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Big fish caught by boat Prestige of Haiti at Bowden Bay Invitational Tournament

Saturday, October 21, 2006

The two-day Fifth Bowden Bay Invitational Fall Tournament concluded last Saturday with he highlight of the event being the landing of a 428 lb marlin - the fifth heaviest ever caught in Jamaican waters.

This large fish was caught on the first day of fishing by Marc Andersen on the boat Prestige of Haiti. Calm seas, schools of fish and plenty of marlin, were the treat to the 10 boats who fished the Morant Cays, Decca Ridge and Albatross banks - all within 30 miles of the Bowden marina at Port Morant, St Thomas.

It was angler Andersen's first ever marlin, and Prestige again came in on day two with a marlin double-header, one lost but the other fought by Frederic Madsen, gaining him the second heaviest marlin at 138 lb.

Prestige again struck, fought and landed another marlin on the way home, minutes from the harbour mouth by angler Bob Cleaves from Vermont, USA. The visiting Haitian sport fisherman was skippered by Jamaicans Bobby Case and Greg Lue Tenn and ended up with a winning score of 1,134 lbs of fish landed.

Prestige has been a loyal supporter of this tournament from its inception and is expected to continue to be an active participant in future Bowden Bay tournaments.

No Problem, captained by Peter McConnell, landed over 474 lbs of tuna for a total score of 770 points for second. Beliful, captained by Toby McConnell, came third with 567 points.

Heaviest fish prizes went to Nicholas Chang on Matador for a 25 lb dolphin, to Neville Muschette on Sir Reel for a 46 lb Wahoo, Peter McConnell on No Problem for a 37 lb tuna while the junior angler prize went to 11-year-old Alex Berry for his 13 lb dolphin, caught on Safe Passage.

The Bowden Invitational tournaments are held twice a year with part proceeds and fish donated to schools in St Thomas. The October Bowden Bay Fall Invitational is held on the weekend following the Port Antonio International Marlin tournament and marks the commencement of the "new" Jamaican angling year.

The Sixth Bowden Bay Spring Invitational is scheduled for April 26th to 28th 2007.

The next angling event in Jamaica, sanctioned by the Sir Henry Morgan Angling Association, will be the Third Junior Angling Championship to be held from December 14 to 16, this year.

This thrust by the Sir Henry Morgan anglers is to encourage junior anglers to participate in an International Game Fish Association-sanctioned angling tournament, to learn and to adopt ethical fishing and marine conservation practices.

Juniors are accepted to fish from four to 16 years of age and are given first choice in an angling fight under adult supervision during this tournament.