The 37th Annual Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament exploded with a massive blue marlin bite. We knew they were here because just before the tournament, Capt. Kevin Winter's Playmate weighed a grander (1,012 pounds), and there were a lot of other big fish released and/or fought and lost. This tournament also represents the third and final leg of the Bermuda Triple Crown Series, and it has been a fascinating shoot-out.
A fleet of 28 boats caught 14 blue marlin and seven white marlin on Day One and then topped that with 15 blue marlin, three white marlin and a spearfish on Day Two, finishing up with 16 blue marlin and three whites on Day Three.
Que Mas entered the tournament with 3,900 points and a slim 100-point lead over Weez in the Keys in the Triple Crown standings, but Weez in the Keys released a white at 11:14 a.m. on Day One to take the lead with 4,000 points. However, Day One belonged to the Sea'duce team and Capt. Eric Solderholm, who released three blue marlin with anglers Michael Carey and Richard Cox to take the Sea Horse lead and win the Day One Release Jackpot, worth $16,500. The haul also took Sea'duce up to 3,700 Triple Crown points, which was good enough for third place and a mere 300 points behind Weez in the Keys. The other big winner on Day One was Capt. Andrew Dias and his team aboard Triple Play - junior angler Marcus Dias released the first blue marlin of the tournament at 8:59 a.m., and then angler Kirk Parris hooked into a big blue marlin at 12:51, which was subsequently boated at 1:35 p.m. after a 44-minute tussle. The big blue marlin later tipped the scales at Barr's Bay Park at 749 pounds - nice going, Triple Play! This won them the Day One Blue Marlin Jackpot worth $17,820 and put them in second place with 1,249 points at the end of Day One.
Click Through released a blue marlin on Day One, which brought them up to 3,200 points and fourth place in the Triple Crown standings. That was significant because Day Two belonged to Click Through as owner angler Keith English hooked into a big blue marlin at 8:16 a.m., which they boated at 9:03 a.m.; it weighed 666 pounds. The team then went on to release a spearfish and another blue marlin, which gave them the Sea Horse Tournament lead at the end of Day Two with 1,766 points and the Day Two Blue Marlin Jackpot worth $17,820. Reel Lax won the Day Two Release Jackpot and $16,500 with two blue marlin releases for owner-angler Lester Petracca. In the Triple Crown, Que Mas regained the lead with a white release at 8:14 a.m. and extended the lead with another white release at 9:12 a.m. to put them at 4,300 points. However, Weez in the Keys snatched the lead back with a blue marlin release at 11:48 a.m. to give them 4,500 points. and then they hooked up again at 1:10 p.m. to a decent blue marlin. They decided to boat the second blue marlin, which unfortunately didn't make the minimum 500-pound weight, and came in at 462 pounds. That error cost them 576 points and also took them off the leaderboard in the Sea Horse Tournament. At the end of Day Two, Click Through sat atop the Triple Crown standings with 4,466 points; Que Mas came in second with 4,300 points; Weez in the Keys had 3,924 points; and Sea'duce racked up 3,700 points.
Paradise One led the game-fish division with a 37-pound wahoo.
The third and final day of the 37th Annual Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament was fished on Saturday July 17. As always, it was a very exciting finish. Freedom, with Capt. Albert Miller, made a fast start on Day Three with blue marlin releases at 8:08 a.m. and 9:18 a.m. to move them up to 2,000 points and into the tournament lead ahead of Click Through. Ultimately, this was good enough to win Freedom the Day Three Release Daily worth $16,500, and their four blue marlin releases earned them second place in the tournament overall, worth an additional $8,400. Total winnings for Freedom were $24,900 and the high-point junior angler award for angler Alex Chouest. The 82-foot Viking Sea'duce started the day with 1,500 points and added blue marlin releases at 12:02 p.m. for angler William Maloney and 1:07 p.m. for angler Cameron Walsh, which gave them an impressive 2,500 points for five blue marlin releases. The latter release vaulted them into the tournament lead ahead of Freedom. These are the most points scored in the Sea Horse since the tournament switched to a three-day format, and it earned Sea'duce first-place honors worth $16,800 and the overall billfish-release-points jackpot worth $43,560 for total winnings of $76,860 and an invitation to the IGFA Offshore World Championship. Huge congratulations to Capt. Eric Solderholm and the team on Sea'duce!
Capt. James Robinson and team aboard Wound Up had a quiet start to the tournament that ended at 8:50 a.m. in the deep off Grape Bay on South Shore when a group of a blue marlin piled on and angler Ken Winton hooked up tight. An hour or so later, at 9:58 a.m., Capt. James called to say that she was on the deck and it was clearly a good one in the 800-pound class. The team then proceeded to have an active day, with Ken also releasing a 400-pounder at 12:12 p.m., and then they were attacked by two males and a huge female, which they hooked and was reported to be even bigger than the one they already boated. The big fish gave Wound Up a run but ultimately pulled the hook. Eventually, they made it back to Barr's Bay Park after lines out, and the big blue marlin tipped the scales at 858 pounds and was easily good enough to win the Big Blue Marlin Jackpot worth $47,520 and the Day Three Blue Marlin Jackpot worth an additional $17,820. Ken Winton's 1,358 points earned him the prestigious high-point angler award
worth another $2,800 for a total of $68,140. Nice going, Wound Up!
The team aboard Click Through started the final day in the lead in both the Sea Horse and the overall Triple Crown, but they were unable to add any points to their tally and had to sweat it out. In the Sea Horse they were surpassed by Sea'duce and Freedom, but Click Through held onto third place overall, worth $5,600, with 1,766 points courtesy of a 666-pound blue marlin, two blue marlin releases, a spearfish release and total winnings of $23,420.
So Day Three of the Sea Horse saw 16 blue marlin taken (858-pound boated plus
15 releases) and three whites released. This meant that over the three days of the Sea Horse, 28 boats caught 45 blue marlin, 13 whites and a spearfish.
The 37-pound wahoo taken by Paradise One on Day Two held up to win the game-fish award, worth $2,800.
The final Sea Horse standings are as follows:
1. Sea'duce - 5 blue marlin releases: 2,500 points and cash winnings of
$76,860
2. Freedom - 4 blue marlin releases: 2,000 points and cash winnings of
$24,900
3. Click Through - 666-pound blue boated; 2 blue marlin releases; 1
spearfish release: 1,766 points and cash winnings of $23,420
4. Triple Play - 749-pound blue marlin boated; 2 blue marlin releases:
1,749 points and cash winnings of $17,820
5. Queen of Hearts - 3 blue marlin releases: 1,500 points
6. Wound Up - 858-pound blue marlin boated; 1 blue marlin release: 1,358
points and cash winnings of $68,140
7. Reel Lax - 2 blue marlin releases; 1 white release: 1,200 points and
cash winnings of $16,500
8. Bree - 2 blue marlin releases; 1 white release: 1,200 points
9. Pink Impression - 2 blue marlin releases; 1 white release
10. Mama Who - 2 blue marlin releases; 1 white release
11. Blank Check - 2 blue marlin releases: 1,000 points
12. Reel Hot - 2 blue marlin releases
13. Artemis - 2 blue marlin releases
14. Ovation - 1 blue marlin release; 2 white releases: 900 points
15. El Cazador - 1 blue marlin release; 1 white release: 700 points
16. Challenger - 1 blue release; 1 white release
17. Paradise One - 1 blue marlin release; 1 white release: 700 points and cash winnings of $2,800 for top game fish
18. Mako - 1 blue marlin release: 500 points
19. Uno Mas - 1 blue marlin release
20. Mega Bucks - 1 blue marlin release
21. Off Piste - 1 blue marlin release
22. C-YA - 1 blue marlin release
23. Que Mas - 2 white releases: 400 points
24. Weez in the Keys - 1 blue marlin undersize, 462 pounds; 1 blue marlin release; 2 white releases: 324 points
