World
Cup Blue Marlin Championship Press Release!
The angler
and crew aboard the Queen of Hearts in Bermuda had to wait until the
early hours of July 5th to find out they had won the 23rd annual Fourth
of July World Cup Blue Marlin Championship (World Cup). Standing in
their way was the crew aboard the Hokulia I who had hooked a blue
marlin late in the day in Kona, Hawaii. They battled their fish for
almost two hours beyond the end of fishing, but in the end, they saw
their fish was not big enough to beat the 728 lb blue marlin weighed
in by Queen of Hearts. The Hokulia I tagged and released their fish.
The World Cup is a unique one day, winner take all tournament that
allows anglers around the world to compete with one another to see
who can catch the single biggest blue marlin on the Fourth of July.
This year, a record 21 marlin fishing hot spots around the globe were
represented by 143 teams. They included Ghana, Angola and the tiny
island of Principe(Bom Bom Island Resort) on Africa's west coast,
to Kona, Hawaii and French Polynesia in the Pacific. Each team fishes
from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM in their local time zones.
Queen of Hearts, with Captain Peter Olander, hooked the winning 728
lb fish on a Black Bart lure with angler Lovintz (Vince) Cann on the
rod. Both angler and captain are from Bermuda.
Earlier in the day, the first fish to surpass the tournament's 500
lb minimum size limit was landed in Angola by angler Carlos Moran
fishing aboard the Bitchalot with Captain Iain Nicolson. Their fish
weighed 513 lb. and was also hooked on a Black Bart lure. The fish
from Angola was first beaten by a 568 lb blue marlin caught by Marion
Uter aboard the Grander with Captain John Stark in Bermuda. A 574
Lb blue marlin was caught by Warren Keinath in Kona, Hawaii.
The fish was caught aboard the 5 Star with Capt.Carlton Taniyama.
In the end it was Queen of Hearts and their 728 lb blue marlin that
prevailed over the international competition.
It was an action packed day with many hook-ups in the world's blue
marlin fishing grounds. The action included an estimated 1,000 plus
marlin hooked briefly on Captain Peter Bristow's Katherine B in Madeira
by heavy tackle award winning angler Richard Richardson.
Lucien Van Puyenbroeck from Belgium reported hot action out of Bom
Bom Resort on Principe Island. They raised 12 blue marlin, had 8 strikes,
4 hook-ups, lost 2 marlin, and released two blue marlin under 500
pounds.
World famous French angler, Jean Paul Richard released two blues estimate
at 300 lb while fishing aboard his French Look IV in Moorea, French
Polynesia. The winner take all purse totaled $343,200. The separate,
optional Big Blue Challenge with 34 boats entered had no catches reported
to World Cup headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida so prize money
will be returned less tournament expenses.
The World Cup attracts some of the top heavy tackle anglers and captains
in the world including anglers Pam Basco, Larry Beard, Allan Bir,
Christopher Brand, (2006 World Cup winner) Jim Lambert, Tracy Melton,
Randy Ringhaver, Dominic Siano, (1991 World Cup Winner) Scott Steele,
Gary Tullius and Jose Valdes. Top captains include Momi Bean, Alan
Card, Allan DeSilva, Jeff Fay, Clay Hensley, Ron Hamlin, Chip Van
Mols, Kevin Nakamaro, Berno Niebuhr, Marlin Parker, Randy Parker and
Chris Sheeder just to name a few of the who's who in the offshore
fishing world.
More information can be obtained at www.bluemarlinworldcup.com or
by contacting Tournament Director Mike Leech at Mike@bluemarlinworldcup.com
Let's
Talk Hook Up Radio Show
Alibi Sport
Fishing has teamed with Ed Barnett owner of Pacific Rim Fishing Supplies
in Kona to provide bi-weekly live fish reports on Let's Talk Hook
Up. Let's Talk Hook Up is a weekend radio show on 1090 Sports Talk
radio in San Diego. The show is heard 100+ miles into Mexico and up
to Santa Barbara in California. It can also be heard on www.letstalkhookup.com.
Don't forget to listen to Ed at 8:00 AM PST live from Kona.
976Bite
On Line Fish Reports
Alibi Sport
Fishing has Team with Ed Barnett owner of Pacific Rim Fishing Supplies
to provide daily fish reports to 976Bite. The reports are provided
by the Charter Desk in Kona. You can read the daily reports by going
to www.976bite.com.
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