Southern Pride Races On
By Dale Wills
The latest 70’ Weaver Boatworks Southern Pride—splashed August 2020—could easily be called “Rocket Ship.” Simply put, she hauls ass! InTheBite recently had the opportunity to jump aboard and go for a ride. The very first thing I noticed was how very quiet the boat was. Both underway and idling. Clearing the final marker out of the Ocean Reef Club channel in Key Largo we headed south into a brisk 20-knot wind.
Designed for the angler that wants a balance between cruising and sportfishing, the new Bertram 50 is an exciting addition to Bertram Yachts’ offshore family. Space is key on this boat, which features a 17.5′ beam and full-length hatch to the engine room. Matched with the right propellers, the Bertram 50 can reach top speeds of about 44 knots.
Bertram Product Development Manager Tommy Thompson gave InTheBite a tour of the 50-footer and broke down the boat’s specs at the Miami International Boat Show, held Feb. 13-17.
If you’ve been around fishing long enough to stay calm when a giant marlin materializes in your baits, one thing that strikes you is that they appear to be keeping up with your trolling speed with absolute ease – almost effortlessly. When you combine this visual with the astonishing bulk of the beast in your wake, it almost makes them look as if they are acting like a lazy old elephant, just out for a stroll.
Of course, if you hook that monster, all hell will break loose and any interpretation of laziness will go right out the window – along with your calm – but for a short while, that’s what it can look like. Even after you’ve seen lots and lots of big marlin, you may still wonder at this and the incredible transformation that can happen in the blink of an eye.
On another note, the “lazy” looking ones can be the hardest to get an aggressive bite out of, and hence, sometimes hard to hook. They are like the worlds largest mouse toying with a knot in the end of a piece of string. It’s always easier to hook a suicide fish than one just playing with the bait, but that doesn’t discount every single encounter with a BIG one from being awe inspiring, and a down right shock of adrenaline.
So, if you are wondering why anyone would call a tournament “The Lazy Marlin Hunt”, now you know! What you may not know is that “granders” (marlin 1,000 pounds or larger) have been caught in Hawaii during every month of the calendar year. In addition, more “grander” blue marlin have been caught in Hawaii than any other single fishing hole on Earth.
The month with the most graders caught is July, but in Kona, there are already tournaments on every single weekend in July. The month with the second most graders caught in it is March, which has no tournament scheduled, which is why the Lazy Marlin Hunt was put in March.
It is also interesting that more marlin 500 pounds or better are caught during March and April than any other two concurrent months of the year. More than 50 blues, 500 pounds or better have been caught in March and April – each year – during 2018 and again, in 2019.
As for Granders, 31 blues over 1,000 pounds were documented as caught in March and April. And two of the three largest blues ever caught were landed in March a 1,649 pounder caught off of Oahu in 1984 and and slightly more infamous 1,656 pound caught from Black Bart in 1991. March has also turned up six blues over 1,200 pounds.
Looking closer for trends, another pattern appeared: more granders were caught just before, just after or right on the New Moon – clearly more than during any other period. The New Moon of March 2020 is on the 25th, so it seemed logical to schedule the tournament to start fishing March 27, just after the new, and right before the page turns to April.
The two most popular (and richest) tourneys in Kona are the Kona Throw Down and the Skins Marlin Derby, which run back to back in July. Between them, they generated a total purse of over $1 Million dollars last summer. Anglers like to fish for Big Fish!
The Lazy Marlin Hunt combines a few of the most popular aspects of the two tourney formats into one – 500 pound minimum – winner take all, one prize from the Base Entry; 400 pound minimum for all optionals; and refunds for winner take all and biggest marlin categories if no qualifier is weighed in any particular category.
With all these points in mind, why would you not fish the Lazy Marlin Hunt? It’s not like you can fish a Big Blue Marlin tourney with these odds, anywhere else but Kona…one just doesn’t exist – except for the two in July. And, there have not been two marlin over 1,600 pounds caught in July…and you get more bites in July, but from more small fish….and….oh, well, you get the picture.
One more thing to consider; interest is strong and the best boats and crews are booking up already, so don’t miss “stacking the deck” and fielding your best team for this one. You’re gonna need every edge you can muster to win the Lazy Marlin Hunt. Enter now!
Go to konatournaments.com and download the entry form: https://konatournaments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2020-lazy-marlin-cash-1.pdf And for those detail minded, why not read the rules: https://konatournaments.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2020-Lazy-Marlin-Hunt-Rules.pdf. For more information, call at 808.557.0908 or shoot me an email at jody@konatournaments.com.
See you in March, at the Lazy Marlin Hunt – Kona
