000 points and $7,800
of cash winnings. The other team celebrating at the end was the 2009
Triple Crown Champion, team "Bree", who scored a blue marlin release and a
white release to win the Day Two Release Jackpots worth $48,510.
Day One of the tournament resulted in 21 blue marlin released and 7 whites released. The bite on Day Two was unable to maintain that terrific pace and there were a further 7 blue marlin released and 8 whites released. So, over the two days, 39 boats released 28 blue marlin and 15 whites. Twenty (51%) of the boats succeeding in photographing and releasing at least one blue marlin. This 51% blue marlin success rate is much better than last year (32%), but is about average when looking at the results during the 6-year history of the Blast (2008 was the best at 65%). The final Blast standings are as follows:
1. Que Mas - 5 blue releases; 1 white release - 2,700 points and cash
winnings of $169,860
2. Weez in the Keys - 2 blue releases; 1 white release - 1,200 points
and cash winnings of 15,600
3. Click Through - 2 blue releases - 1,000 points and cash winnings of
$7,800
4. Mako - 2 blue releases - 1,000
5. Artemis - 2 blue releases
6. El Cazador - 2 blue releases
7. Off Piste - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700
8. Bree - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700 points and cash winnings of $48,510
9. Chaos - 3 white releases - 600
10. C-Ya - 1 blue release - 500
11. Reel Lax - 1 blue release
12. Unreel - 1 blue release
13. Matanza - 1 blue release
14. Wound Up - 1 blue release
15. Ms. Knox - 1 blue release
16. Sea Scorpion - 1 blue release
17. Paradise One - 1 blue release
18. Treasure Isle - 1 blue release
19. Certifiable - 1 blue release
20. Blank Check - 1 blue release
21. Ovation - 2 white releases - 400
22. Queen of Hearts - 1 white release - 200
23. Over Budget - 1 white release
24. Pink Impression - 1 white release
25. Reel Addiction - 1 white release
26. Freedom - 1 white release
27. Margin Call - 1 white release
The following 12 boats did not score: Boogieman, Challenger, Fish Cakes, Mama Who, Mega Bucks, Overproof, Reel Hot, Sea Toy, Sea Duce, Tenacious, Touchdown and Uno Mas.
In the World Cup, Capt. Berno Neibuhr and team on "Happy Hooker" fishing in Cape Verde landed a 1,097 lb blue marlin to win the honors. In doing so, they become the first ever team to repeat as World Cup Champions (they won the 2006 World Cup also fishing in Cape Verde). This is the third GRANDER to win the World Cup (and the first outside of Bermuda) and is the third World Cup victory for Cape Verde. Well done to Capt. Neibuhr and team!!
In other action, Jimbo and crew on "Stella Blue" spent Independence day
meat fishing down on Argus and did well with 10 wahoo from 16 or so bites and had a crack at a blue on the way home. There's still a decent amount of bait down there, and yellowfin tuna are still available on both banks for those inclined to do some chumming.