InTheBite

Hilton’s Realtime-Navigator Celebrates 15 Years

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MAY 07, 2004

Fifteen years ago today, was the date that Hilton’s Realtime-Navigator was launched with 3 regions in the northern Gulf of Mexico which has now grown to 36 regions; Gulf of Mexico, East coast, West coast, Central America, South America, Caribbean, and more! What an incredible journey, meeting so many great people over the years doing what we all love – fishing!

The site has evolved tremendously over the years and is still evolving – we will be unveiling several new features next week at the Mobile Big Game Membership meeting as well as the Orange Beach Billfish Classic!

A couple of sneak previews; our new service called Hilton’s SAT2NAV system as well as our new “H.E.L.P.” program.

Stay tuned – more details to come!

Thank you very much to everyone who has supported our service over the years!

All the best,

Tom Hilton

www.HiltonsOffshore.com

Final Results: 2019 White Marlin Roundup

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The 4th  annual White Marlin Roundup, was again based out of the beautiful Abaco Beach Resort & Boat Harbour Marina, was held April 10-13, 2019.   There were 25 registered boats and the weather forecast was perfect, light winds and calm seas.

The first day of fishing was beautiful and the 77’ Bayliss, Wave Paver was off to a great start as they released 6 white marlin, for 1950 points.  Plane Simple a 70’ Spencer finished the day in second place with 3 whites for 975 points.  In third, was the Lo Que Sea with a 2 whites and 1 blue marlin for 800 points.

The real catch of the day was caught on The Chaser as they boated a white marlin to weigh in! As the crowd gathered around the weigh station, The Chaser backed in with an extra large white marlin in the cockpit.  Angler Nick Locuv stood close by as he marlin was hoisted and the scales showed “129” pounds  For the day there was 18 whites, 4 blue marlin and 8 sailfish released, along with the one big marlin that was weighed!

On day two with the same calm conditions, Wave Paver maintained their lead on the fleet by releasing 5 white marlin increasing their lead on the fleet. The Lo Que Sea added to their total by catching 4 whites to get them into second place overall and the Plane Simple dropped down to 3rd place. There was a total of 22 whites, 2 sailfish and 2 blue marlin caught on day two.

On day three, the final day of fishing, the Plane Simple got red hot and put the pressure on the Wave Paver by catching 4 white before noon.  Wave Paver fought back by catching 4 that afternoon while Plane Simple caught 3 more that afternoon too.  The 7 white marlin that the Plane Simple caught, put them well into second place, and Lo Que Sea ended up in third place.  At lines out it was the Wave Paver winning this event for the second time in three years.

With 33 whites, 5 sailfish and 3 blue marlin caught on day three, it brought the three day total to 71 whites, 15 sailfish and 9 blue marlin!

All competitors gathered to honor the winners during the awards presentation at the beautiful Abaco Beach Resort & Boat Harbour Marina!  The Ken Ullberg trophy for the Top Boat award went to Wave Paver and her owner Jr Davis!  They also claimed many awards, including two top dailies, , the jackpot for the overall winner, Top Captain & Crew and even the largest Mahi of 39.5 pounds as they took home a big check of  $149,740.  The Top Captain & Crew went to Captain Russell Sinclair, and crew members Cody, Garrett, Ryan and Doug.

Plane Simple took second place, earning them a prize of $55,080.  Third place went to the Lo Que Sea awarding them $20,880.

Angler Nick Locuv and The Chaser took home a check for $40,400 for the largest white marlin.

The top angler was Scott Glasscock on the Wave Paver. Scott caught 9 white marlin.  The Top Lady Angler was Laura Russell on the Hit n Run!  The largest tuna and wahoo was caught by Steven Staclings on the Jichi and they took home a check for $19,500.

We look forward to seeing everyone again at next year’s tournament, to be held again at the Abaco Beach Resort & Boat Harbour Marina.  The dates will be April 15-18, 2020.  See you all there!

Builder’s Choice Wins Sixth Annual Casa De Campo Blue Marlin Classic

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In a tournament marked by rough seas and windy squalls Captain Brent Gaskill from North Carolina guided his team aboard the 64’ custom Jarret Bay to a comfortable victory during the three days of fishing in the prestigious Casa de Campo International Blue Marlin Classic 2019, first leg of the Dominican Billfish Triple-Header Series.

But, “it was not as easy a victory as some might think” said a smiling Captain Gaskill. “We had to work very hard and travel far for the win” he added referring to the standings after day one. They stood in third place at the end of the day edged out based on time of the last release by the winners of the daily, the team aboard another Jarret Bay, Mama Who from Mississippi, and the Brazil-Venezuela team aboard the 72’ Merritt, Business Stinks.  All three teams had released two blue marlin on that first day.

However, the leader situation was quickly resolved on day two when Builder’s Choice released two blue marlin within the first hour after lines in and added a third in the afternoon that day winning the daily while Mama Who and Business Stinks had no releases for the day. “After day two we never looked back” said a proud Harris Huddle, Builder’s Choice owner and winner of the Top Individual Angler Trophy who incidentally was followed by his team mate, Dominican Luis Selen, who earned the Second Place Individual Angler Trophy.

Top Team – Builder’s Choice

When the dust settled at lines out on the third and final day of competition the Team/Boat standings stood with Builder’s Choice in First Place with a three day total of seven. blue marlin releases, Mama Who in Second Place with a total of four blue marlin releases and Business Stinks in Third Place with two blue marlin releases.  Coincidentally the same three teams/boats had finished first, second and third the previous year but in a different order with Mama Who as the winners.

In the individual angler standings as already mentioned Top Angler was Harris Huddle followed by Luis Selen in Second Place both aboard Builder’s Choice and in Third Place was Mama Who’s Trey McMillan.  Top Lady Angler for the second year in a row was Mama Who’s Elaine ‘Lainey’ Jones.  Teams and Individual anglers took home a small fortune in cash awards and sponsor luxury prizes.

Top Angler Harris Huddle, Builder’s Choice.

We gratefully thank our Title Sponsors Casa de Campo Resort & Villas as well as our very gracious hosts Marina Casa de Campo for their hospitality.  Save the date for the 2020 7th Annual Casa de Campo Blue Marlin Classic when the tournament will take place will take place April 1st thru the 5th.  Don’t miss it!

Second Consecutive Year–“Builders Choice” Wins Marina Casa De Camp Open

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LA ROMANA DOM. REP.

March 18th 2019

For the second consecutive year, the North Carolina team wins the Marina Casa de Campo Open fishing tournament. The crew and anglers aboard the Builders Choice are champions of the third version of the Marina Casa de Campo Open, organized by Marina Casa de Campo and directed by Robert “Fly” Navarro.

The team aboard the Cabana (Fenwick Island, DE) won second place and the team aboard the Auspicious (Palm Beach, FL) won third place. Elaine “Lainey” Jones (Mama Who) won the Lady Angler category. The tournament ended with 21 Blue Marlins and two White Marlins released for 23 Billfish released in the two days of fishing.

The MCDC Open had 12 sport fishing boats competing, all the participants and guests enjoyed the various activities that started with a welcoming cocktail in the Casa de Campo Yacht Club, home of the perpetual tournament trophy.

On the first fishing day, 12 Blue Marlins were released, out of which five were released by the champions, followed by Cabana with two Blue Marlin releases and Fa-La-Me with one Blue Marlin and one White Marlin. The first day of the tournament ended with a BBQ at the Yacht Club accompanied by good music.

The second fishing day had lines in the water at 8:00AM; fishing began with a Blue Marlin double, released by Shark Byte at 8:50AM. Cabana released a Blue Marlin at 11:56AM, which automatically positioned them in second place. The three Blue Marlins released by Auspicious were released in the afternoon and placed them in third place, the last one being released just an hour before the end of the tournament.

The awards ceremony was celebrated in La Romana Country Club with a fabulous dinner and an after party with a live band and a DJ.

Marina Casa de Campo would like to extend its gratitude to all the participants and sponsors of the event. Next year the tournament will be held from March 12th-14th with more interesting novelties that will make this tournament a must during the 2020 Casa de Campo Fishing Season.

Potential Prizes Over $520k in 2019 Cayman Billfish Rundown

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(George Town, Cayman Islands ) The Cayman Islands’ latest entrant into international fishing tournaments, Cayman Billfish Rundown, will take place May 14 – 17 2019, hosted by Hurley’s Media, Dart and The Residences at Seafire.

This inaugural multi-day fishing tournament will have one of the largest guaranteed prizes of the region’s competitive fishing circuit with a guarantee of USD$270,000 in prizes.  In addition to the large cash prizes, Cayman Billfish Rundown will take place during the islands’ Carnival Season featuring the colorful CayMAS Parade. Tournament headquarters and weigh station will be at Camana Bay, one of Grand Cayman’s most prestigious addresses. The festivities will start around 4pm each day with the return of the boats to the harbor at Camana Bay.

Potential prize winnings are over USD$520,000 which includes the USD$250,000 insured for breaking the local Cayman Islands blue marlin record of 584lbs. The tournament also offers 21 added entry categories, to include billfish, yellowfin tuna, wahoo and dolphin, making the jackpot one of the largest in the Caribbean.

Unique to this event is the USD$10,000 Award to the Captain of the boat with the most billfish release points.

Randy Merren, Managing Director of Hurley’s Media, said this tournament has been over a year in the making and pleased to see the event taking shape. “Cayman Billfish Rundown is a sportfishing tournament to attract both overseas and local participants and will re-introduce big game international tournament fishing to the Cayman waters,” Mr Merren said. “Cayman is known for its beautiful weather, cuisine, diving and amazing beaches and is convenienctly located a direct route from the Panama Canal, US, and around the Caribbean.”

Camana Bay Harbour

“Cayman is a very attractive destination and we view this as an opportunity to attract visitors who spend their time off shore on fishing trips and may not have had Cayman on their radar. We have scheduled this tournament at a time of year when the fishing is plentiful, when there is a break with other tournaments and to coincide with CayMAS carnival which takes place the day after the awards ceremony, we want to showcase all Cayman has to offer.”

“The 2019 Cayman Billfish Rundown is the perfect reason for avid international sportsfishermen to plan a trip to the Cayman Islands. Dart and The Residences at Seafire are pleased to join Hurley’s Media as presenting sponsors of this premier Caribbean event and welcoming both visiting and local anglers to Camana Bay,” said Pilar Bush, Executive Vice President Marketing at Dart Enterprises.

Cayman Billfish Rundown has also teamed up with world renowned marine artist and angler, Carey Chen, to provide his expertise and ensure this event is executed to a high standard.

Carey Chen, Tournament Ambassador, world renowned marine artist and angler

“Cayman has some of the best fishing in one of the most beautiful and successful islands in the Caribbean. I am honored to be part of this tournament and am looking forward to this being an unforgettable event,” Mr Chen said.

“I fish tournaments throughout the US, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America and always enjoy the fishing in Cayman as well as the hospitality given while visiting. I’m excited for the opportunity to work with Mr Merren on the event and encourage boats to sign up.”

“Whether traveling with family or a group of friends, Cayman offers our visitors a wide range of accommodations choices from award winning hotels to luxury rentals allowing our visitors to relax and beyond the great fishing, enjoy world famous culinary offerings, indulgent spas, a host of attractions, amenities, watersports and carefully curated shopping experiences from artisans markets to luxury boutiques”, Bush said.

Registration for the Cayman Billfish Rundown is now open. Early registration before March 1 2019 is USD $2,500 and after March 1 is USD $3,000.  For more information about this event, visit www.caymanbillfishrundown.com.

Eligible species for the tournament includes Billfish (Blue, Sail, White and Swordfish), Tuna, Dolphin and Wahoo.

Cayman Billfish Rundown has designated the Alex Panton Foundation as the beneficiary charity of the tournament. Their mission is to improve the mental health of children and young adults in the Cayman Islands through advocacy, awareness and support while raising awareness of mental illnesses with a particular focus on anxiety and depression.  Participants will have the option during registration to donate a percentage of their winnings to the foundation. www.alexpantonfoundation.ky

65th edition of International Billfish Tournament of Club Náutico de San Juan Final Results

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Winning boats:

1st – Caramba

2nd – Mi Lujo

3rd – Demencia

The 65th edition of International Billfish Tournament of Club Náutico de San Juan (CNSJ) ended
up with 89 releases, including 22 releases among the top four boats and winning teams from
CNSJ, Palm Beach Florida and South Africa, among others, said Salvador Egea, Jr., chairman.

Top boat, Caramba, released five blue marlin and one sailfish with Capt. Victor González, whose
name is now included in the “Mike Benitez Best Captain Perpetual Trophy”. Egea highlighted
Gonzalez’s work as outstanding and committed to sportsfishing.

Second best boat, Mi Lujo, release four blue marlin and two white marlin with Capt. Jose Colon
on the helm, while the third best boat, Demencia, released five blue marlin with Capt. Javier
Rivera. All three captains received a check from CNSJ.

For more information you may go to Facebook: @San Juan IBT or visit
www.sanjuaninternational.com.

Dorothea III and Post One Update– $26K Raised During Marlin Mission

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An update from Dorothea III and Post One: 
September and October have been a busy few months for us as we’ve traveled ~2200NM from the Azores to Southern Portugal to the Canary Islands, where we’re currently based in Lanzarote.

We’ve been fishing along the way, finding the Atlantic to be a different beast than the Pacific, where we’ve been fortunate to have spent the majority of the past 6 years. In the Atlantic, the fish are big but bites are few and far between, which has been a humbling experience in and of itself. We’ve raised a host of white marlin and, thus far, we’ve caught 3 blue marlin towards The Marlin Mission. We will continue to fish for the next few months as we depart for Cape Verde on Tuesday and head onto Brazil late November.

With your generous donations, we’ve raised $13,000 and received a matching donation to bring our total to $26,000, half of which will be spent next month in Cape Verde. To put this in perspective, the annual household income in Cape Verde is $500 so with this money alone we’d be able to support 26 families for an entire year. We’ve begun purchasing school supplies and other basic necessities for the children (shoes, toothbrushes, etc.) and are planning to spend the majority of the donations once we arrive. We have been in touch with the local agent and are looking into the possibility of purchasing school uniforms (kids can’t go to school without them) and eye glasses/exams for children (most cannot see while in school). We’ll know more once we’re there and will do what we can to best improve the lives of the kids that need it most.

We’ll send out another update from Cape Verde and will take plenty of photos to share with you all. Your support has made all of this possible and we can’t thank you enough!

“Waste Knot” Catches 683-Pound Blue Marlin to Win Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament

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Waste Knot Wins the 15th Annual VBBT with a 683-Pound Blue Marlin, Five White Marlin Releases

The 15th annual Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament wrapped up Saturday night and closed the chapter on a historic event. A record 80 boats competed this year for a new benchmark $620,000 in prize money. For the first time, two blue marlin were weighed and one of them made a huge difference for the Manteo, North Carolina team, Waste Knot. Angler Ed Groce boated a 683-pound blue and combined with five white marlin releases, gave the team the top score (1,033 points) and the top payout, $282,000.

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2018 MidAtlantic Tournament: Final Results

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2018 MidAtlantic Comes to a Close in Record Setting Fashion!

The 2018 MidAtlantic, the 27th edition of sportfishing’s “Main Event,” came to an exciting close last night for the 157 participating boats and crews with award ceremonies featuring lavish buffet dinners and record cash payouts for numerous winners celebrated at Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, New Jersey and Sunset Marina in Ocean City, Maryland. The week saw numerous records set once again including a cash purse of well over $3.36 million up for grabs, record single payouts for the top winners in the white marlin and tuna categories and a record number of blue marlin (55) caught and well over 750 white marlin released!

The final day of the 2018 MidAtlantic dawned sunny and clear with a light breeze and full moon in the sky. Once again, a bit of tournament history was set as for the first time in the event’s 27-year history the entire fleet of 157 boats was eligible to fish on the final day. Day Five saw several changes on the leaderboard on what has traditionally been called Moving Day at the MidAtlantic. This event was the first billfish tournament to use the phrase in reference to the major shake-ups which occur on the leaderboard and this year would be no different. Sea conditions improved dramatically from the previous day and the billfish bite continued its scorching pace.

The most significant changes occurred in the white marlin category when Captain Doug Ortlip backed Sean O’Donnell’s Cape May-based Got Game to the scales at Canyon Club in Cape May and weighed a 78-pounder for angler O’Donnell to jump to the top of the leaderboard. O’Donnell and crew later in the evening accepted the winner’s check of $905,408 in Cape May, a record payout for white marlin! Got Game’s 78-pounder pushed Thomas Colquhoun’s Special Situation from Ocean City, Maryland and Justin Branning’s 3’s Enough from Wall, New Jersey, leaders from Day One of the tournament, into a tie for second place as each had weighed white marlin of 73-pounds. 3’s Enough received $293,712 while Special Situation netted $134,006. Worthy of note is the difference in payouts reflects the level of side bets, known as Calcuttas, each participant enters. Another significant change to the leaderboard on Day Five occurred when Captain Paul Robertson weighed a 69-pound white marlin for angler Joey Hurley from their Dayton, Maryland-based FFMD and moved into a tie for third place with Leonard Tallo’s Gusto from Islamorada, Florida. For their efforts Gusto received $169,466 while FFMD netted $141,376.

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