July 15-17
 
THE BIG BLUE MARLIN BITE IS ON IN BERMUDA
 
The 37th Annual Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament is exploding
with massive blue marlin. We knew they were here because just before the
tournament Capt. Kevin Winter's "Playmate" weighed that Grander (1,012 lb)
and there were a lot of other big fish released and/or fought and lost.
This tournament also represents the third and final leg of the Bermuda
Triple Crown Series and it's been a fascinating shoot-out. I don't even
know where to start.
 
A fleet of 28 boats caught 14 blue marlin and 7 white marlin on Day One,
and then they topped that with 15 blue marlin, 3 white marlin and a
spearfish on Day Two.
 
"Que Mas" entered the tournament with 3,900 points and a slim 100 point
lead over "Weez in the Keys" in the Triple Crown standings, but "Weez in
the Keys" released a white at 11:14 am on Day One to take the lead with
4,000 points. However, Day One belonged to the"Sea Duce" team who released
three blue marlin to take the Sea Horse lead and win the Day One Release
Jackpot worth $16,500. The haul also took "Sea Duce" up to 3,700 Triple
Crown points = good for third place and a mere 300 points behind "Weez in
the Keys". The other big winner on Day One was Capt. Andrew Dias and his
team aboard "Triple Play" - junior angler Marcus Dias released the first
blue marlin of the tournament at 8:59 am, and then angler Kirk Parris
hooked into a big blue marlin at 12:51, which was subsequently boated at
1:35 pm after a 44 minute tussle. The big blue marlin later tipped the
scales at Barr's Bay Park at 749 lb - NICE GOING TRIPLE PLAY !!! This won
them the Day One Blue Marlin Jackpot worth $17,820 and put them in 2nd
Place with 1,249 points at the end of Day One.
 
"Click Through" released a blue marlin on Day One, which brought them up to
3,200 points and 4th Place in the Triple Crown standings. That was
significant, because Day Two belonged to "Click Through" as they hooked
into a big blue marlin at 8:16 am, which they boated at 9:03 am and the
team then went on to release a spearfish and another blue marlin, which
gave them the Sea Horse Tournament lead at the end of Day Two with 1,766
points and the Day Two Blue Marlin Jackpot worth $17,820. The Day Two
Release Jackpot and $16,500 was won by "Reel Lax" with two blue marlin
releases. In the Triple Crown, "Que Mas" regained the lead with a white
release at 8:14 am and extended the lead with another white release at 9:12
am to put them on 4,300 points. However, "Weez in the Keys" snatched the
lead back with a blue marlin release at 11:48 am to give them 4,500 points
and then they hooked-up again at 1:10 pm to a decent blue marlin. This,
unfortunately is when it all fell apart for the team on "Weez in the Keys"
- they inexplicably decided to boat the second blue marlin which they
thought was slightly better than 500. They could not have possibly
expected it to be bigger than the blue already aboard "Click Through" and
that is why we require the measurements to be announced so that borderline
fish are more likely to be released. Presumably, the Weez team thought
they needed the extra points and did not adequately consider the risk of
the fish being undersized. The release would have put them on 5,000 points
- so a comfortable 700 point lead over "Que Mas". Once the fish was in the
boat and measured, panic set-in and the team compounded their error by
running to the scales and losing several hours of fishing time. It must
have been very sober at Barr's Bay Park, and thankfully not to many of us
witnessed it when the 462 lb blue marlin was hung-up. That error cost them
negative 576 points and also took them off the leaderboard in the Sea Horse
tournament. At the end of Day Two, "Click Through" sat atop the Triple
Crown standings with 4,466 points; "Que Mas" is 2nd with 4,300 points, and
"Weez in the Keys" has 3,924 points (instead of 5,000); "Sea Duce" has
3,700.
 
"Paradise One" leads the Gamefish division with a 37 lb wahoo.
 
So, over the first two of the three days in the Sea Horse Tournament 28
boats have caught 29 blue marlin, 10 whites and a spearfish. All but three
of the 40 billfish have been released. The three blues weighed were 749
lb, 666 lb and 462 lb. There have been many other really big blues raised
and hooked. I will send out a report next week as to how it all ends
today, but you can see the action at www.bermudatriplecrown.com. I can
tell you that the bite continues to be GREAT today and Capt. James Robinson
and his "Wound Up" team have an estimated 800 pounder on the deck - so
there will definitely be a party at Barr's Bay Park tonight to see the huge
fish and to celebrate with whoever can hang-on or charge forward to win the
prestigious Sea Horse and Triple Crown events.
 
 
Sea Horse Cash Awards
 
Biggest Blue Marlin Jackpot - $47,520
Daily Release Jackpot - $16,500 (Sea Duce, Reel Lax)
Daily Blue Marlin Jackpot - $17,820 (Triple Play, Click Through)
Most Billfish Release Points Jackpot - $43,560
 
1st Place - $16,800
2nd Place - $8,400
3rd Place - 5,600
 
High Point Angler - $2,800
 
Gamefish - $2,800