PHILIPSBURG—“Navigator” from Saba emerged the champion boat when results were tallied at the 14th Annual SXM Wahoo Fishing tournament organised by St. Maarten Sport Fishing Foundation on Saturday night at Grumpy’s Bar, Dock Maarten.
The “Navigator” crew hauled in 28 Wahoo for a whopping 774.7 lbs in Most Weight, sending them to the top of the leaderboard and winning the perpetual glass trophy. Navigator has won the tournament three times in the past four years.
Fishing teams described the weather and sea conditions as horrible.
“It was bad all day. We had a break of maybe 30 minutes when the wind dropped to 5 or 10 knots but then went right back up to 20 knots,” said Ryan Hassell, owner/captain of Navigator. “But this year was special because last year we caught only four Wahoo, the year before when I won 11 Wahoo and the year before that when I won 20 Wahoo.”
The prize for Second Most Weight overall went to Team 3 Little Birds from Saint Martin with 10 Wahoo for 324.3lbs.
The largest Mahi Mahi prize went to the boat "Highliner" from Saba. The Best Female Angler prize went to Gina Hassell from "Navigator" for reeling in five Wahoo, the biggest of which was 32.8lbs. There were no qualifying Kingfish this year.
Winner of the Wahoo Challenge or Captain’s unofficial bet ( the put your money where your mouth is category), in which 17 out 21 boats entered ) was Yellow Whip from Saint Martin with a 63lb Wahoo caught by Laurent Petit, the biggest of this tournament. This was also the third overall prize of the tournament.
The second biggest Wahoo prize went to Team Bulldozer with a 53lb fish. Best Dressed fishing team went to the boat Jupiter from St. Maarten.
Some 21 fishing teams registered for the tournament, eight boats less than 2024, but that may have been due to the rough weather this year. Two teams represented St. Eustatius, five teams represented Saba, seven from St. Barths, three from French Saint Martin, and four from the Dutch side.
The top two teams “Navigator” and “3 Little Birds” are eligible to participate in the World Offshore Fishing Championships, representing the Wahoo Tournament and Saba and Saint Martin in Costa Rica in 2026.
Since 2018 the St. Maarten Wahoo Tournament has been a qualifying event for the World Offshore Fishing Championships in Costa Rica.
