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here for the press release.
The Bahamas Wahoo Championship will be entering
its 8th year of competition when the 2004-2005 Season gets
underway at Port Lucaya Marina on Grand Bahama Island November
10th to 13th, 2004.
“Anglers seem to be very happy with
last year’s format” says Raul Miranda, member
of the Organizing Committee, “so we are not envisioning
making any major changes to the competition”
The 2004-2005 series will be comprised of
three different Wahoo tournaments. The opening and closing
legs will be held at Port Lucaya Marina in November and
February, while the middle leg will be held at Chub Cay
in January. Each leg is run as an independent tournament
with its own winners and trophies and anglers are not obligated
to fish all three legs in order to participate in the Bahamas
Wahoo Championship series.
“The scoring system is fantastic”,
says Miranda “and it will definitely will remain the
same.” The new scoring system, designed by Jack Holmes
of the Southern Kingfish Association, has provided the closest
results yet of the Wahoo Championship. “Three of the
last Bahamas Wahoo Championship series were decided by ten
points or less separating the first and second place teams.
In all three cases, the overall winners were not decided
until the final weigh-in of the last day of competition.
It is amazing how close these tournaments can be after nine
days of fishing.”
The Bahamas Wahoo Championship is the brainchild
of Atlanta based angler Tom Malone and Marsh Harbour resident
Penny Turtle. Both of them wanted to create a competition
that would take advantage of the bountiful Wahoo action
in Bahamian waters. The Bahamas Wahoo Championship is strongly
supported by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism who see this
series as a means of developing a sport fisheries for the
Bahamas during the winter months, which is when the major
Wahoo runs occur.
There is some serious Wahoo research being
conducted during the series by Florida Atlantic University
Marine biologist Dr. Jay Baldwin of the Wahoo Research Project.
While Wahoo are believed to be highly migratory, genetic
studies just being completed by the Wahoo Research project
are expected to provide additional data. Next step on the
agenda will be the creation of a program utilizing pop-up
satellite archival tags.
The defending champion this year will be
“Rebekka Lynn”, a 36’ Yellowfin that became
the first ever center console boat to win the Bahamas Wahoo
Championship. Lady angler Linda Thomas was instrumental
in catching some of the winning Wahoo including the 94 pound
fish which was the heaviest Wahoo of the competition.
For more information on the 2004-2005 series
contact Raul Miranda at 305-234-7386 or Sue Graves at 954-456-4468.
The web site for the Championship is www.bahamaswahoo.com
and the e-mail address is bahamaswahoo@hotmail.com.
ACTIVITIES: 4 DAYS-4 NIGHTS
- Four cocktail parties
- Welcome Dinner and Awards Dinner
- Wahoo hors d’oeuvres contest. Our one
and only culinary competition to test your skills at preparing
Wahoo. Everyone is invited to participate and bring a
dish to the cocktail party on Friday evening.
FUND RAISING RAFFLE:
- A fabulous fund-raising raffle every
evening benefiting the Wahoo Research Project at Florida
Atlantic University.
Schedule
of Events
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH,
2004
- 3:00 pm- 5:00 pm Registration-
Verandah of the Marina Office (Upstairs) ALL boats must
re-register. T-Shirts. Boat Pool.
- 6:00 pm Captains
and Anglers Meeting - Port Lucaya Resort Yacht Club
- 6:30 pm-7: 30 pm Welcome
Cocktail Party - Isle of Capri Casino at "Our Lucaya"
- 7:30 pm Welcome
Dinner - Isle of Capri Casino at "Our Lucaya"
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH,
2004
- 7:30 am Boats may
leave the docks. As the boats leave the entrance to Bells
Channel they will receive a “control” number from the
Committee.
- 8:00 am Bimini start.
All boats to line up by the buoys “outside” Bells
Channel and wait for the Bimini start
on the radio. Fishing may commence fishing anytime after
the 8:00 am start.
- 5:00 pm All boats
must be pass the Malone/Terminator line by 5:00 pm.
- The terminator line
is the inside marker of Bells Channel.
- A Committee Member
will be on hand from 4:30 PM onwards at Bells Channel
to check every boat coming back from fishing and he/she
will give every returning boat a control number signifying
that they have crossed the Terminator line prior to
5:00 pm.
- 5:00 pm-6:00 pm Weigh-in.
When you return to your slip either a Committee Member
or a Member of the Dock master staff will give you a catch
report form that you must fill out and bring to the weigh-in
station.
- No catch report form,
no weigh-in.
- You must bring ALL
Wahoo over 20 pounds to the weigh-in station.
- No fish over 20 pounds
may remain on board.
- All fish will be marked
and we might ask your permission to have the Marine
Biologist take some samples from the fish for research
purposes.
- 7:30 pm- 8:30 pm Cocktail
Party. Pelican Bay Resort (next to Unexso).
- 8:30 pm onwards Open
Dining Tonight.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12TH,
2004
- 7:30 am Boats may
leave the docks.
- 8:00 am Bimini
Start - Fishing commences.
- 5:00 pm Boats must
cross the Terminator line.
- 5:00 pm- 6:00 pm Weigh-in
- 7:30 pm-8:30 pm Cocktail
party and Wahoo hors d’oeuvres contest. Prepare your favorite
Wahoo recipe and bring it to the hors d’oeuvres table
that will be set up. We can either judge your entry (if
you want) or allow you to share it with all of the other
anglers. Tonight is the night to show off your Wahoo cooking
skills! There will be awards for those entries that are
judged. This is a lot of fun and we hope that each and
every one of you will participate - Harbour Lounge &
Restaurant (underneath our offices).
- 8:30 pm- onwards Open
Dining tonight.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH,
2004
- 7:30 am Boats may
leave the docks
- 8:00 am Bimini
starts - Fishing commences
- 5:00 pm Boats must
cross the Terminator line
- 5:00 pm-6:00 pm Weigh-in
- 7:30 pm-8:30 pm Cocktail
party at Port Lucaya Resort and Yacht Club.
- 8:30 pm Awards
Banquet at Port Lucaya Resort and Yacht Club. Tickets
required.
Important
Points to Remember
- The fuel dock is open
from 7:00 AM to Midnight. Boats MAY move to the fuel dock
prior to 7:00 AM but cannot leave the fuel docks until
7:30 AM.
- All participants are requested
to read the Bahamas Wahoo Championship Rules and Regulations
for 2003-2004. A copy will be given out during registration.
- The radio channel to communicate
with the Committee and the Terminator will be announced
at the opening meeting.
- The boundaries at Port
Lucaya Marina are 65 miles. We will review the boundaries
at the opening meeting.
- No inland waterway. Boats
may not use the inland waterway.
Entry Fee
$1,700 PER BOAT
plus Boat Pool (Optional)
- Participation in the tournament
for up to 4 persons
- Additional participation
tickets- $250 per person
- Four t-shirts per boat
- One custom made gift per
boat
Trophies
& Awards
- First Place. The
sum of the best FIVE qualifying fish.
- Second Place
- Third Place
- High Point Boat Day
One - The sum of the TWO heaviest Wahoo
- High Point Boat Day
Two - The sum of the TWO heaviest Wahoo
- High Point Boat Day
Three - The sum of the TWO heaviest Wahoo
- Heaviest Wahoo caught
during the tournament.
- Captain (1) and Crew
(2) of the Winning Boat
Registration
Registration for
the event is necessary using the following registration
form. Or click here
to register online. Also
click here for the authorization to use appearance form.
For more information, or to make a reservation, please email
us at
tournaments@PortLucayaMarina.com at Port Lucaya
Marina, or contact us at phone: 242-373-9090, fax: 242-373-5884.
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