InTheBite

Tournament Granders: Sportfishing’s Holy Grail

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The Sea Wolff’s Gulf record from the 2002 MGCBC – notice the flying gaff!

Catching a grander blue marlin in a tournament is perhaps sportfishing’s ultimate achievement. For most any passionate bluewater angler, the chance to catch a 1,000-pound blue marlin under any circumstance is about as good as it gets. To catch one with all the chips on the table with not only all of the fanfare but hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line? That’s another thing entirely. There aren’t many times, after all, when catching the fish of a lifetime can also provide a life-changing payday.

The following are stories from captains who have experienced this glory. To underscore just how impactful the occasion was, the money was an afterthought. Each captain was profoundly grateful for the experience…as you might imagine.

Captain Alan Card, Challenger, Bermuda – 1,195-pound Blue Marlin, 1993 Blue Marlin World Cup

We called Captain Alan Card out of the blue, with no warning or appointment. It was a Tuesday afternoon. We explained the idea for the article over the phone and apologized for asking about a fish that he caught 26 years ago. I imagined that perhaps he might have a hard time recalling the details on the spot and wanted to give him a way out of the conversation. He laughed at me (in his charming Bermuda fashion)…and launched into the story like it happened yesterday.

“That sort of fish you never forget! I can still count the stripes on it when it jumped,” he exclaimed with a laugh. “There were only two fish caught here that day. The other one was a little fish.” In Bermuda, boats stack up to fish the Blue Marlin World Cup. “We hooked him at 12:30 or so. I called Jim Hardy, who was running the tournament at the time, and told him we had a fish hooked. He told me there was already a big one – an 880 weighed in Madeira,” Card recalls. “I told him, ‘Don’t worry about it….’ You never forget a fish like that.” “I was using a Joe Yee Super Plunger with a pearl head and a purple and pink skirt. He ate the short rigger and jumped like hell. We were shallow, in 120 or 130 fathoms when he ate. It was a two- or so-hour fight. We chased him four or five miles.”

Card’s 1195 is still the largest fish ever caught in the Blue Marlin World Cup. The next year he entered again. “At the time they had a 400-pound minimum. We caught a fish and it measured so we brought in the boat. Some of the crew said it would go 399, some said 400. It was close,” Card recalls. At the scales, the fish squeaked by at 401. “There were not many fish caught that year. It stood until the last 10 minutes when some S.O.B. from Hawaii weighed a 600. Jim Hardy said, ‘I was rooting for you guys. You would have won it in back to back years with the biggest fish and the smallest ever to win.’”

Capt. Alan Card of Bermuda has weighed six granders (all 1100 or better), including the largest ever caught in the World Cup.

Captain Mike King, Mimi, North Carolina – 1,228-pound Blue Marlin, 2008 Pirate’s Cove

The story of how Captain Mike King came to run across what is perhaps the largest blue marlin ever caught in the continental United States during the Pirate’s Cove Tournament is really something. His summary upon reflecting on the day provides some insight into just how incredible it can be to catch the fish of a lifetime at just the right time. “I’m just so humbled that out of all of the generations of captains out of North Carolina to have that sea monster on, God chose me to catch it.”

Fishing in their home tournament, the Mimi assembled an all-star crew for Pirate’s Cove. Aboard were Trey Irvine, owner of Pipe Welders Marine, Paul Spencer, Chris Hall, an ex-Bayliss mate, an ex-Sea Toy mate, Patrick Byrd, and Cliff Spencer. “We had been striking out on the release division all tournament and had to pull out the lures. It was a Hail Mary event,” King recalls. A full spread of lures was certainly not King’s normal approach when tournament fishing. It was a decision they came to upon realizing that they would need something out of the ordinary to win the tournament.

“At 9:00 the night before, after a lot of brainstorming, we got the lures. We wanted to put four of them out, but we didn’t have enough hooks. Patrick and I go to one of the commercial rigs and took a couple rusty extra strength 10/0 hooks right off a mackerel rig. We polished them up real good…. Guess what the fish ate?” “I ran offshore and found the tunas. Our strategy was to just troll around the tunas all day,” the captain recalls. “It came up on a teaser and faded off and ate a lure. I knew it was a big fish, but I was nervous and didn’t say anything. Paul (Spencer) never says anything, but he erupted and said, ‘King this is a big one!’”

Fishing the first morning of the boat’s first tournament, Capt. Dennis Barrett and the Sea Wolff caught the Gulf record blue marlin.

“The fish jumped around and stayed up top for two hours. We were 20 miles offshore of everyone else. The last hour it was 30- to 45-feet away from the boat. We were in a stalemate. I was scared of losing it – the way it happens that way,” he recalls. “The last time it came up to jump the line kind of made a half hitch over its mouth and kind of choked it for a second. It stayed up top. I came roaring back and was either going to run it over or catch it.”

“The boat had a 19-inch door rather than the standard 22 inches. The fish was so big that it wouldn’t fit. We were afraid of tearing the fish. The dorsal created a barb and jammed the fish – we couldn’t get it out. We wrestled with it for an hour and finally decided to just pull. Somehow the fish made it.”

King and company caught the fish on an 80-wide.

“It would have been an IGFA record, but for the connection we used for the backing. In those days we didn’t always think about those things – today we do.”

The fish made for a payday of more than 600k, but it could have been more.

“It was in 2008 and things were just starting to recover (from the recession). Most years the tournament had a policy with Lloyd’s of London to pay out for a state record fish.

For whatever reason that year they didn’t,” King says. “We had some long faces. ‘Are you really gonna pull those lures?’ With a lot of divine intervention, it worked out.”

“137-inch fork length and a 78-inch girth – it was like a bluegill!” – Capt. Keith Quick

Captain Freddy Rice, Ihu Nui – 1062.5-pound Blue Marlin, 1986 Hawaii Invitational Billfish Tournament

Captain Freddy Rice was an icon of the Hawaii sportfishing community. At the helm of the Ihu Nui, Rice caught the then 50-pound line class record Pacific blue marlin on the last day of the 1986 HIBT. Rice’s son McGrew, who now runs the Ihu Nui, was working the cockpit that day. While Capt. Freddy Rice passed in January 2018, McGrew provided us a video interview his father gave that describes the fight and shows original video of the fight.

“We went four days in the tournament without a strike. The Laguna Niguel Billfish Club was the team for the day. They had won the billfish tournament the year before,” Rice describes. “Brooks Morris (the team captain) had his door knob lure that he was introducing. They were meant to be trolled as fast as you could go – almost with a rooster tail behind the boat.”

“I like heavy tackle – I don’t like light tackle. He had 50-pound on an 80-pound outfit – he wanted to do that. I said, ‘You are the client.’”

Known for his hospitality, Rice allowed the team to deploy their lure on their own tackle. “We had seen, the afternoon before, a big fish just broach. My thinking was that the big fish was still here…” Rice recalls. “The next thing you know, I thought someone had fallen overboard – everybody was yelling – and the fish comes out of the water.”

“I immediately said to myself, ‘It’s bigger than Joe Yee’s fish – which he had caught the first day. It was a 700-pounder that was leading the tournament.’ We got the lines cleared and I immediately started chasing the fish. Gil Kraemer (the angler) did a great job – he paid attention to what you asked him to do, he really concentrated. McGrew was crewing for me that day and he stood right over him to make sure that the angler was doing what he was supposed to do.”

“When the leader came up, McGrew got the leader and Brooks Morris, one of the anglers, got the first gaff in him. I came down from the bridge and got the second gaff in him. What we didn’t know was that one hook had gone over the top of his bill and the other one went underneath his jaw.”

“We knew we had a potential world record on light tackle, and we had won the tournament. McGrew said to me, ‘Your first 1,000 pounder is on light tackle.’ I said, ‘I know. God is punishing me, but I love the way He’s doing it!”

Molly Palmer’s would-have-been ladies’ world record from the 2012 Big Island Marlin Tournament.

Two of the Three Largest Blue Marlin Ever Caught in Gulf Tournaments – The Sea Wolff

With Captain Dennis Barrett at the helm, the Sea Wolff caught the Gulf record blue marlin – 1054.6 – on the first day of the 2002 Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic in Biloxi. Captain Keith Quick was the first mate that day. Some four years later, with Quick running the boat, the Sea Wolff would catch a 998.6-pound blue at the 2006 Bay Point Invitational. Were it not enough for one boat to come within 1.4-pounds of catching two grander blue marlin in tournaments, the Sea Wolff is a charter boat. Aboard for both fish was angler Barry Carr – the man who reeled them both in – and his group of friends.

The Sea Wolff is a G&S built in 2001. “We caught the grander on the first morning of our first tournament on the boat. The boat was built in 2001. We took delivery of it in February 2002. The tournament was in June,” recalls Keith Quick.

“We were fishing around Ram Powell (an oil rig), just getting our trolling spread in the water. We hadn’t been fishing for an hour when she came up and hit the long-left rigger – it ate a skirted Spanish mackerel,” Quick recalls. “We got the fish to the boat in 45 minutes, but we fought her for four hours. We were totally tripping. After some spectacular jumps and big runs initially, she settled in for battle within 30 yards from the boat, swimming away the whole time. We couldn’t do anything with her initially. We just stayed close to her as we could get. Capt. Dennis did a great job of staying on the fish. When we tried to pressure her, she would pull off 100 yards or so of line and sound. We would get her back up but she would only let us get so close.”

When the marlin finally came up for a gaff shot, the story becomes even more incredible. “Gaff man, Tony Parks, stuck her with the first gaff. The fish bolted and everything came tight in a hurry. All of a sudden it sounded like a tuning fork; I’ll never forget it. The gaff pulled out – the fish straightened the gaff,” he says.

The crew was using a 10-inch Pompanette flyer, a standard issue gaff that was not reinforced. After pulling off the gaff, the fish bolted. “It took 70 yards of line out and then it turned jet black…black as the ace of spades. It died on the spot. The fish was vertical with its bill sticking out of the water. We backed down hard and got a hold of her. We were lucky to get her before she sank.”

“We got her on the boat at about 11:00. We were 90 or so miles off the beach. We threw the marlin bag over her and ran in. We couldn’t weigh her until the scales opened at 5:30 or 6:00, so we just waited. We never did go back out.”

Were it not enough for the Sea Wolff to catch the Gulf record blue marlin in the Biloxi tournament – with a charter group, some four years later they would come within 1.4-pounds of doing it again at the 2006 Bay Point Invitational. Keith Quick was running the boat in 2006, his son Jared was working in the cockpit. They were fishing with the same charter group.

“It was the second day of the tournament. We had been catching so many blackfin and small yellowfin tuna that the guys were ready to move on, ‘We’re tired of this, let’s go,’ they said. I told them, ‘The one we’re looking for eats these things like grapes.’ Not five minutes later, here she comes.”

“She came straight across the spread right behind the boat and grabbed the left flat line lure, we could see how big the fish was. She missed it the first two times then, on the third try, grabbed the lure out of the clip and took 50 yards of line and pulled off. We were dying. We thought we missed our shot. Then she submarined over and ate the horse ballyhoo rigged with a blue and white Islander on the long-left rigger.”

“The dimensions on the first fish were 137-inch fork length and a 78-inch girth – it was like a bluegill! The second one was 134 to the fork, with a girth of 72-inches. It weighed 998.6-pounds,” Quick recalls. He is incredibly grateful to have been part of catching two of the three largest blue marlin ever caught in tournaments in the Gulf of Mexico. “You work your whole life to be part of something like that. I am so thankful and feel very blessed. We (speaking of the crew on the Sea Wolff) were good friends before – now, because of something like that, we’re inseparable.”

Jared Quick, Captain Keith’s son, is a deckhand and captain who has gone on to work aboard some of the Gulf’s finest boats – the Sea Mixer, the Dreamin’ On, and the Work of Art to name a few – was on the boat for the Bay Point fish. “Jared was one of the crew members with us for the second fish. That means so much to me. That was one of the most special things…”

Quick says, emotionally. “Everybody in this business knows that something like this is a very significant team achievement… to share something like this with your son is every father’s dream.”

Capt. Bomboy Llanes’ 1258.5 from the 2003 Fire Cracker Open.

A Grand Day

Catching a grander in and of itself is a monumental achievement that most will never experience. Doing so when all the money is on the line is another thing entirely. It doesn’t always turn out like you’d imagine. Captain Rahn Yamashita and the Shirley-Y caught a 1,101.6-pound blue in the 1997 Lahaina Jackpot Classic. A windfall victory? It would have been on any other day in the history of the world. Yamashita and crew took second place, coming up four and half pounds short of the 1106 weighed by Captain Russell Tanaka and the crew of the Magic. How’s that for a fish story?

The following is a list of 20 grander blue marlin caught in tournaments:

◆ 1979 Bahamas Billfish Championship, Bimini Leg.
1062– Capt. Mike Lemon, Revenge
◆ 1986 Hawaii International
Billfish Tournament: 1062.5 –
Capt. Freddy Rice, Ihu Nui
◆ 1988 Pirate’s Cove (North Carolina):
1080 – Capt. Brynner Parks, Teaser
◆ 1989 Band-the-Billfish Tournament
(NC Ducks Unlimited): 1002 –
Capt. Howard Basnight, Wave Runner
◆ 1993 Blue Marlin World Cup: 1195 –
Capt. Allen Card, Challenger – Bermuda
◆ 1993 LaHaina Jackpot: 1201.8 –
Capt. Bruce Matson, Cormorant
◆ 1993 Hawaii International Billfish
Tournament: 1,166 – Capt. Dale
Leverone, Sea Strike
◆ 1997 LaHaina Jackpot Classic:
(Two granders!) 1106 – Capt. Russell
Tanaka, Magic and 1101.5 – Capt. Rahn
Yamashita, Shirley-Y
◆ 2001 Bay Point Invitational (Florida):
1,046 – Capt. Conrad Hawkins, Lucky 2
◆ 2002 Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish
Classic: 1054.6 – Capt. Dennis Barrett,
Sea Wolff
◆ 2003 Fire Cracker Open (Hawaii): 1258.5 –
Capt. Bomboy Llanes, On The Fly
◆ 2004 Blue Marlin World Cup: 1189 –
Capt. Andrew Dias, Triple Play – Bermuda
◆ 2008 Pirate’s Cove (North Carolina):
1228 – Capt. Mike King, Mimi
◆ 2009 White Marlin Open: 1062 –
Capt. Skip Olpaco, No Problem
◆ 2010 Blue Marlin World Cup: 1097 –
Capt. Berno Niebuhr, Happy Hooker –
Cape Verde
◆ 2010 White Marlin Open: 1010.5 –
Capt. Tom McCoungle, Let It Ride
◆ 2012 Big Island Marlin Tournament
(Hawaii): 1022.5 – Capt. Neil Isaacs,
Anxious (self DQed, would be ladies’
world record. The fish died and had to
be planed up. After four hours in the
chair, with up to 90-pounds of drag,
angler Molly Palmer had to be relieved
by the crew).
◆ 2013 Trinidad International Game
Fishing Tournament: 1005.9. –
Capt. Brendan Farfan, Predator
◆ 2013 Bahamas Billfish Championship,
Treasure Cay Leg: 1119 – Capt. Jason
Parker, Double Dog

The Championship of Sportfishing: The Evolution of the Captain of the Year

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Captain of the Year

The InTheBite Captain of the Year Cup, presented by Hatteras, is the championship of sportfishing. The Cup is the world’s only quantifiable way to recognize the tournament success of professional sportfishermen. Comprised of 90-sanctioned events that span the world, there is nothing else like it. Winning an InTheBite Captain of the Year Award is a major achievement. From the winners to the Cup’s origin, it is an interesting tale.

Tranquilo crew COTY pic. Photo courtesy Pepper Ailor

Origins of the Cup

InTheBite Magazine started in 2003. Since its conception, the magazine has focused on providing useful, entertaining content for professional sportfishing crews. Over the course of covering the sportfishing landscape in the magazine’s formative years, InTheBite’s publisher and founder, Dale Wills, began to notice that something was missing.

“We began realizing that each year as we covered the magazine that certain teams would get on winning streaks. There was no award for them at the time and we wanted to recognize guys for doing well, so we created the Captain of the Year,” Wills, the son of a captain, recalls. “There was nothing for crews that consistently placed in tournaments. The owners would get checks, but we wanted to do more. We wanted to recognize the crews and the success of our readership.”

The first ever InTheBite Captain of the Year was VJ Bell in 2003. It was Bell’s dominance that spurred the decision to act. “That year we watched VJ Bell cleaning everyone’s clock and we wanted to recognize him.”

Scoring

In 2014, The Captain of the Year Cup took on its current multidivisional format. From 2003-2013, a single captain won the award based on voting by past winners. In 2014, to recognize the regional variations in the sportfishing landscape, the Captain of the Year Cup expanded to five divisions: East Coast Division, the Contender Florida Division, Gulf, Hawaii and the IGY Marinas International Division. Beyond the five divisions, InTheBite recognizes a winner of the World Wide Rankings, the captain who accrues the highest point total in the race each year. Each division is comprised of sanctioned tournaments, the results of which produce points for the COTY scoring.

Sanctioned events must meet a 12-boat minimum. Scoring is accumulated in the catch and release divisions of billfish tournaments: 500-points for first place, 300-points for second, 100-points for third place. For tournaments that include a heaviest marlin division, there is an additional 500-points awarded to the winning captain. The heaviest marlin points are in addition to and separate from the points awarded for the release divisions.

Ronnie Fields party.

In this way, a captain could theoretically win 1,000 points in the same tournament by weighing the heaviest marlin and winning the release division. And in tournaments that award top boat prizes through combined weighed fish and released fish, Captain of the Year points are awarded to the winner of the release division. An additional 250-points is awarded to captains who win series crowns in tournament circuits (Gulf Coast Triple Crown, the Los Sueños Triple Crown, etc.).

The point tallies follow the captain, rather than the boat. It is common for charter captains, especially in the Florida Division, to tally points on two or sometimes three boats in the course of the year. Not only do some captains score on multiple boats, some captains tally points in different divisions through the year. Multi divisional tallies were the key to the top two finishers in 2016’s World Wide Rankings—Captains Jon Duffie and Tommy Lynskey (each of whom scored in both the international and east coast divisions).

What Does it Mean to Win Captain of the Year?

Winning an ITB Captain of the Year Award is a big deal. From the early days of the award, when a single winner was chosen to the point-based divisional system of today, to win requires skill, consistency and dedication (nobody will turn down a little luck, either). Winning a Captain of the Year award requires a sizeable investment in tournament fishing by boat owners, skill and proficiency of mates, and anglers who are consistently ready when the bite happens. While all of these things must be present, it is the captain whose decision making keeps winning boats on the fish.

“It was awesome. I think it’s a pretty cool idea. With all of the new categories and areas, it has changed quite a bit since I won it,” says Captain Travis Butters the 2008 Captain of the Year. “The award was a great idea for the industry. It gives everyone something to strive for aside from just winning tournaments.”

When describing his winning year of 2008, Butters recalls, “First we won something in Key West. Then we won the Custom Boat Shootout and won a couple in Bermuda, and the Triple Crown. It was just one of those years when everything went your way.” Captain Devin Potts is the 2016 Gulf Division Captain of the Year. Potts, who runs the Sea Mixer, a 66-foot Spencer, says “There are a lot of good, good fishermen here. Winning this is a huge career milestone for me. It has been a humbling experience.”

Captain Victor Julio Lopez runs the Tranquilo, a 57-foot Spencer. Lopez was the first Costa Rican born captain to win the award, winning the 2016 International Division. “The success of my efforts may be attributed to the blessing of God and the effort of our team and our anglers. My mate Daniel Arrieta has been here giving his best to keep us in this position. My wife Tania is by my side and has always been my good luck charm,” says Lopez describing his success. “It’s taken a great effort day to day to be in the position and it is a great honor to the first Costa Rican captain to be named Captain of the Year.”

Glenn Cameron party.

So Now You’ve Won Captain of the Year… Now What?

It is standard practice that Captains of the Year host a party along with the presentation of the award. Just as there have been many different personalities who have won, the parties in the past have ranged far and wide. Captain Wink Doerzbacher won the 2013 Captain of the Year and the Florida Division Award in 2014. He celebrated in style with a reception at the Sailfish Point Clubhouse in Stuart, Florida. Captain John Dudas’ 2009 celebration was a catered affair at the legendary Miami Beach Rod and Gun Club.

When Captain Ronnie Fields won it in 2010, the party was an epic affair hosted by Big Oh owner Gray Ingram at his home. The reception for Captain Victor Julio Lopez included a friends and family affair on the cockpit of the Tranquilo after day 1 of a Los Sueños tournament and a formal presentation at the tournament’s award ceremony. Captain Russell Sinclair’s reception was held at the Ocean Club Marina in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Some parties include pig roasts with guest chefs—like Captain Travis Butters (master of the pig roast), and some are a bit more low key. Compare this the bright lights and cocktail hours of some captains with the approach of back-to-back Hawaii Division Captain of the Year Kerwin Masunaga. Captain Kerwin prefers to live bait during tournaments and keep his head down. He lets his fishing do the talking for him. And all of the diversity of approach is part of what makes the Cup so interesting.

Glenn Cameron and mate.

The Sanctioned Events

The Cup consists of 90-sanctioned events. The largest division by number is the IGY International Division with 23-tournaments. The Hawaii Division consists of 11. Sanctioned events are billfish tournaments that contain a minimum of 12-boats. While the award is meant to recognize the achievement of captains, the setup of the structure benefits a wide variety of those with an interest in sportfishing. Tournaments are chief among them.
Randy Bright is the Tournament Director of the Houston Big Game Club’s Lone Star Shootout.

“We’ve been part of it since it started. I think it’s a great program. Captains love to compete and to compare themselves with other guys that they’re fishing with,” says the industry veteran. “It’s a great benefit to the professional tournament captains. Anything we can do to create a tie between tournament and tournament is a good thing. Captains really like the idea of being part of it. It also helps the tournament because it encourages captains to encourage their owners to fish multiple events.”

Pig Roast.

Amy Dukes is the Tournament Director for the South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series and the five events that comprise the series—this year marks the 50 th anniversary of the Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament— are pivotal to the East Coast Division race.

“It’s an honor to have captains that fish the South Carolina Governor’s Cup to be included in such a prestigious award,” says Duke. “The last couple of years we’ve had a great representation in the Captain of the Year standings. Captain Harvey Shiflet, the 2016 East Coast Captain of the Year, won two of our events last year. Before that, Captain Gary Richardson on the Reel Passion, turned success in the Governor’s Cup into a Captain of the Year Award in 2015. Captain Bobby Garmany on the Sportin’ Life placed well, too.”

Rob Moore party.

The Cup Now

InTheBite.com is the source for current standings and the latest cup news. In the fourth year of its divisional format, the InTheBite Captain of the Year Cup, presented by Hatteras, is coming into its own. As the races heat up, the phone lines at the office ring with anticipation. “Who is winning?” “How am I doing?” “Do I need to fish any more events to keep my lead safe?” This is what makes tournament fishing fun and we’re honored to be able to recognize those who consistently produce.

The 2019 Captains of the Year

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By Dave Ferrell

2019 Sea Genie II Hawaii Division Captain of the Year

Capt. Teddy Hoogs, Bwana, 1,900 Points

1st Place Release Points, Skins, 500 Pts.
1st Place Release Points, Lure Maker, 500 Pts.
3rd Place Release Points, Marlin Magic, 100 Pts.
2nd Place Release Points, BIMT, 300 Pts.
1st Place Points, It’s a Wrap, 500 Pts.

There are few places in the world as steeped in the history of sportfishing as Kailua Kona, Hawaii. The use of the very first outriggers and very first artificial trolling lures for marlin to name just two. It also hosts the world-famous Hoogs family of sportfishing pioneers. Capt. Teddy Hoogs, this year’s winner of the Sea Genie Captain of the Year award grew up fishing the prolific waters of Kona sitting on the lap of his famous father Peter Hoogs, at the helm of the Pamela. “There wasn’t any daycare back then, so there’s a lot of pictures of me sitting on my Dad’s lap while fishing a charter,” says Hoogs.

Now all grown up and a legendary force to be reckoned with in his own right, Hoogs, 38, pilots the 46-foot Gamerfisherman, Bwana, in some of the best blue marlin water in the world. “It was awesome when I found out we were going to get her. She was formerly named Adios, and I was drooling over her the whole time she was on Yacht World. It’s really great to run her here,” says Hoogs.

Hoogs works for owner Craig Lindner Jr., and over the last 11 years, the two have put together a good team of anglers and mates that all work on the same page. Carl Shepard’s been with me for four or five years now, and we had Keith “KJ” Robinson come along when we run two crew. It’s all good vibes with those guys.

We are all behind each other 100 percent. We stand behind our choices on the water. We also had Bobby Cherry fill in for a few tournaments this year as well. He’s a captain here in Kona as well, and runs a boat called the Cherry Pit. He’s a good friend and was a good asset for us this year. We made a lot of the right turns this year for sure,” says Hoogs.

Hoogs says that they caught the majority of their fish on lures, but that “we caught one on a live bait during the last tournament. Craig is an excellent angler, and he’s worked hard on our program. He knows when to tease a fish, when to back off the drag and when to put it to them. It’s like having another crewman on the deck,” says Hoogs.

Another thing that Hoogs appreciates about his present owner situation is that he doesn’t have to be out fishing every day to make his living. “I grew up fishing a ton of days on the Pamela. My Dad had to do a lot of fishing to raise a family. With this job, I don’t have to be out there every day now.

I’ve got a couple of kids so fishing just 65 days or so a year, the majority of that with Craig, makes it much easier on the family life. I’m still busy keeping the boat up, and I enjoy the fishing all the tournaments in the summer. This arrangement allows me to be here for the kids while they are growing up,” says Hoogs.

Although he’s done the majority of his fishing in Kona, Hoogs quickly learned about the benefits of traveling to different spots and learning the ins and outs of big-game fishing from a variety of different perspectives. “I did six seasons on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, went to Madeira with Clay Hensley and fished in Ghana, Africa with Alan Stewart. I’ve also done a lot of commercial tuna fishing here in Kona for many years. We get to see plenty of big ones right here at home.”

“I’m very proud to the get the Captain of the Year award,” says Hoogs. “I like catching big marlin and big tuna and I really like tournament fishing…those big fish really get me going. Although, I really don’t mind catching a few little blues during the tournaments; we can catch them fast, get some points, and hopefully win some money!”

2019 AIRMAR East Coast Division Captain of the Year

Capt. Ryan Knapp, Top Dog, 1000 Total Points

Hatteras Village Offshore Open, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
The Big Rock, Heaviest Marlin 914-pounds, 500 Pts.

Just a young pup at 29, Capt. Ryan Knapp has packed a lot of experience into his short career. Knapp’s grandfather and uncle had offshore boats while he was growing up and he says that, “I was always the one who wanted to go do it! My grandfather really encouraged me, and I was pretty much attached to him at the ankle. I grew up on the western shore of Maryland so we fished a of Chesapeake Bay and Ocean City stuff.”

Like a lot of aspiring mates, Knapp got his first paying job as mate on Joe Riley’s famous headboat, Muff Diver. “It was a big pink headboat and you couldn’t miss it. It’s not an easy job working on a headboat, but you could make it work if you are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the people happy. You really have to love doing it to be successful. When Riley finally retired at the age of 70, he said to me, Ryan, you are my last protégé, do me proud. I still think about that a lot and try to live up to his expectations.”

Knapp earned his AIRMAR East Coast Captain of the Year designation with two impressive first-place wins in the Big Rock and Hatteras Village open, so you could say that North Carolina has been very good to Knapp and his team. “I definitely got zoned in on where the fish were going to be in North Carolina this year. By the time I left the state, we were 12 for 12 on blue marlin bites and found every one of those fish in 80.5 F water. I got tuned into a few things, but I really just paid attention and did my job,” says Knapp.

Photo courtesy Josh Robinson, Triwork Studios

Success, however, didn’t come quick or easy for his team. “I’ve fished The Big Rock for six years…and before last year, we’ve had just one bite in six years. It wasn’t that we weren’t in the zone, we just didn’t get the opportunities. You really are hunting unicorns out there sometimes.” “Five years into it and we still hadn’t caught one. At the end of the tournament my boss walks up and thanks us for all our hard work and tells us what a great tournament it’s been. Now that’s the guy you want to work for…a guy who will do what it takes to succeed.”

That perseverance paid off in spades this past year. “The Hatteras Village Open was awesome for us. The last day of fishing we saw five blues, caught three and killed one. We saw all the fish just 27 miles from the slip. It was truly an amazing day. All of the fish were 400-plus pounds and it was just amazing to see that many blue marlin in one day so close to home. It seemed like we would catch one, head up sea for a bit, turn around, catch another one, head up sea and do it again,” says Knapp.

Knapp’s first mate, Phillip “Moonpie” Williams is only a few years older than he is, but the team has been working together for the same set of owners on the same boat for the last four and half years. “We’ve been very fortunate to have worked together all this time…it makes for a good atmosphere and we are a very family-oriented team,” says Knapp.

“The boat is owned by two brothers, Todd and Kyle Dickerson, and since one of them was a police officer, most of our fishing guests consist of fire fighters and police officers. We have a small group of about ten guys that rotate through, so that’s a good thing as well. It keeps things fairly consistent.”

Knapp says that keeping an upbeat attitude is important for any boat’s success, whether fishing in a tournament or just for fun. “I never want to come home from a day’s fishing and have someone onboard that’s mad or upset about something; that’s the exact opposite of what a day’s fishing is supposed to bring.”

“I would like to thank everyone along the way who made me into what I am today. It’s very gratifying to win this award at such a young age. It’s really what you do all this for…you want to try to be the best and the one to beat,” says Knapp. “When I get to be an old man, I want the guys to head out the grounds and find me already sitting there when they pull up. Then I want them to say, ‘Shit! We aren’t going to catch anything today… Ryan’s going to catch them all!’ Bull Tolsen was that guy for me.”

2019 Contender Florida Division Captain of the Year

Photo courtesy AH360 Photography

Capt. Nick Carullo, Showtime, 1,250 Total Points

Final Sail, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
Quest for the Crest Champion, 250 Pts.
Dust ‘Em Off Sailfish Warmup, 1st Place, 500 Pts.

Like many of the South Florida tournament headliners, Captain Nick Carullo takes bait fishing and preparation nearly as seriously as he does catching sailfish. Leading a high powered team that cruises around on a boat powered by 1400 horsepower, Carullo details all that goes into creating a successful kite fishing campaign.

“A lot goes into bait catching and prep work. Quality bait can be the key to catching one or two more fish than your competition,” Carullo says. His preferred arsenal includes goggle eyes, threadfin herring and sardines. “We have our bait pins at the dock. We dip baits into and out of the pin one at a time. Generally, baits will be penned up anywhere from three to six weeks before the tournament. They are fed every day.”

When traveling to fish a tournament in Palm Beach or elsewhere, bait transport is a major undertaking. “For tournaments, we like to have about 150 white baits—threadfin and sardines—per day. For goggle eyes, we try to have about 70 per day. You always want to have more in case of die off. When we travel, we bring 400 herring, 200-300 sardines, and 200 gogs. The boat has three wells, but we bring two 100-gallon wells on deck that are removable. Each of these can hold 150 baits.”

“In the average year, we’ll spend more time bait fishing than fishing for sailfish,” Carullo says. This investment of time, resources and care for the bait has paid off in spades. “For your average tournament, we’ll generally fish the weekend before and the two days prior to the tournament. This allows us to scout the area and know what’s going on.”

Photo courtesy Endless Imagery

How does Carullo’s time prefishing tournaments compare to his investment in bait fishing? “We generally spend between four and eight days bait fishing for each tournament. It’s a constant struggle to keep the bait perfect.”

Given the many moving parts and the sizable nature of the investment of time and resources that goes into keeping everything tournament ready, having a committed group is very important. The Showtime’s
tournament team consists of angler Joe Fernandez (owner), Frankie Villasante, Sarah Melia, and Doug Mientkiewicz. Manning the cockpit are James Clear, Kyle Sherman and Jorge Corzo. The team’s tournament line up is rounded out by Jason Spiewak on the camera.

While this is Nick’s first year at the helm of the Showtime, he has fished with the mates for a long time. “Great chemistry and knowing what everyone is doing in different situations, without having to talk about it is very important. The chemistry comes into play when we are setting up on a free jumper, switching from a kite to a flat line or resetting on a fish with the kites out,” Carullo explains.

His approach to catching sailfish with the kites is one that accounts for a variety of variables. “Covering the right depths with the kites, especially as it relates to the wind is important. You want to stagger your kites so that the baits will cover different depths. Some people will deploy their kites so that all their baits are on the same depth profile,” says Nick.

Nick’s south Florida roots runs deep. He grew up in Miami fishing with his father. After cutting his teeth on his father’s small boat snapper fishing, he began crewing for one of South Florida’s finest captains. “I worked for Capt. Ray Rosher for three years. It was right after high school and during college. I got my first captain’s job right after working for Ray, when I was 23.”

While Nick has been a consistent name among the leaderboards of the Quest for the Crest Series for the past few years, 2019 was his first year aboard the Showtime. “I’ve know the Joe (the owner of the  Showtime) for ten years. Right before the 2019 season, the owner I was working for pulled out. I called Joe and asked him if he’d like to put a team together at the last minute. He said yes and it’s really worked out for us.”

When asked if there were any moments from the 2019 season that stand out, Nick is circumspect. “The last one… the Dust ‘Em Off Tournament was really special. It was that tournament that wound up winning us the Captain of the Year Award. We were in third place going into the last minute (of the last day) of the tournament. We needed a Hail Mary fish. We hooked the winning fish with 30 seconds left in the tournament,” Carullo recalls. “That fish won us the award.”

“It was a perfect reminder to always fish hard. You really never know how far your can go. If you just always fish hard, and your team is prepared, good things can happen.”

2019 Furuno Gulf Coast Division Captain of the Year

Capt. Jason Buck, Done Deal, 2100 Total Points

Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic, 2nd Place, 300 Pts.
Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic, 2nd Place, 300 Pts.
Texas Billfish Classic, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
Lone Star Shootout, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
New Orleans Invitational, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
*This represents Buck’s 4th win in the Furuno Gulf Coast Captain of the Year: 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019.

Well, if you’ve spent anytime fishing tournaments in the Gulf of Mexico for the last six years or so, the names Jason Buck and Done Deal have probably been permanently etched into your brain—and your wallet. Buck and his team are a veritable winning machine; this is Buck’s fourth Captain of the Year award since 2014, and he’s won the last three years in a row.

“We’ve definitely been a roll,” says Buck. “Some of it was lucking into good fishing, but a lot of our success comes down to doing your homework and scouting. That was especially true for the Texas Billfish Classic this year. We fished a tournament on the way over there and we caught six blues and white on the way over.

We stuck to that to that discipline of scouting, and the last place we ended up we got crushed by a great blue marlin bite and I said, ‘All right, I know where I’m going back to!’”

“We started fishing in tighter as well. I felt we were passing up a lot of fish by fishing way out wide just so that we could be all by ourselves. I threw that strategy out the window and said that if we think it looks good right out front, then that’s what we are going to fish. We ran 70 miles offshore, which in the Texas is really close, found good water and caught our fish.”

Buck grew up on the Gulf Coast, fishing with his Dad and his friends on a company-owned 46-Hatteras. He often dreamed about those trips and by the time he was teenager, he managed to work a couple of summers on the docks of Orange Beach, Alabama, making the 45-mile trek from his hometown of Fairhope, Alabama to work for free.

“One of the guys I was working for free for was a very professional guy. I could tell he had it together, and I was really impressed with him, so I asked him how I should go about making fishing a career. He said that he’d gone into the Coast Guard and then worked on charter boats during his days off.

So that’s what I did. I joined the Coast Guard, and my second duty station was Venice, Louisiana. I got a job running a charter boat catching tunas on my days off and that was that! You get to see a lot of cool stuff happening offshore in Venice!”

Buck’s first captain’s job was on the 65-foot Placebo, which took him to the Turks and Caicos, Costa Rica, and the Panama. While he was in Panama, he started talking to his present owner, Jon Gonsoulin. After a year of talking, Buck jumped ship and came to work for him. Eleven years later and the team is still together.

“After a brief Central American tour, for the past six years we mostly stayed at home and fished the Gulf tournaments,” says Buck. “It’s been working out good pretty for us! I think Jon might have been ready to quit in 2017…he was at least thinking about it. But we won the World Cup and a number of others that year, winning something like $1.5 million or so. So, he was like, maybe we should keep doing this! It’s hard work fishing these Gulf tournaments back to back to back…I’m just glad my guys are ate up with blue marlin fishing and the competition!”

Buck attributes a lot of his success to his world-class team of anglers and mates. “Katy Gonsoulin is our main angler. She’s also a crew member. A lot of this operation revolves around her. She’s caught a 535 after a five-hour fight, and the year before she fought a fish for that was tail wrapped for eight hours.

She can catch them plenty quick too, she caught a 740-pounder in an hour and 15 minutes. It’s really great to see a cute, 100-pound girl standing next to a giant blue marlin. She’s a big inspiration to the little girls around here…she’s like the Katy Perry of sportfishing on the Gulf Coast,” says Buck.

“Wilkes Hammock is another one of our great anglers who fills in sometimes, and I’d also like to thank my mates Scott Sullivan, Vick Lott and especially Nick Bovell. I can’t say enough good things about Nick. We had a good operation before Nick, but his experience, attitude and work ethic just took us to whole new level. There’s never any drama with that guy,” says Buck.

2019 International Division Captain of the Year

Capt. Jason Parker, Reel Steel, 1550 Total Points

Bermuda Billfish Blast, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
Bermuda Big Game Classic, 2nd Place, 300 Pts.
Sea Horse Anglers Club Tournament, 1st Place, 500 Pts.
Bermuda Triple Crown Champion, 250 Pts.

Everybody loves Bermuda. It’s just that Capt. Jason Parker on the 66-foot Hines Farley, Reel Steel, has a few more reasons to like it than most. After three straight years of fishing the Bermuda summer tournament season, and doing fairly well, the team exploded in 2019, taking two first place finishes and a second to take home the Bermuda Triple Crown Championship trophy. This impressive performance against some of our sport’s toughest competition earned Capt. Jason Parker the Top Captain of the Year in the Los Sueños International Division.

“We had a really good season,” says Parker. “I couldn’t be any happier. In Bermuda, we were just regular lure fishing. I’d like to say we were doing something different, but we just made the most of our opportunities and luck was on our side. We prefer to bait fish, we are primarily dead bait fishermen, light-tackle guys, but we can adapt to whatever. I used some of my friend’s experience and knowledge when I first came to Bermuda.

Since it was more of a lure fishing place, I relied on guys like Andy Moyes to help us a bit. But we know to lure fish and we went out there and lure fished and had three good seasons with this last year being the best of
it. I had a good crew – Drake Cooper – and a good angler, my owner, Mike Verzaleno. I wish I could say I’m the greatest and all that, but that’s just not the case. It was a really cool experience for us though, grinding it out every day and just doing what we know works.”

Parker started his sea-going career fishing out of Ocean City, Maryland. “I met Chris Bowie [the young mate who lost his life while wiring a blue marlin] and he kind of showed me the ropes, introduced me to the right people,” says Parker. “He also taught me how to act and carry yourself in this business. Work hard, keep a clean head, and do it because you love to do it.

Photo courtesy Michelle Gaylord/Out Your Front Door

That’s the number one thing…you really got to love it. Fishing is the reward for all the waxing and cleaning and being away from home. You’re not here to have a party every day.” Being away from home makes up a large part big game sportfishing these days and Parker says he owes a lot of his success to his wife. “I really owe a lot to my wife. She’s a very trusting person.

She takes care of everything at home which allows me to do my job to my best ability. We have been married now for almost 20 years, and we are a team. She gets the crappy end of the stick because she’ll be eating at home alone while we are all out at nice restaurant
somewhere. If I had to worry about paying the bills or worrying about her being happy every five minutes, I could not do what I do.”

Parker is also lucky in his working life…he says he’s never worked for someone that wasn’t a really nice guy. “I always believe that if you are a good person, then good things will come to you. I’ve been lucky to work with some really great owners,” says Parker. “Sean Healey, who owned the 84-foot Bayliss, Orion, was a dream of a guy who took us all down to fish in Costa Rica.

I also worked a season up in Massachusetts giant tuna fishing with Cookie Murray. I passed up a chance to fish in Venezuela to take that job, but I’d still do it again,” he says.

“Maybe they will open up Venezuela again someday.” Parker says his favorite place to fish is wherever they are biting, but he has a special affinity for Bermuda because “there’s a chance to see some really big ones!”

Parker also likes fishing around Ocean City and really likes Isla Mujeres, Mexico. “Isla’s a lot of fun for us…we are going back in mid-January for six weeks or so. I like a lot of other places too; my list is probably the
same as everybody else’s.”

Parker says he’s very reluctant to accept any accolades, but he’s grateful for the recognition. “I know that there a lot of really great captains and mates out there who don’t fish a lot of tournaments who deserve to be recognized as well,” he says.

2019 Bermuda Billfish Blast Winner – Congratulations Team “Reel Steel”

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More than 200 anglers competing on 38 teams experienced three days of record fishing, releasing 91 blue marlin, 17 white marlin and a spearfish.

HAMILTON, Bermuda (July 8, 2019) – An army of fishing talent experienced flat-calm conditions offshore Bermuda for the 2019 Bermuda Billfish Blast. A total of 248 anglers on 42 boats fished hard for three days, July 4-6, competing for marlin releases and coveted qualifying blue marlin to weigh in. Three days of fishing produced 38 blue marlin and 10 white marlin releases during the event, with most blues ranging in the 200- to 400-pound class. After lines out on day three, Team Reel Steel totaled two blue and two white marlin releases to win the 2019 Bermuda Billfish Blast.

As the competition intensified each day, no one team was able to pull away from the pack. In fact, no team that won a Daily Marlin Release Jackpot finished in the overall top three. The blue marlin bite increased each day but wasn’t as spectacular as 2018. Day one recorded 10 releases, day two saw 12 releases, and day three logged 16 blue marlin releases. Blue marlin releases were worth 500 points, garnering all the attention, while species such as white marlin and spearfish scored 200 points.

DAY ONE, JULY 4

Team Bree, captained by Kyle Liane, jumped out to an early lead on day one of the Bermuda Billfish Blast. The team released two blue marlin (1,000 points) by anglers Karl Minzenberg and Randy Ringhaver. The two blues were enough to win both levels of the Daily Marlin Release Jackpot and control the leaderboard.

Team Waste Knot, captained by Michael Tickle, was close behind with 700 points from one blue and one white marlin. Angler Scott Poole caught and released both fish. Teams Freyja, Legacy, Flyer, Big Deal, Blank Check, Reel Addiction and Auspicious all had great days too, recording one blue marlin release. The leaderboard was tight after day one.

DAY TWO, JULY 5

Team Stacked Up, captained by Snick Akers, got in on the action in a big way during day two. The newcomers to the Bermuda Triple Crown landed a blue marlin and white marlin for 700 points to win both levels of the Daily Marlin Release Jackpot. Angler Mike Engelman was in the chair for both fish. Team Reel Steel, captained by Jason Parker, was close behind, landing a blue marlin and a white marlin. Although Reel Steel and Stacked Up both caught the same number of fish, for the same amount of points, tournament rules dictate whichever team caught their fish earlier breaks the tiebreaker.

After two days of fishing, Bree held the lead with two blue marlin releases (1,000 points). Teams Flyer and Legacy also had two blue marlin releases (1,000 points). Team Stacked Up and Reel Steel were behind the top three places with 900 points each. Just one white marlin release was the difference between the top five teams after two days of fishing. Also, after two days of fishing, no team landed a marlin to weigh for the Largest Marlin jackpots.

DAY THREE, JULY 6

On day three, two teams that blanked the first two days stole the show.

Team Uno Mas, captained by Brooks Smith, landed two blue marlin and a white marlin for 1,200 points on day three. Anglers Jeremy Cabillo and Drew MacDowell each caught a blue, with MacDowell also releasing a white marlin. Uno Mas’ second blue marlin made the team think twice about boating the fish. A lengthy fight and oversize head had the blue marlin close to the 500-pound mark. For their three releases, Uno Mas won both levels of the Daily Marlin Release Jackpot. The points they scored on day three had them just 200 points behind the eventual winners

Team Sea Angel, captained by BC Angel, hooked one fish all tournament — but that fish was a game changer. On day three, angler Austin Angel came tight on a blue marlin and fought the fish for less than 2 hours. When they got the fish boat side, the team made the right call to gaff the fish and boat it. Back at the weigh-in docks, the fish weighed 509 pounds, just 9 pounds heavier than the 500-pound qualifying weight.

The Bermuda Billfish Blast offers optional winner-take-all Largest Marlin jackpots at two levels. The team that catches the largest blue marlin over 500 pounds wins the entire jackpot if they enter levels one and two. In the past, if the Largest Marlin Jackpot wasn’t won on July 4, the jackpot money was awarded to the top three boats in the Overall Billfish Release Jackpot. Tournament rules changed in 2019 allowing teams to weigh-in qualifying blue marlin on days two and three if no fish were weighed the prior day. For their catch on day three, Sea Angel won both levels of the winner-take-all Largest Marlin Jackpot.

WINNERS 

Team Reel Steel, captained by Jason Parker, scored 1,400 points to win first-place team, totaling two blue marlin and two white marlin releases. The team of anglers consisted of Mike Verzaleno, Marc Verzaleno, Drake Cropper, Big Mike Verzaleno and Charles Coats. They also won the first-place Overall Release Points Jackpot. Total Winnings were $77,400 and an invitation to the 2020 Offshore World Championship. Other prizes included King Sailfish Mounts trophies, Maui Jim sunglasses, VanMark Jewelry Designers marlin pendants, a Yeti cooler, Steve Goione prints, Release Marine custom trophy, Soundview Millwork trophies, Big-T lures and Bacardi spirits.

Team Sea Angel, captained by BC Angel, landed a 509-pound blue marlin to win both levels of the winner-take-all Largest Marlin Jackpot. The team of anglers consisted of Nolan Raunswinter, Randy Estes, Andrea Angel, Greg Angel, Austin Angel and Tyler Lindorf. Total Winnings were $100,800.

Team Waste Knot, captained by Michael Tickle, scored 1,200 points to win second-place team, totaling one white marlin and two blue marlin releases. The team also won second-place Overall Release Points Jackpot. Waste Knot anglers included Scott Poole, Ven Poole, Chelsea Poole, Scott Poole, Jr, Thompson Brown and Chase Dalce. Total winnings were $45,180. Other prizes included King Sailfish Mounts trophies, Steve Goione print, Big T Lures, Soundview Millworks trophies, Maui Jim sunglasses and Bacardi spirits.

Team Auspicious, captained by Edward “Cookie” Murray, scored 1,200 points to win the third-place team, totaling one white marlin and two blue marlin releases. The team also won third-place Overall Release Points Jackpot. Team Auspicious consisted of Kevin Stafford, David Soares, Carl Copeland, Joseph Rahman, Mark Brochu, John Copeland and John Given. Total winnings were $25,920. Other prizes included King Sailfish Mounts trophies, Steve Goione print, Big T Lures, Soundview Millworks trophies, Maui Jim sunglasses and Bacardi spirits.

Team Bree, captained by Kyle Liane, scored 1,000 points on day one from two blue marlin to win both levels of the Day One Marlin Release Jackpot. Team Bree consisted of Colin Murphy, Ian Fletcher, Randy Ringhaver, Royal Hendrix, Karl Minzenberg and Shelley Minzenberg. Total winnings were $33,600. Other prizes included King Sailfish Mounts trophies, Steve Goione print, Big T Lures, and Maui Jim sunglasses.

Team Stacked Up, captained by Snick Akers, scored 700 points on day two from one white marlin and one blue marlin to win both levels of the Day Two Marlin Release Jackpot. Team Stacked Up consisted of Scott Miller, James Nantz, John Seitzer, Mike Engelman, Heather Serriani, and Lisa Serirani. Total winnings were $33,600. Other prizes included King Sailfish Mounts trophies, Steve Goione print, Big T Lures, and Maui Jim sunglasses.

Team Uno Mas, captained by Brooks Smith, scored 1,200 points on day three from one white marlin and two blue marlin to win both levels of the Day Three Marlin Release Jackpot. Team Uno Mas consisted of Maria Smith, Sean Gallagher, Drew MacDowell, David Mothershed, Jeremy Cabillo and Jeremy Quinos. Total winnings were $33,600. Other prizes included King Sailfish Mounts trophies, Steve Goione print, Big T Lures, and Maui Jim sunglasses.

TOP ANGLER AND JUNIOR ANGLER

Angler Marc Verzaleno, of Team Reel Steel, scored 1,400 points to win the top junior and top angler of the 2019 Bermuda Billfish Blast. Verzaleno’s 1,400 points came from two blue marlin and two white marlin releases. His prizes included King Sailfish Mounts trophies, Soundview Millworks trophies, Steve Goione print, Big T Lures and Maui Jim sunglasses.

TOP LADY ANGLER

Angler Laura Russell, of Team Hit N Run, scored 1,000 points from two blue marlin, to win the top lady angler of the 2019 Bermuda Triple Crown. Other prizes included King Sailfish Mounts trophies, Soundview Millworks trophies, VanMark Jewelry Designers earrings, Steve Goione print, Big T Lures and Bacardi Spirits.

The 2019 Bermuda Billfish Blast tournament, presented by the Bermuda Tourism Authority, culminated in a highly popular awards banquet dinner in the Harbourview Ballroom at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel. More than 350 people were in attendance. The tournament awarded $350,000, plus trophies and prizes. For more information, visit www.bermudatriplecrown.com.

Furuno NavNet TZtouch2 Now Offers CMOR Seafloor Mapping

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Camas, WA – Furuno USA has announced a software update for NavNet TZtouch2 that enables use of the popular CMOR seafloor maps. CMOR’s high-resolution, shaded-relief bathymetric bottom images help navigators identify suitable locations for fishing and diving, overlaid on top of NavNet’s conventional vector, raster, or fishing charts. CMOR’s high-resolution coverage for NavNet TZtouch2 Multi-Function Displays currently includes parts of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, and southern portions of the East Coast, and additional areas will be available in the coming weeks.

The ability to overlay CMOR maps on the chart type of the customer’s choosing is a unique feature of NavNet TZtouch2. For current TZtouch2 owners, the maps properly formatted for use in TZtouch2 MFD’s are available for download from the Furuno web site at www.FurunoUSA.com, along with the software update and instructions for updating the NavNet TZtouch2 system. For customers new to TZtouch2, all new TZtouch2 MFD’s will now ship with a 256GB Micro SD card that includes all of the CMOR maps available, in addition to the system’s pre-loaded raster and vector charts that include most of the western hemisphere. Customers can unlock the CMOR charts at the time of purchase, or at any time thereafter.

For more information on CMOR maps, visit their website at www.cmormapping.com. To learn more about NavNet TZtouch2, or the complete line of Furuno Marine Electronics, see your local Furuno dealer or contact: Furuno U.S.A., 4400 N.W. Pacific Rim Blvd., Camas, WA 98607. Phone: (360) 834-9300

Furuno is a proud sponsor of the InTheBite Captain Of The Year Gulf Division. Click HERE for the current Cup standings in the Gulf.

Updates on 61st Annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament

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LINES ARE IN THE WATER FOR DAY 4!

61st Annual Big Rock Tournament- There’s a total of 184 boats entered and the 2019 overall purse is a record-breaking $2.86 million!

Good luck to all the participants! Check back to InTheBite for updates or follow the tournament live through Reel Time Apps.

Day 4, June 13- Updated as of 11:40a.m.

UPDATE: There is 1 boat fishing today, Paved For, tight lines guys!

Full Results Click Here

Day 3, June 12

1 of 3 blue marlin releases ANNIE O has racked up so far this week- putting them 1st in the Release Division

Using the Marlin Release Ruler to measure their blue. You can find these in the ITB shopping cart!

Day 2, June 11th 

DAY 1 , JUNE 10TH

Final Results: 2019 Orange Beach Billfish Classic

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The 23rd Annual Orange Beach Billfish Classic (OBBC), kicked off the 2019 Gulf Coast Tournament Season with 48 boats chasing Blue Marlin and more than a $1M in prize money.

Relentless Pursuit, a 95′ Jim Smith, caught the winning fish shortly after the fleet departed Orange Beach on Thursday, May 16th. “We didn’t have a chance to do any pre-fishing before the tournament,” said Captain Robbie Doggett. “But we hadn’t been on the troll all that long when we got the bite we needed. What a way to start the season!”

Angler Dennis Pasentine, Jr. brought the fish to the boat in less than two hours and the crew started heading for Orange Beach to weigh their fish early the next morning. The team celebrated both the 116″ fish that weighed 658.2 pounds and team owner Dennis Pasentine’s birthday before a nice early morning crowd at The Wharf. The Blue Marlin would still be atop the leaderboard when the scales closed on Saturday night.

No other fish were weighed on Friday, but Saturday night saw two more Blue Marlin come to scales. Double J, a 42′ Freeman, saw their fish measure 107″ and 399.4 pounds. Current Alabama State Record holder for Blue Marlin, Chris Ferrara on the 70′ Viking Reel Fire, claimed third place with his 376 pound Blue Marlin which measured 108″.

Mollie the 66′ G & S from Destin, won Catch and Release and will have their name added to the Johnny Johnson Memorial Trophy, by releasing three Blue Marlin. Reel Fire also placed in the Catch and Release category with a second place finish by releasing two Blue Marlin.


Born 2 Run, a 72′ Viking from Pensacola finished in third place in Catch and Release by also releasing two Blue Marlin.

One of the highlights of this year’s tournament was the weighing in of two giant Bluefin Tuna. Hot Rod, a 56′ Viking from Sasser, GA, brought their 107″ fish in early on Saturday night to the delight of the crowd as the scale read 735 pounds. That fish was bumped to second place as the final fish of the night brought huge roars from the fans in attendance and those watching online.

Crawgator, a 61′ Viking from Venice, LA, caught their 110″ Bluefin late on Saturday and just missed setting a new Alabama state record with an 825-pound giant tuna. Tireless, a 44′ Cabo from Orange Beach, finished third with a 172.4-pound Yellowfin Tuna.

CE, a 65′ Hatteras from Point Clear, AL won the Wahoo division with a 58.0-pound fish. Crawgator also placed in the Wahoo division with a second place fish that weighed 45.2 lbs. and Relentless Pursuit also placed in multiple categories with a third-place finish in Wahoo at 40.2 lbs.

It was good to again see big Dolphin coming to the scales as a new tournament year begins. Lucky Dog, a 57 Bayliss from Destin, took first place with a 46.2 lbs. Mahi-Mahi. Second place went to A Team, a 43′ Viking from Galveston, Texas and third place was won by Breathe Reel Deep, a 52 Ocean from Orange Beach. Both fish weighed an identical 36.6 lbs.

The Top Lady Angler was Katie Gonsoulin on Done Deal as she released two Blue Marlin.

Thirty-Six Blue Marlin and three White Marlin were released in the 2019 Orange Beach Billfish Classic.

Official 2019 Orange Beach Billfish Classic Results

Blue Marlin
1st- 658.2 lbs. Relentless Purist- Angler Dennis Pasentine
2nd- 399.4 lbs. Double J- Angler Greg Gaubert
3rd- 376 lbs. Reel Fire- Angler Nathan Neames

Catch and Release 
1st- Mollie
2nd- Reel Fire
3rd- Born 2 Run

Tuna
1st- 825.6 lbs. Crawgator- Angler Bill Butler
2nd- 735 lbs. Hot Rod – Angler Stewart Fickel
3rd- 172.4 lbs. Tireless – Angler Gregg Trenor

Wahoo
1st – 58 lbs. CE – Angler Scott Cooper
2nd- 45.2 lbs. Crawgator – Angler Bill Butler
3rd- 40.2 lbs. Relentless Pursuit- Angler Johnny Pasentine

Dolphin
1st- 46.2 lbs. Lucky Dog – Angler Jarrett Johnson
2nd- 36.6 lbs. A Team – Angler Robert Sanderson
3rd- 36.6 lbs. Breathe Reel Deep – JC Jacobs

Top Lady Angler
Katie Gonsoulin on the Done Deal

Transducer Breakdown and Awards From AIRMAR

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AIRMAR Technology Corporation, the leader in the manufacture of transducers, is a proud sponsor of the Captain of the Year East Coast Division. 

When it comes to transducers, there is much more to it than meets the eye. In this edition of InTheBite Dock Talk, Airmar’s Marketing Director Craig Cushman provides an overview of how to determine the best package of transducers for your sportfishing program.

InTheBite presented the AIRMAR East Coast Division Captain of the Year award at the Bohicket Billfish Tournament captains meeting. Congratulations to Captain Alan Neiford and crew aboard Mister Pete, they had an awesome year! In addition to the recognition he receives from InTheBite, AIRMAR rewarded an additional prize of $2,000 because the boat was equipped with an AIRMAR transducer.

First Annual Bahamas Blue Marlin Cup Tournament– Coming in 2020

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Treasure Cay, Abaco– For the FIRST TIME EVER, Abaco Tours and Activities presents the Bahamas Blue Marlin Cup. The BBMC marks a new beginning for tournament fishing in the Bahamas. Why?

No other tournament in the Bahamas allows you to fish anywhere for 9 hours, inboard or outboard for one day where the winner takes all. Each fishing team has the luxury of choosing an Island with our recommended marina at their preference to fish from. The entry fee is $4000 per boat and the optional additional $8000 Marlin Grander CHALLENGE is for those who want to win an even BIGGER AWARD

On May 4th,, 2020, make sure your team is ready to win hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention bragging rights for having caught the biggest blue marlin while competing against some of the top sport fishing teams around the Bahamas. The ultimate bragging rights will go to the winning team for taking the tittle of the first ever BBMC tournament. The BBMC will feature a host marina for those fishing from the Abaco’s at Treasure Cay Marina. Treasure Cay is well known for it record breaking big blue marlin.

Make sure the BBMC is on your calendar!!

For more information about the tournament, please contact Tanique Brutus at 954-892-6972; 242-365-8044

Email at info@bahamasbluemarlincup.com bbmc242@abacoactivities.com.

Visit: www.bahamasbluemarlincup.com

Final Results: 56th Annual Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Tournament

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De-Bait-Able takes the Win in a Field of 39 Boats

The 56th Annual Buccaneer Cup Sailfish Tournament was held January 23 to 26, 2019 in the Palm Beaches.  This year an additional fishing day was added to the format giving teams the choice to fish any two. With two days of near ideal conditions, and a much-anticipated bite pushing into the area from the north, teams were rewarded with steady fishing.  After the entire field of top competition teams taking a lay day on Thursday, all 39 boats hustled to release 180 sailfish on Friday and Saturday, The prize, a purse in excess of $352,000, the prestigious and beautiful Buccaneer Cup trophies for the top three boats and anglers, and bragging rights for placing in one of the oldest and most enduring billfish tournaments in the world. Add to that the knowledge that the tournament proceeds benefits the Recreational Fishing Alliance and The Billfish Foundation, there was a lot at stake.

Courtney Bowden, currently in her sixth year at the reigns of the Buc Cup, did a spectacular job running one of the best organized and classiest billfish tournaments on the coast. Along with her team of volunteers, including staff from TBF and RFA, she has made the Buc one of the most exciting and talked about tournaments of the season.  The comradery displayed by the teams in attendance proved to everyone that the Buc is most definitely back!

The 56th Buccaneer Cup opened with the Captains meeting on Wednesday held outdoors at the recently completed Tiki Bar at the Sailfish Marina.  The meeting was sponsored by the Viking Yacht Company and HMY Yacht Sales.  Robert “Fly” Navarro emceed the meeting and went through the rules which included a few changes in 2019 to give the teams more flexibility and fishing options.  The meeting included raffle items provided by the long list of tournament sponsors included such as items as Engel Coolers filled with goodies, Costa del Mar sunglasses, Maxel Reels, Tsunami rods and lures, Caza Offshore knife kits and gear donated by Atlantic Marine Electronics (AME), AFTCO, Hi-Liner Offshore Tackle, Grand Slam Sport Fishing, Outrigger Yacht Products, and Mustad.

The competition teams made the unanimous decision to lay on Day One, opting to fish Friday and Saturday which, based on the forecast, held the best conditions of the three available fishing days.

Day Two opened with grey skies, and light east winds and a strong bite with 14 sails being released within the first hour.  Martha D called in the first release of the tournament just 17 minutes after lines in at 8 AM.  The live baiters seemed to have the edge as Old No. 7, and De-Bait-Able took an early lead, but dead baiters Polarizer and Krazy Salts also made runs to claim the top spot for the day and the Calcutta dailies.  By lines out, Old No. 7 racked up 10 releases on live bait for 2,000 points, followed closely by De-Bait-Able just 200 points off the leader. The top dead baiters filled out the leader board with Polarizer and Krazy Salts in the 3rd and 4th spots aided by a late bite that saw six releases in the final 30 minutes of fishing before lines out at 3:30.

Day Three saw a drop in the wind and accompanying slowdown in the action, but the live baiters continued to push their advantage.  Based on radio chatter, fishing was best in a small area to the north of Jupiter Inlet.  De-Bait-Able, with Capt. KJ Zeher at the helm, put on an astonishing clinic the final day amassing a total of 4,200 points by lines out bringing their two-day total up to 21 sailfish releases and leaving the competition in their wake.

Tournament staff utilized Reel Time Apps for accurate, up-to-the-minute scoring that was available to teams and tournament enthusiasts by simply downloading the free app. The program was linked to the official radio room computer scoring team and updated minute-by-minute allowing teams to follow the leader board throughout each fishing day. At tournament’s end the radio logs were matched against the boat’s catch logs and Reel Time Apps and then verified by video confirmation.

The winning boats were De-Bait-Able on top, Old No. 7 securing second place, with Sandman just 200 points behind in third. The competition was a nail biter between the top boats and was capped by a great run by Wrapped-Up breaking out of the pack in the final hour of the tournament trying valiantly to catch the leaders.  In addition to several Calcutta categories, Old No. 7 also won the Charity Calcutta which includes an entry fee to the 2019 Buc Cup.  They have been a regular in the tournament the past few years and no doubt the crew will be back next year trying to top their second-place finish.

The top angler trophies went to Bill Bryan on the Old No. 7 in first, beating Chris Weaks on the De-Bait-Able in second by time (both had 1,400 points), and Sandra MacMillan on the Sandman taking third as well as the Top Female Angler, which was also a tie broken by earliest catch.

The Buccaneer Cup Tournament cash award for the Most Points on Live Bait ($10,000) went to the De-Bait-Able team, which pocketed $110,800.  Most Points on Dead Bait ($10,000) went to Polarizer, the team receiving a check for $66,610 in total purse for their win. The InTheBite Top Captain loving cup was awarded to Captain KJ Zeher, who skippered the De-Bait-Able to victory.

New for 2019 and created in memory of a long-time participant in the Buccaneer Cup, the Walter Johnson Award trophy for the largest meat fish went to the Bertram 61 for their 34-pound dolphin landed on Day 2.  Pat Healey explained that the award was created as a posthumous honor that recognized his love of catching meat fish, and for his contributions to the development of the MTU engine, which has become the standard in sportfishing boats, during his tenure as the top executive at Johnson & Towers.

The awards banquet was held at the Sailfish Club of Florida and sponsored by MTU Marine Power, Florida Detroit Diesel Allison, and Johnson and Towers.  The awards dinner was emceed by Robert “Fly” Navarro.  Pat Healey, President of Viking Yachts and member of the RFA Board of Directors, presented Ellen Peel of the Billfish Foundation with a $5,000 check to aid the organization in its ongoing efforts to advance the science used for billfish management and assessment.

This event would not be possible without the generous  support of its  sponsors including MTU Diesel, Florida Detroit Diesel Allison, Johnson & Towers, Viking Yachts, HMY Yacht Sales, Yamaha Outboards, Jupiter Beach Spa & Resort, Contender Boats, American Custom Yachts, Akzo Nobel-Interlux Paint, Seakeeper, Garmin, Cummins Marine Power, American Venture Boats, Bahama Boat Works, Christi/Travelers Insurance, Atlantic Marine Electronics, American Fishing Wire/Hi-Seas, Release Marine, Viking Service Center, The Buccaneer Marina & Resort, Reel Time Apps, Sailfish Marina, and Outrigger Marine Products.

We look forward to seeing all our teams and more next year for the prestigious 57th Buccaneer Cup where we can make sportfishing history again.