"Marlin Marine 10th Annual Fishing Tournament (Nassau, Bahamas)"<br /> <br /> Marlin Marine 10th Annual Fishing Tournament (Nassau, Bahamas) <br />May 21, 2004 <br /><br />Went to the Marlin Marine (Nassau, Bahamas) awards dinner last night.<br /><br />Our boat did well.<br />We finished third overall with 536.5 points. Second place boat had 536.9 points.<br /><br />The White Rat walked away with first place - with over 800 points (a marlin (175 pts + sailfish 75 pts) caught on the second day - helped, but they would have won without the 2 bill fish). They are the best in Nassau - from Nassau's wealthiest family. They could win in a canoe, but their new 50 foot Viking with giant "Mann" diesels, made the 25 mile per hour winds and seas a little safer. <br /><br />The "White Rat" will cruise at 32 knots - and top end at 40 knots.But, she's more than a fast sportfish. She's built to fish - from top to bottom. <br /><br />Out of towners don't stand a chance against these sport fishers. They have won this tournament twice, and finished second many times too.They are always the "favorite" in these waters.<br /><br />We (the Bahamasbahamas.com) had a high rod second day - which yielded "Guy the Canadian" a $1000 Penn Rod and Reel.<br /><br />We had the largest Tuna - which Guy caught and won a $400 gift certificate.<br /><br />I won a Television for 3rd place high rod - first day.<br />I gave the TV to one of my mates, as I had no place to put it, and ironically, they needed a TV (two kids and all!).<br /><br />My boat (bahamasbahamas.com) finished third place overall - and won a $2,000 gold bracelet made of anchors. The team let me keep this.<br /><br />Dean (the Englishmen) Helliwell - one of our 4 anglers - won 5 days and nights at Sandals (Bahamas). He landed the largest fish (a 27# dolphin) on 12# test (a special category this year). <br />His wife said they would celebrate their wedding anniversary there.<br /><br />As expected, the "White Rat" won the grand prize - a $9,000 state of the art 75 hp Evinrude. No maintenance for three full years on Evinrude's new line of outboards - coming soon! <br /><br />The 75hp Evinrude was on display and given to the winners at the dinner, but Bombardier hasn't officially put them on the market.<br /><br />According to the Evinrude dealer and tournament sponsor, there is no maintenance for three full years on this line of outboards and you don't have to change the lower unit fluid (lubricant) for three years. I would guess that spark plugs will last three years on these engines too. That's unheard of in the "outboard world". <br /><br />These are still two cycles, but Bombardier is so confident in this new line of fuel efficient outboards, they may not allow the cowling to be removed for the first three years - when they hit the dealerships. <br /><br />The Bahamasbahamas.com has three 250 ficht Evinrudes on her stern, and I can go 300 miles before fill-up - where the fuel taken is about 260 gallons. <br /><br />Mine are late 2000 models with 600 hours. The fuel meters read 12 gallons per engine per hour at 42 mph. That's a heart stopper compared to my earlier carburetor outboards. <br /><br />Gasoline here in nassau is $3.27 a gallon now.<br /><br />Other Top finishers. <br /><br />Anne Clearly's "Fountain of Youth" was probably the lead boat after day one.They had a sailfish on the first day. <br /><br />Teddy Pratt - who's dad is a professional charter boat captain (as is Teddy) - captained the 39 foot "Fountain of Youth" to 4th or 5th place. <br /><br />They fished in the "pocket" - 30 miles west of Chubb Cay the first day - and "Hole in the Wall" (off Abaco's southern tip) - 50 miles north east of Nassau on the second day. <br /><br />Anne is about 50 years old - and won high rod first day - beating all the men in the tournament - for a nice Penn rod and reel prize. <br /><br />I asked Anne how she became interested in fishing, and she replied that she's been fishing since age 4 (with worms back then - she said). <br /><br />Anne is all of 105 pounds, but loves the sport and the competition that goes with two days of battling gamefish and the elements. <br /><br />Anne owns the "Fountain of Youth" - a 39 foot Fountain powered with 3 225 Mercurys and a top speed of 70 mph. <br /><br />I did not see Anne's husband at the tournament dinner, but have seen him at other tournaments. <br /><br />I believe the "Fountain of Youth" also landed the largest dolphin - somewhere about 48 pounds.They had 12 skip jacks about 10# each that were weighable in this tournament. <br /><br />The "Fountain of Youth" won several categories and several prizes. <br /><br />The Second place boat. <br /><br />I don't know these guys personally, but they fish hard and won several awards - including about $3,000 in gift certificates. <br /><br />I believe they tied for biggest wahoo with another boat. <br /><br />All the top boats with the exception of the Fountain of Youth fished the Exuma Sound where the mahi mahi are running thick. <br /><br />On the second day we spotted five frigate birds circling 100 yards in front. We trolled in hoping for a bill fish, but bam, bam, dolphin again. <br /><br />In the two day tournament we landed about 110 to 120 mahi mahi averaging 18# each. We counted 54 the first day. <br /><br />We released as many as we could, but releasing (taking the hooks out) of a slamming, bamming 20# dolphin is down right dangerous.These were no "chichen" mahi mahi. <br /><br />The tournament rules allowed 3 fish per angler any species each day - but the minimum weight for mahi mahi was 15#s. <br /><br />I don't think we had one under 12#s in both days. <br /><br />It's only an estimate, but we had close to 2000#s of mahi mahi - much of which was given away - along the way. <br /><br />We carried as much ice as the Titanic for the tournament, so our fish was in good shape. <br /><br />As expected, it took more time to filet these fighting machines than to catch them. Even 5 people cutting it took many hours. <br /><br />Our 6 biggest mahi mahi ranged from 29.5#s to 33#s. <br /><br />We lost one in excess of 40#s - after a twenty minute fight. 50# test was the maximun allowed. <br /><br />Fishing tip: Drop the drag off a hair when a big fish goes under your chine to the other side of the boat. Drop the rod tip into the water too. <br /><br />You may feel like you are starting the fight all over again - but it's better than losing a "winner" (keeper). <br /><br />If you have outboards, don't fight any fish near your stern. Move up about midway, and if the fish goes behind the boat - let him have his way until he's off your gunwales again. <br /><br />Tom Azzara<br />Captain - Bahamasbahamas.com<br />Nassau, Bahamas
56 miles, lake worth inlet to the west end... 