MARIGOT—Local boat Yellow Whip took the early lead in the 20th St. Martin Billfish Tournament on Thursday after weighing in a 451lb Blue Marlin and recording one release. Theirs was the only Marlin to make it to the weigh station.
Former tournament winner Yellow Whip will have scored 751 points in the provisional results taking into account 300 points for a release. Other boats that had releases included one for Indigo, two for Ruckus, one for Rum & Coke, and two for Habalo although it wasn’t clear by press time if they had a Blue or a White release.
“I would say the fishing was slow and the weather was rough,” Stephan Petit who was the angler on board Yellow Whip reported. “But we managed to find one. The bite turned on around 9:00am. A few boats released fish and then we got one after everyone else. Then around 3:15 pm we hooked onto this one. It was very lively and took about two hours to get into the boat.”
24 boats are contesting the tournament this year.
One boat, Pinche Slow Pay, from St. Kitts with a crew from Texas hooked up two Marlin at the same time which resulted in them breaking two lines when they had a minute of fishing time left.
“That was disappointing but we still have another two days of fishing to go,” said Captain Leandro Quirosz. “We actually live in St. Kitts as our wives go to medical school there. We bought this 35ft Contender at the Miami Boat Show last year. It took 10 days to drive it all the way here, over 1,507 miles, via Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, and then crossing the Mona Passage.”
Bottle Neck Blowing Stars and the Johnny Guy Band provided the musical entertainment in the Billfish Village. Tonight Friday will see the Jolly Boys performing, King Timo, Albert Connor, Mr. Ruffy and the Band Pure, featuring King James and Miss Sassy. The Pedrin Pacheco band takes to the stage at 9:00pm.
Don’t miss the Caribbean Flavours food festival this evening and Saturday. Each day some eight stands will be featuring the delicious local cuisine of St. Martin’s finest cooks.
Fishing continues today with boats returning to the Marina Fort Louis dock at around 5:30pm.
