Six teams left the calm of the lagoon in the early hours of Saturday morning to compete in the Marshalls Billfish Club’s Catch 5 fishing derby: Kirtake, Hangloose Jacqueline, Nali, Jambo and Te’a Lilly.
Of the six, two teams managed to bring onboard the required species with Captain Ronnie Reimers and the team on Kirtake taking out first place. They caught and released a billfish, earning them 100 pounds, and caught a 15-pound skipjack tuna, a 15-pound wahoo, a 22-pound mahi-mahi, and a 14-pound barracuda making a total of 166 Catch 5 pounds. The Kirtake folk also earned 272 President’s Cup points.
In second place was Team Hangloose skippered by Captain Larry Hernandez III. They caught all the required species and released three Pacific blue marlin, earning them 750 points, and also caught a qualifying 55-pound sailfish. The team earned 805 President’s Cup points.
All the other teams caught fish, but did not weigh in.
According to a Billfish Club release, the next tournament will be a Biggest Qualifying Billfish on February 24. Registration will at the Shoreline clubhouse from 6:30pm on Thursday, February 22.
The President’s Cup competitors are: Larry Hernandez III with 834 points, Damien Milne 769, Robin Reimers 457, Ronnie Reimers 325, Bubu Kia (Ebeye) 257, Bwiji Aliven 147, and Jojo Kramer 46.