Indig Top Boat, Casca Dura’s Abud Top Angler

 

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. A blue marlin release within minutes of lines out earned the team aboard Indigo, a 61-foot Buddy Davis that is part of the local Ocean Surfari Charter fleet, the Top Boat in the 51st July Open Billfish Tournament (JOBT), hosted July 9 to 11 by the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club. The Indigo team released three blue and one white marlin in the three days of fishing.

“That last hour was a real nail-biter,” says Indigo’s Capt. Kevin Haddox.

Indigo started the day in the lead. A fish came up on the right short, then left long rigger but never bit. Then, a few hours later a call came over the radio that angler’s Gabriel Abud and Oscar Faris aboard Casca Dura, a Brazilian-based 80-foot Merritt, released a double header white marlin. This jumped Casca Dura into the lead by 300 points.

“We needed a blue marlin and the 500 points for its release to regain the lead. A white marlin wouldn’t do, because that would have tied us on points, but Casca Dura would have won because they scored their points first,” explains Haddox.

Then, with a little more than an hour left in the tournament, Indigo angler Steve Shockley, from Ft. Collins, Colorado, hooked up a 300- to 400-pound blue on the same Grander Custom Tackle-brand handmade lure he caught his first blue of the tournament three days prior. Twenty minutes later, Shockley released the fish, the second blue marlin of his fishing career, to earn Indigo its Top Boat honors.

“We just tried to pay attention, to figure out where the marlin where biting, and maximize every shot,” Haddox explains, about the secret to team Indigo’s success.

Casca Dura finished Second Top Boat. However, Abud earned Top Angler and his name engraved on the prestigious Capt. Johnny Harms ‘Give Him Line’ perpetual trophy, by being the angler to first release two blues and a white marlin.

“My fish came up on the right teaser and Oscars came up on the left long one. It was one right after the other,” says Abud, who is angling in the JOBT for the first time. “We both released our fish at about the same time.”

Abud’s white marlin release, combined with his two blue marlin releases the day prior, tallied to his trophy-winning success.

The team fishing aboard Mixed Bag II, a Luhrs 40 Open Express chartered by Capt. Robert Richards out of the Westin, St. John, earned Third Best Boat with the cumulative release of two blue and one white marlin caught by James ‘Mac’ MacNeil. Ironically, had the Mixed Bag II team not had a blue marlin disqualified on day two, they would have won the tournament based on the time of their releases. Even so, it was a great event for Richards whose 7-year-old son, Robbie, was one of the registered anglers.

Finally, 17-year-old Tristan Lambert, of Hillsboro Beach Inlet, Florida, angling aboard his father’s 80-foot Merritt, Reel Tight, released two blue marlin on the last day of fishing to land the Top Junior Angler trophy.

“We didn’t do anything different today,” he says. Lambert caught and released both his blues on 50-pound test line on stand-up gear rather than sitting in a fighting chair, definitely a talent.

Winners received exquisite hand-carved marlin head trophies by famous marine wildlife artist, David A. Wirth.

The 8-boat tournament fleet released a total of 16 marlin – 12 blue and 4 white – in the three days of fishing.

IGFA trained Observers, all members of the IGFTO (International Game Fish Tournament Observers), rode aboard each boat throughout the tournament to verify the releases.

The tournament was sponsored by Glazer’s Premier Distributors, LLC and the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club.

Proceeds benefit the Boys & Girls Club of the Virgin Islands. The Boys & Girls Club of the Virgin Islands, a 501 C (3) organization, enables all young people, especially those most needy, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Donations are tax deductible.

 

For more information, visit: www.vigfc.com or call (340) 775-9144.

Indigo Maintains Lead Day 2, Casa Dura’s Abud Moves Into Top Angler Slot- 51ST July Open Billfish Tournament

July 11, 2014 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The bite picked up and so did the excitement at the IGY American Yacht Harbor docks during the second day of fishing in the 51st July Open Billfish Tournament (JOBT). The eight boat fleet nearly doubled its catch rate from yesterday to five or eight total marlin releases in two days of fishing. The team aboard Indigo, a 61-foot Buddy Davis that is part of the local Ocean Surfari Charter fleet, maintained its lead by scoring blue and white marlin releases today.

 

“Angler Alan Patterson released the first fish of the day, a blue marlin, around 9:30 a.m.,” explains Indigo’s Capt. Kevin Haddox. “The fish first took a shot past the short rigger and we missed it. Then, it came charging back to the longer rigger and ate the bait. It was an amazing bite. And, a relatively easy fight. It went down, then up, and Alan released it in 15 to 20 minutes.”

 

Patterson also released a white marlin around 11 a.m.

 

“We were glad to catch the fish early to maintain our lead on time,” says Haddox. “So far, we’re doing what we set out to. That is, catching everything we see.”

 

Meanwhile, the team on Casca Dura, a Brazilian-based 80-foot Merritt, finished as the top boat for the day and second overall in tournament standings with the release of two blue marlin by angler Gabriel Abud.

 

“We saw four blue marlin today,” explains Capt. Bruno Larica. “We missed the first, then Gabriel caught the second, the third went swimming by but didn’t bite, and Gabriel released the fourth only five minutes before lines out. Both marlin were good size – 250 to 350 pounds, and quick releases – under 5 minutes.”

 

Abud is the only tournament angler so far to have released a pair of blues. Thus, he moves into the lead for Top Angler and the prestigious Capt. Johnny Harms ‘Give Him Line’ Trophy.

 

The team fishing aboard Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bill Ingram’s 61-foot Billy Holton, Reel Passion, didn’t release any marlin today. However, they are currently in third place because they were the first to release one blue marlin.

 

Mixed Bag II, a Luhrs 40 Open Express chartered by Capt. Robert Richards out of the Westin, St. John, earned a spot on the score board today when angler, Travis ‘Mac” McNeil, released a blue marlin around noon. The Mixed Bag II team boasts the youngest tournament angler, Richards’ 6-year-old son, Robbie.

 

“The marlin haven’t eaten his bait yet,” says Richards, about his son, “but tomorrow is another day.”

 

The hot ‘dock talk’ topic of the day was the relatively slow bite compared to the fishing over the July full moon in past years.

 

“Everything seems a little late this year,” says Indigo’s Haddox. “The seaweed just showed up and it normally appears in May and June, the weather starts getting rough in May and it’s just getting so now. So, I think, since the July moon is earlier in the month, that the bite is more like we’d see in the June moon.”

 

Traditionally, the full moons in July through October have produced some of the best blue marlin fishing in the world in terms of total numbers.

 

The fishing competition continues Friday with lines in the water at 8:30 a.m. and concludes with lines out at 4:30 p.m.

 

IGFA trained Observers, all members of the IGFTO (International Game Fish Tournament Observers), ride aboard each boat throughout the tournament to verify the releases.

 

The public is invited to greet the fleet as the boats come back to the dock around sunset. The number of flags flying on the outriggers indicates how many billfish the boat’s anglers caught and released for the day. The JOBT is an all-release tournament.

 

Ocean Surfaris’ Indigo Leads Day 1 – 51ST July Open Billfish Tournament

Photo: Team Indigo: L to R back row: Alan Patterson, Josh Richardson, Walt Dasnight, Ed Miller, J.C. Richardson, Capt. Kevin Haddox. L to R front row: Sharp Kemp, Steve Shockley.
Credit: Dean Barnes

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The fish weren’t biting, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying to catch them on the part of the eight teams competing in the 51st July Open Billfish Tournament (JOBT). By lines out at 5:30 p.m., three boats released one blue marlin apiece. This result was enough to put Indigo in the lead, followed by Reel Passion second and Wave Paver third.

“We hooked up about 11 a.m.,” explains Steve Shockley, the Fort Collins, Colorado-based manufacturing manager of Grander Custom Tackle who fished aboard Indigo, a 61-foot Buddy Davis that is part of the local Ocean Surfari Charter fleet. “We’re fishing with all of our own lures. I chose a large one with a purple shell and that’s what worked.”

Shockley’s first release of the day put him in the lead for Top Angler, and the prestigious Capt. Johnny Harms ‘Give Him Line’ Trophy.

Less than an hour later, Charlotte, North Carolina angler, Bill Ingram, fishing aboard his
61-foot Billy Holton, Reel Passion, released a blue marlin. “It was a nice size fish,” says mate, Ross Thames.

Finally, around 2 p.m., it was Jr. Davis, from Port Canaveral, Florida, who released a blue marlin from aboard his 61-foot Garlington, Wave Paver.

“We had one bite and caught it and we saw two more, but they didn’t bite,” says Davis, whose talented team won the 2013 USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament and the 2014 four-tournament Bahamas Billfish Championships.

The fishing competition continues Thursday with lines in the water at 8:30 a.m.

IGFA trained Observers, all members of the IGFTO (International Game Fish Tournament Observers), ride aboard each boat throughout the tournament to verify the releases.

The public is invited to greet the fleet as the boats come back to the dock around sunset. The number of flags flying on the outriggers indicates how many billfish the boat’s anglers caught and released for the day. The JOBT is an all-release tournament.

Proceeds from the JOBT benefit the Boys & Girls Club of the Virgin Islands. The Boys & Girls Club of the Virgin Islands, a 501 C (3) organization, enables all young people, especially those most needy, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Donations are tax deductible.

For more information, visit: www.vigfc.com or call (340) 775-9144.