InTheBite

The Best and Worst Fish of My Life

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By Keith Bowen

During the 2017 WMO, I fished with Capt. Ricky Wheeler on the ‘Exile 65’ Paul Mann out of The Canyon Club marina in Cape May, NJ. After a classic crashing teaser bite, a plug was pitched on a 80W standup combo and it was ‘game on’ with a decent sized Blue Marlin. I quickly got in my Smitty Built harness and got ready for a fight. Between fishing in Costa Rica and New Jersey, I had caught about 20 Blue Marlin in the past but after one jump, it was clear this was my biggest to date. Everyone was extremely excited during the controlled chaos as there had not yet been a blue weighed in and we were in the right Calcutta’s.  The fight lasted 58 minutes to get her boatside. After measuring her six times, the captain  agreed on her being a roughly 110” fish, 4” short of the minimum allowable length.  Although from a somewhat disappointed perspective, the crew spoke the rest of the day about what a great experience the Blue was for all us. Little did we know how much that experience would influence our future plans.  No Blue was weighed in that year – ouch but there are more tournament fish in the sea to catch in future years. With the experience of Capt Wheeler, I was lucky enough to catch and release enough fish and awarded with a 4th place finish for angler billfish points and receive a commemorative ring as well.

Captain Ricky Wheeler and mate Stephen Bowen

Fast forward and as 2018 rolled around, all of the 2017 anglers still agreed that we wanted to have the same ‘good luck mojo’ on the Exile 65. To boost our chances, Capt. Wheeler brought an extremely experienced mate from Trinidad to aid in our 2018 quest.  The mate, Matthew, had some tricks of his own with slightly different fishing techniques than I had seen in the past. Having caught hundreds of blue marlin, Matthew and his expertise were a welcome addition to the crew.

The 2018 WMO started a bit slower and like most boats, we had to work hard for our catches. On Friday, our third and final day of fishing, the captain and mate decided to change the spread based on their years of experience fishing in the conditions that we were seeing that day. On the port side, a medium sized plug was ready for pitch. On the starboard side, Matthew had stitched up a large pitch bait in case a BIG girl showed up.

At about 11:00, I went inside to make sandwiches for the crew, but was still keeping an eye out for an action through the window. I had just spread the mayonnaise on the rolls and I hear some commotion outside. As I looked up, I immediately saw the crew clearing the flatlines and Matthew going for the large pitch bait. I thought to myself, oh my gosh is this really happening ? As I exited the salon door and made my way to the cockpit, Matthew pitched her the bait and hooked up. In all my years of fishing, I had never seen a boil this large.  As she hammered the pitch bait, it appeared a small car was emerging from the water. I quickly spotted my trusted Smitty Built harness hanging on the bridge stairs and geared up for the enduring fight. After Matthew hooked the fish on the Tiagra 80W custom standup combo, he turned to me and asked if I was ready to have some fun. I gladly took the rod and made my  way to the corner of the cockpit to get situated for the fight. Without what seemed even making a swish of the tail, she swam away with ease at 28 lbs of drag.

Angler Keith Bowen

After about 15 secs, this fish decided to let us see what I was battling against as she jumped about 25 yds behind the boat. What we all saw was the most amazing sight we had ever seen. I had never been on a boat that hooked a fish that size let alone been the one fighting it. Understandingly, there was quite a loud commotion going on throughout the whole boat. I have to admit, for a short time I was wondering what the heck I had gotten myself into. There was some guessing as to how big she was as I could hear the guys talking behind me about what a monster fish this was. I could hear Matthew say “Ricky, that’s the one we wanted” followed by some high fives behind me. As Matthew has guided hundreds of anglers through the end game on large fish such as this, I was intently listening to his advice. Ricky was discussing the job each crew member had with gaffing as this was going to be a total team effort to land the fish and take her for a ride to the Ocean City Md scales.

Mate Stephen Bowen and angler Karl Gordinier

The first hour seemed to fly by as I would get one foot of line back and she would take two feet her way headed to the east. The crew were incredibly supportive and encouraging, making sure I was well fed and hydrated along the way. I must have drank a few gallons of water and Gatorade. It was kind of funny having my son telling me, “Come on dad, you can do it!” Although the shoe was on the other foot, it reminded me of being his Tee Ball coach, teaching and encouraging him all those years.

At about 2 hours into the fight, we were trying to get a reaction out of her to make her come up. Ricky ran up in front of the fish in an effort to get her to make a mistake. The captain and mate knew what side the hook was on so we tried to make her react and come up, which she eventually did. At about that time, I remember hearing Ricky say something about three hours. I thought to myself, there’s no way I’ve been on the rod for that long already.

After about three and half hours, she did make another jump about 40 yds off. Once again, we were all in awe at such a spectacular fish. We did have some boats in the tournament drive by us during the fight  so they could take a look at the action. We were all terrified that someone would get too close and cut her off as we were stretched out quite a bit. By now, we had her at full drag on the Tiagra 80W. I had heard of captains speaking about how hot the reel can get from friction in battles like this. While taking a break from reeling, I bumped my hand against the reel body and could not believe how hot it was. From that point on, I periodically poured bottles of water on the reel to keep it a bit cooler so the drag would stay more consistent. I have Tiagra reels on my own boat and now had a new appreciation for why it matters to use high quality reels when the pressure is on.

I hadn’t realized it but she was taking us a bit too close to being out of bounds so Captain Ricky was doing everything he could with the boat to help and stay legal. This was disheartening at times as I had to give up precious line that I fought to gain over the last few hours. However, I fully trusted the captain and mate so I did exactly as they instructed. Later that day, he let me know that we backed down on her for 7.5 miles which is why we had to have her at full drag towards the end.

After about 4.5 hours, I called up to the bridge for Captain Wheeler to come down. I was starting to see stars in my eyes.  I did everything I could to keep fighting and stay on my feet, but it only got more difficult with time.  Each second on my feet like an hour slowly ticking by. There wasn’t a bone in my body that wanted to quit, but I knew I couldn’t last forever.  My eyes closed for a split second, and the next thing I knew I was on my knees passed out in the cockpit, with the rod resting on the gunnel. Game over for a legal fish in the tournament. The crew grabbed me so I would not get pulled overboard as I was still clipped to the reel with the harness. We still had the fish on the line so one of the other crew took the rod so he could experience the fight. After a couple of minutes, he said ‘The heck with this’  and passed the rod to a third angler. This third angler was able to bring the fish up to where Matthew could grab the leader. Keep in mind that Matthew has been involved with landing many big fish. Even after what was about 5 hours now, the fish was still in total control and he could not get her up closer. I could hear Matthew telling Captain Wheeler that the fish was still fresh. I was thinking, how can that be possible ? I have been fishing with Captain Wheeler for years and it was at the point, that he made one of the most respected decisions I have ever seen. He cut the line to let her swim away and fight another day. I’m sure she was tired as well but why possibly kill such a beautiful fish from exhaustion just so we could get a boat side picture.

After I made my way into the salon, I could not believe how bad the cramping was in my legs. That fished certainly kicked my butt. Needless to say, it was the longest ride back in to the dock in my life. There was a Blue weighed in earlier in the week but our fish was certainly one to challenge that.

The Big Girl

 During that day and the following weeks, I went through a full range of emotions as I reminisced about my experience. I have to admit at first, I was really pissed at myself. Even though I didn’t willingly give in, my body did.  I eventually began to think about it as the ‘greatest and worst’ fishing experience of my life. The crew that caught the WMO Blue weighed won in excess of $900K. She was just a big girl and played the game smart!

A few days later, there was a large blue weighed in at a tournament in Pirate’s Cove. I had a few fishing buddies ask me if I saw that fish picture and we all wondered the same thing…………

The Young Guns of Sportfishing: Captain Chris Mowad

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by Charlie Levine

Raised in Pensacola, Florida, Chris Mowad, only ever wanted one job. “I was always an avid angler growing up, and the dad of one of my best friends was a private boat captain,” he says. “I thought that was the dream job.”

Chris started working on boats at 14 years old and just 13 years later, he’s running the Whoo Dat – a 58-foot Jarrett Bay owned by Keith Richardson. This is one operation that does not like to sit idly by. Mowad and company left the Gulf of Mexico in January and have been fishing in the Dominican Republic and St. Thomas ever since.

Mowad took the time for a phone call in St. Thomas just after the September moon and the bite’s been on. “We caught 23 in the last seven days,” he says of fishing on the North Drop. “We recently hired a new mate who fished the entire Gulf season and caught 11 fish. We doubled his whole season in a week. You can build a resume pretty quick spending time in hot spots, and the experience you gain is priceless.”

Mowad’s quick ascent to the captain’s chair began as a freelance captain and mate on a handful of boats. He also worked at Outcast Bait and Tackle, in Pensacola, from the ages of 17 to 21. It being a smaller shop, he had to know how to do a little bit of everything. Spool reels, rig lures, you name it. At 18, he got his six-pack license and started running more boats. “I met a lot of local guys who had private boats, and I worked as a captain-for-hire,” Mowad says. “That’s how I got a lot of experience. You learn a lot when you’re managing a different crew every weekend.”

While running the boat and finding fish is the more glamorous part of the job, Mowad is not afraid to get his hands dirty and do whatever it takes to make sure the boat is running properly. “I was always impressed by captains who maintained the boat themselves and if anything broke, they knew how to fix each system,” he says.

Capt. Myles Colley was one such captain that Chris Mowad looked up to. Colley, captain of the Born2Run, is from the same area as Mowad and also started running boats at a young age. “I wanted to kind of follow in his footsteps,” Mowad says. “The part I enjoy most now is that he’s gone from being a mentor to us being in competition, but we still have a good friendship.”

The Whoo Dat is the perfect platform for the kind of marlin fishing that keeps Mowad’s boss fired up. The 58-footer was built by Jarrett Bay in 2007 and when Richardson bought it in 2011, he installed a tuna tower, a second generator, new electronics and a fresh coat of paint. The 1,350-hp MTU 12V 2000s just rolled over 10,000 hours and keep the team on the bite. While the engines keep the team mobile, it’s really the owner of the boat, Keith Richardson, who keeps everyone on board fired up. “He keeps us all going,” Mowad says. “He wants to put up big numbers and is not afraid to fish extra hours. He’s really the hardest working guy I’ve ever worked for and a key part of our program. He’s willing to fish on a different schedule and follow the bite.”

Having the flexibility to move throughout the Caribbean, whether it’s fishing FADs in Casa de Campo, or pulling lures on the North Drop, gives Whoo Dat the ability to stay right on the marlin’s tail. Fishing out of St. Thomas this summer, Mowad and his crew were seeing 10 to 12 blue marlin a day during the peak moon phases in June, July, August and September. It’s been some of the best fishing there in a long time. Fishing alongside his mate of four years, Kevin Alexander, he says they’ve got a solid group of guys on the boat and camaraderie is high.

While they’ve been successful, Mowad is never afraid to ask for help from some of the more experienced skippers. “If you quit asking questions, you quit getting better,” he says. “There’s a group of guys here that have been really helpful.”

Mowad’s plan moving forward is to get boat work finished in October and November then head to Casa de Campo in December and fish there through next April. From the DR, the team is heading back to St. Thomas for the summer. The days can run together, but he’s certainly not complaining. “It wouldn’t be fair to say we work 24-hour days, but there are times it seems like it,” he says. “Keith doesn’t have a problem going for a 15-day stretch and the seas are rough the majority of the time. But you get to learn how maneuver the boat in rough water. If you can catch them when it’s rough, you’ll catch them when it’s calm.”

Charlie Levine is the publisher of FishTrack.com and the author of the book, “Sucked Dry: The Struggle is Reel,” available on Amazon.

Splash Report: 97′ Weaver “18 Reeler”

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Captains Rick Carney and Jed Galloway provide a backstage pass aboard Weaver’s latest build, the 97′ 18 Reeler. Impressively endowed, this sky bridge sportfisher is ready to embark on a globetrotting sportfishing tour. From the engine room to the sky bridge and into the crew quarters, this is a tour (and a boat) that you won’t want to miss.

Getting Dialed in for Sailfish Season 2019

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Whether you’re running the boat, manning the rod or trying to get your team in shape, everyone could use a refresher on making the most of your bites. In this video, originally published in 2017, acclaimed tournament angler Fred Hardwick outlines an ingenious, practical way of getting a fell for the drop back. If that were not enough, check out what the best fishing teams on the professional series are doing in 2019.  For even more from the archives, check out the bottom link– a 2014 round table with some of professional sportfishing’s best…. Have things changed? Are they the same?

More ITB Sailfish Articles to Read –

Fishing for sails in Florida is a numbers game. Those who play it seem to be getting faster and more efficient with every passing season.

Sailfish 2.0 (click here…)

A Q&A with 4 of the Best Captains in the Business

The Art of Sailfishing (click here…)

On the Bridge–The Trip up the Ladder Takes Many Twists and Turns

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by Dave Ferrell

Taking the helm of a sportfishing boat, travelling the world’s oceans in pursuit of billfish, represents a “dream job” for a whole lot of people…many of which have never spent much time offshore. The image of a tanned captain, beard wagging in the sea breeze, steering the boat over the horizon with nothing but freedom and fishing on the calendar for the days ahead, fuels a lot of daydreams in corporate boardrooms all across America. It’s like being a quarterback for the Dolphins (Give me a break, I’m from Florida!) or photo editor for Playboy magazine…you just can’t imagine having a bad day at the office!

Well, you all know that while that there are some incredible perks that may come along with the job – travel to foreign hotspots; extra tournament money; insane bites; and making incredible memories. The captain’s chair, however, also comes with a whole host of pitfalls and enormous responsibilities – not the least of which is having the lives of your crew and guests in the palm of your hand.

Along with all the life-and-death stuff, a captain also takes care of a state-of-the-art piece of functional artwork that may cost many millions of dollars. You almost need to be a museum curator and an industrial engineer rolled into one to care of one of these machines, and we haven’t even started fishing yet! If all of this weren’t enough, a captain must also skillfully navigate a whole host of egos and character flaws that find their way onboard. You know the type – the psychotic mates that seemed just fine back on the dock or an owner’s guests that can drink more liquor in one day than an entire frat house consumes on homecoming weekend!

Factor in the competitive fishing aspect, whether that means tournament success or just keeping up with the rest of the dock every day, and the captain’s chair turns into a hot seat rather quickly if your boat doesn’t live up to the owner’s expectations. As dream jobs go, it’s one of the toughest ones there is. Amazingly enough, there’s no one route to the captain’s chair. If there ever was one single path, it’s no doubt changed dramatically over the last 25 years or so, just as certain aspects and responsibilities of the job have as well.

Run Before You Fly

 One of the few things you can get captains to agree on is that you have to be a good mate before you can be a good captain. I first met Capt. Newt Cagle while he was working the deck for the legendary Capt. Butch Cox at Marlin U in the Dominican Republic. He instantly impressed me with his teak-side manner, treating my students like royalty and patiently answering all their questions as politely as possible…even the most absurd ones. He was an excellent mate and has since become a successful captain on the tournament trail. That’s not a coincidence. “A captain is only as good as his mate. A good mate really makes the captain shine. No matter how good the guy upstairs is, if you don’t have a good mate things aren’t going to go well.”

Legendary Capt. Randy Baker came to fame as one of the best mates in the world, not as a captain. He’s since made quite a name for himself upstairs as well. Baker got his start on his father’s charterboat and on the docks in Destin, Florida. He began working on private boats in his teens and soon found himself working on the most prestigious fishing team in the world, Dunaway’s fabulous Madam and Hooker operation. “I preferred the mating part in my early days. But in my opinion you can’t be a good captain unless you’ve been a good mate for a while…you really need to know both sides of it,” says Baker. “It’s very important to get on a good boat that travels and fishes a lot. You have to get some good time on the water. You definitely need to be a mate before you step up to the wheel. That way, you know what the guy’s going through down in the pit.”

Baker’s first day as a captain was on the Hooker, a pretty sweet first captain’s gig. “I mated on the boat for several years, and after a while, I became like the second captain. Whenever Trevor [Cockle] had to leave or take care of something, I’d run the boat. My first full-time captain’s job was with Jerry Dunaway when we built the 43-foot Hooker that was sent to Madeira. Fishing and working on boats is all I’ve ever done…I’ve never had a job on land.”

Capt. Bill Harrison got his start on Miami’s legendary Pier 5 in the early 50s. He went from working the decks of full time charter boats to chasing blue marlin all over the Caribbean with Ralph Christianson. He agrees with Baker and Cagle and thinks it’s imperative that a captain starts out as mate. “I like those guys who are doing the same things at 60 that they were doing at six,” says Harrison. “A lot of guys never even cared about becoming a captain. They were good mates and they enjoyed doing that. It was a 9 to 5 job for those guys back then. They were in it to make a day’s pay. They’d get off the boat and didn’t want to talk about fishing or anything like that. It was just a job. Sometimes these guys would be 30, 40 or 50 years old.”

Harrison says that the reason the mates and captains at Pier Five were so good was that they pursued a wide variety of different species. “We learned how to catch everything because we would sell it. We could catch sharks, groupers, mackerels, whatever was running we were fishing for it. This translated to learning a lot of different fishing techniques,” says Harrison.

When it comes to fishing, Capt. Bill Harrison has done it. When he speaks of perspective, it is best to listen.

On that first trip, Newt told me that he wanted to be the captain of a sportfishing boat for as long as he could remember…he never wanted to do anything else. “I was very lucky to grow up around boats and fishing, so it’s all I really ever knew. My father was an owner operator and my uncle owned a charterboat. I started out by washing boats for free, just so I could ride out and be a part of the team. I’d help the mate out, watch the baits and do anything just to learn from those guys. That’s something that’s changed quite a bit. There’s no longer any kids coming around these days with the burning desire to work on the boat or get the chance to be around the boat. Nowadays when a kid wants to go fishing, he wants to know exactly what he’s going to get paid and he already has a list of demands for me! I would do anything just to get to go fishing. I’d drive on the ride out or in, let the captain take a nap, do anything just for the chance to go. Kids today won’t even do that now. Everybody you talk to is going to give you the same story,” says Cagle.

Keeping Up Electronically

 One of the greatest challenges that today’s captains face is the rapid pace at which ship’s systems evolve. From the complex navigation and communication suites on the flybridge to the electronic engine controls down below and the high-tech A/V equipment in the salon, the race to keep up with the latest and greatest, or just to keep things working properly, can run a crew ragged. Experience with how boats are put together and how all these systems operate and interact goes a long way these days.

“My Dad built several boats and I was always very involved in the build. My Dad was a very hands-on guy, so it was a sad day around here if he had to call a mechanic or someone to fix something. I try to fix everything on the boat by myself, but I also realize that a man has to realize his limitations,” says Cagle. “You can screw something up worse if you try to fix it without knowing what you are doing.”

“Nowadays you really can’t do anything with the motors. If you get a problem and try and tackle it yourself you can make it worse or mess up your warranties,” says Cagle. “One thing that has really changed things for me has been the internet. Instead of calling my Dad or other people, I can just look online. I hate to say it, but if I have a problem or project, I have no problem going online to read other people’s advice on how to go about fixing it. This is especially helpful with my electronics. Instead of pushing buttons for hours on end, I can Google the problem and find several ways to do what I need to do.”

Baker grew up around boats so maintenance and mechanicals are second nature to him, but even he takes pause when it comes to messing around too much with the today’s new engines. “I can do all the maintenance and troubleshooting to a degree, but there’s so much computer stuff going on it’s better to just have the guys hook it up to the laptop,” says Baker. “I’m kind of old school that way. It’s been a little hard keeping up with all that stuff…I’m not that computer literate myself.”

“Unfortunately, there’s no text book to live by,” says Cagle. “There’s no standard operating procedure on how to be a boat captain or how to be a mate. It’s all about what you learned from the guys you worked for in the past. How they did things is normally how you do things. You just have to use your best judgement. There’s no manual you can refer to. The only thing you can do is hope you had a good teacher along the way.”

The Young Guns of Sportfishing: Chris Kubik

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By Elliott Stark

Although you have to be pretty dedicated to fishing to buy and run a bluewater charter boat, there are some people whose desire to make a sportfishing career happen goes the extra mile. Captain Chris Kubik is one of those people. Having grown up in Atlanta, Kubik travelled to the Outer Banks in the summers as a child. When he was 16, he saved up enough to charter a boat. After catching a white marlin, he was hooked.

Growing up Kubik would read anything about fishing he could get his hands on – magazines, fishing reports, you name it. “I read a story about a guy who wanted to fish and headed to the dock to start handing out ice until he got a job fishing…So that’s what I did,” Kubik recalls.

“I loaded up my Honda Accord and headed to Oregon Inlet. I drove overnight from Atlanta, it took about nine hours. I got there early and slept in my car for an hour and I started handing out ice. I got a job on an inshore boat about three weeks later and started picking up freelance offshore trips from there,” he says.

Kubik rented a place to sleep while waiting for his fishing dreams to materialize. Does this sound like an awesome thing to do? “It definitely was not awesome. It was terrible. I rented a piece of crap trailer – it was the most God-awful place you could imagine. It was rented by the week, if that tells you anything. There was a house on some land with a bunch of trailers on the property. It was a bunch of crackheads and me. I was afraid to unload my stuff out of my car because they might have stolen it,” Kubik says.

Kubik worked on the inshore boat over the summer and soon made friends with a mate who had an extra room where he stayed. His living conditions improved and Kubik has never looked back. “Fin Gaddy had an opening,” Chris recalls. An owner/operator, Gaddy runs the Qualifier, a 54-foot Mann, out of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. “I knew the mate who was leaving and Fin let me freelance for a couple of days. I’m not sure why he hired me because to be honest at the time I was not very good… I guess he thought he could teach me and he did.”

Captain Chris Kubik – Point Runner, 60-foot Guthrie

Kubik would fish with Gaddy for ten years. Fin provides a bit of perspective on what makes Kubik such a force on the water. “He just has a competitive spirit about him. When I first met him, he’d only fished a little bit offshore. He was such a genuinely nice and sincere person that it almost made me uncomfortable,” Gaddy says with a bit of a laugh. Soon after hiring Kubik, Gaddy and the Qualifier headed to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. “He’d never caught a sailfish. After two days he’d caught 58. It was sort of a trial by fire. Chris got to learn in the right places. It was his dream to come here and fish and he made it happen.”

“Fin taught me everything I know about marlin fishing – teasers, dredges, maneuvering on fish. Attention to detail was the biggest thing – the importance of keeping everything perfect… knots, connections, everything. He is very meticulous in that regard,” Kubik recalls. “If he wanted to teach me to rig something on our day off, he would pull out five or six mackerel and show me how to do it. A lot of guys won’t do that because they don’t want to waste the bait.”

“When I left the Qualifier, I started mating on the Point Runner. I would run it when Capt. Danny Wadsworth (owner/operator) needed a day off. I worked there for three years and bought it last year,” says Kubik. The Point Runner is a 60-foot Guthrie powered by c12.9 Cats. Kubik’s operation is based out of the Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. Kubik follows in one of sportfishing’s greatest traditions – the North Carolina owner/operator charterman.

When asked about the lessons he has learned along the way, Kubik provides some wise perspective. “Spend time learning before you think about moving up,” he says. Advice to young guys breaking into the industry? “Don’t feel like you deserve anything… because you don’t. These days it seems like there is a lot of entitlement. All the young kids want to be paid to ride out. Don’t be afraid to start on the bottom and work your way up. If you work hard and are motivated, you’ll succeed in fishing. If you look around at tournaments, most guys pull the same thing. But if you pay attention to detail, you can stand out.”

You can find Captain Chris Kubik and the Point Runner available for charter out of Oregon Inlet most of the year. In the winter time, Kubik runs a private boat – the Sea Hag, a 61-foot Blackwell – in Florida and Isla Mujeres. If you’d like to book a trip with Captain Chris Kubik, send him a note at Chris@pointrunner.com

or visit www.pointrunner.com.

December Issue 2018: Hitting the Docks Now!

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Hitting the docks now— The December issue wraps up 2018 in style! Grab your copy today, available in both print and digital.

Old Salts Rule: Captain Bouncer Smith

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An interesting man in many contexts – Captain Bouncer Smith catches quality fish of many species (from swordfish to tarpon to sailfish and snapper). Here’s the full Old Salt interview with Capt. Bouncer at his slip in Miami Beach Marina.

For more on Bouncer’s story, check out the December Issue hitting the docks this week!

“Who’s Your Daddy” Wins Wahoo Smackdown X

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ALICE TOWN, BIMINI – (November 26, 2018) — Wahoo Smackdown X, hosted by the historic Bimini Big Game Club Resort and Marina on November 8-12, 2018, saw 23 boats competing for more than $25,000 in cash and prizes.  Out of the 23 competing boats, 22 teams landed fish, bringing 152 wahoo to the scales in the process.

The team from Who’s Your Daddy took top team honors with 16 fish weighing a total of 231.5 pounds, taking home $15,000 in cash winnings.

Second place was the Blitzsea Team earning $7,500 in cash winnings, an 84.7 pound monster.  They weighed 21 fish for a total catch weight of 206.4 pounds.

Team Murderize, out of Freeport, Grand Bahama, finished third, taking home $2,500 in cash winnings, with a total catch of 11 fish with a total catch weight of 193.6 pounds.

The team from Little Giant caught the largest wahoo of the tournament at 50.7 lbs.

Tournament festivities included live local entertainment nightly, a cocktail reception poolside for the Captains Meeting, a cookout on day one of the tournament, and a closing awards party on the great lawn, featuring a buffet, live entertainment and a full open bar.

Sponsors for this year’s tournament include American Beverage Marketers www.masterofmixes.com as the Title Sponsor, Bahamian Brewery and Beverage (Sands), artist David Dunleavy. Tropic Ocean Airways, Caza Offshore, Live Wire Tackle, Flanigan’s, CS Custom Lures and Bimini Big Game Club.