2005 Tournament recap

The 2005 tournament was a fantastic success, despite the early season start and less-than-ideal water conditions resulting from prior heavy rains in the region. A total of 26 boats participated in this year’s contest, a new record for the TGFT. Braveheart, out of Trinidad, took an early lead on day one with 378.3 points after tagging and releasing a Blue Marlin, and landing a 28.3 lb Dolphin. Angler Dip Singh of Trinidad was responsible for the marlin, his very first in 25 years of fishing the waters off Trinidad and Tobago. The boat Mischief finished day one a close second with 350 points, and Alpha Lime in third place with 137.63 points.

Day two saw Braveheart tag and release two more Blue Marlin, by anglers Kirk Agard and Steven Valdez, adding another 850 points to their total and keeping them in the lead. Jessie James emerged from the pack with 428.7 points to take second with four Yellowfin Tuna and a single Blue Marlin tag and release. Mischief dropped back to third with 401.5 points after landing a single Yellowfin Tuna for the day.

It was a quiet trip for Braveheart on day three but, despite a Dolphin and another Blue Marlin tag and release by Jessie James, the anglers of Braveheart held the lead and took first place as Best Boat with 1228.3 points. Jessie James remained in second with 859.1 points, and Gavilan released their second Sailfish of the tournament to edge out Mischief for third place.

Overall, we had 43 fish come to scale, including one Blue Marlin that just missed the minimum qualifying weight, and 11 tag and release catches: seven Blue Marlin, three Sailfish, and one White Marlin, the first to be seen in many years in the waters off Tobago. Also, the water conditions in the nearby fishing grounds had many boats heading 30 or more miles offshore in search of game, and this resulted in more than half-a-dozen hookups with Blue Marlin estimated in the 500+ lb. range. Unfortunately, none of these resulted in a successful catch, so they’ll remain “the ones that got away” until next time.

Congratulations and thanks to all everyone who participated in this year’s tournament, we hope to see you all again next year, 30 March – 2 April, 2006!