2006 Tournament recap

The 2006 tournament was another milestone success, with a record number of boats and anglers participating AND a record number of tournament billfish releases for Trinidad & Tobago. Thirty-three boats registered for this year’s contest but, after a few mechanical problems, 31 boats actually participated, still a new record for us. This year, our friends from Barbados came up big, capturing top prizes in five different categories! Happy Hunter, out of Barbados, established dominance early on day one with five Blue Marlin releases and one 23.4 lb. dolphin, giving them a one day total of 2279.25 points and huge lead over the rest of the pack. Angler Andrew Rapson was responsible for three of the marlin, as well as the dolphin. The boat Hopscotch finished day one 1000 points back with 1200 points, with Hard Play II in third place with 781.25 points.

Day two saw the boat Mischief tag and release three Blue Marlin, two for angler Nick Nothnagel and one for Stephen Dalla Costa, taking Best Boat for Day Two with 1407.38 points and moving into second place overall with 1819.08 points. Hook released two Blue Marlin, brining their two day total to four, and moved into third place overall with a score of 1700 points. Happy Hunter, while having a quiet day with only a single 30.4 lb. Wahoo, held on to first place with 2317.25 points.

On Day Three, Hard Play II won Best Boat with two Blue Marlin releases for 950 points, and they also moved up to take third place overall with 1731.25 points, just edging out Hook who ended up fourth. Happy Hunter came up blank and Mischief landed only a 41.3 lb. Wahoo, but managed to maintain their hold on first and second place overall, respectively.

Over the course of the tournament, we had 44 fish come to scale, and 59 tag and release catches: 58 Blue Marlin, and one Sailfish, breaking the record for most billfish releases in a tournament for Trinidad & Tobago!!

We hope that those boats from St. Lucia, Grenada and elsewhere in the region that were unable to participate this year will be able to join us in 2007, and we, of course, look forward to seeing the Bajans back again in Charlotteville!

Congratulations and thanks to all who participated in this year’s tournament, we hope to see you all again next year. Check back to the site for next year’s dates, as well as some big changes to the site overall!

Here’s a comment sent to us from Michael Lee Yuen from the boat Mischief:

“We had and super wonderful time in Charlotteville, the water taxis ran on time, your fueling facility was unquestionable, fresh water supply was excellent, breakfast and dinner was superb, bait was in super condition, and your entire hard working committee was always there to assist us when in need. This is my second consecutive year fishing in your tournament and words can never be enough in expressing how great, how wonderful, how little Tobago can deliver a game fishing tournament with such excellence. We continue to promote your tournament here in Trinidad and thank you for the super wonderful time. God’s richest blessings and great health, and wait with anticipation, for the 12th Annual Tobago International Game Fishing Tournament.”