Bermuda Billfish Blast
The 4th Annual Bermuda Billfish Blast had 40 boats entered. 
DAY-ONE RECAP

On Day One, Que Mas kicked things off with a hookup at 8:36 a.m. and a blue marlin release at 8:47. Capt. Nick New and team on Reel Hot
hooked into a nice blue marlin at 8:52 a.m., and after a battle of close to an hour, the fish was on the leader; it was a hard call as to whether it was over the 500-pound minimum or not. Eventually, the team decided the blue was close to 500 pounds, so they released it at 10:11 a.m. The morning action also saw blue marlin releases for Spencer 66 O'Hana, Lone Star, Wound Up and Triple Play, and white marlin releases for El Cazador and Rum Bum. The bar was raised when Wound Up hooked up again at 12:38 p.m., jumping into the tournament lead with a second blue marlin release at 12:54 p.m. While that was happening, El Cazador made its second hookup at 12:45 p.m. and released a blue marlin at 1:02, putting them in second place with 700 points. At 2:04 p.m. Tenacious hooked their 558-pound blue that they boated at 3:26 p.m., and at 2:13 p.m. Que Mas hooked up with their 718-pound blue that they boated at 3:22. Paradise One, another very consistent team in the Triple Crown with angler Jonathan Soares, boated a 617-pound blue at 4:03 pm. The afternoon also saw blue marlin releases for Fa-La-Me, J.A.C.S., Great Escape, Size Matters, Smooth Operator, Tease Em and Anita Jean, and white releases for Reel Lax, Smooth Operator, Treasure Isle and J.A.C.S.

Que Mas, with angler Wally Whitley and Capt. Travis Butters won the Blue Marlin Jackpots worth $91,000, and Capt. James Robinson, Michael Batista, Straws Haycock and team aboard Wound Up won the Day-One Release Jackpots worth $49,000. Congratulations to them!

On Day One of the Blast, three blues were boated: a 718-pounder on Que Mas, a 617-pounder on Paradise One and a 558-pounder on Tenacious. Fifteen blues and six whites were released. The three fish boated represented three of the top-five fish caught in the World Cup. At the end of Day One, the tournament standings were as follows:

1) Que Mas – 718-pound blue and one blue release; 1,218 points and winnings of $91,000
2) Wound Up - two blue releases; 1,000 points and winnings of $49,000
3) El Cazador - one blue release; one white release - 700 points
4) J.A.C.S. - one blue release; one white release - 700
5) Smooth Operator - one blue release; one white release - 700
6) Paradise One – 617-pound blue
7) Tenacious – 558-pound blue
8) Reel Hot - one blue release; 500 ***points?***
9) Spencer 66 O'Hana - one blue release
10) Lone Star - one blue release
11) Triple Play - one blue release
12) Fa-La-Me - one blue release
13) Great Escape - one blue release
14) Size Matters - one blue release
15) Tease Em - one blue release
16) Anita Jean - one blue release
17) Rum Bum - one white release
18) Reel Lax - one white release
19) Treasure Isle - one white release

 

This year, the second and final day of the Blast is strictly a release-only day (the day that does not coincide with the July 4 World Cup is always fished as a release-only day in the Blast; this year it happened to be the final day, July 5, while in prior years it had always been the first day, July 3). Plenty of big blues appeared and did not disappoint. It's great to see so many big fish being released in a tournament! On this final day, Capt. Allen DeSilva and his team aboard De Mako got things going when they hooked into a monster blue marlin at 8:47 a.m. They battled the big blue for close to 40 minutes before they called in the release of an estimated 800- to 900-pound blue at 9:25 a.m. Capt. Bull Tolson aboard Spencer 66 O'Hana also hooked a porker at 9:40 a.m., and they were successful with the release of an estimated 550-plus-pouns blue marlin at 9:55. Capt. Cragin Curtis aboard Reel Addiction started the day with zero points, but he recorded a white release at 9:21 a.m. The leaderboard remained generally intact until Paradise One released a blue marlin at 10:06 a.m., which shot them into second place with 1,117 points, just 101 points behind the leaders, Que Mas. At 11:03 a.m. Reel Addiction reported a hookup and scored a blue release at 11:13 - that brought them to 700 points and right in the middle of a dozen or so boats that were in striking distance of the leaderboard. The morning action also saw blue releases for Tease Em, Sportsman and Sea Scorpion, and there were white releases for Margin Call, Tenacious, Sportsman and Jammer.

At 12:01 p.m., De Mako was at it again with another good-sized blue; this one was estimated at 500-plus pounds and was successfully released at 12:36 p.m. While that was happening, Bree hooked into a 700-pound-class blue that they released at 1:27 p.m. By 2:35 (less than two hours before lines out), Bree had released another blue marlin. Blue releases had been added to the tally by Aquadisiac, Touchdown, Great Escape and Off Piste while white releases were added by Fa-La-Me, Tenacious and Sea Scorpion. At this point, the tournament was wide open. Nearly eight boats could take over first place with just a blue release, and about 15 boats could crack the money slots (top three) with a blue release. It seemed highly likely that 1,500 points in total would be needed to win the tournament. A lot of teams were alert and praying for that shadow to appear. Who was going to step it up down the stretch?

Well, two boats stepped up - Reel Addiction hooked up at 2:49 p.m. and released a blue marlin at 3:08, which vaulted them up past a dozen or more boats into second place with 1,200 points. They secured the lead  in both daily-release jackpots. Then, at 3:52 p.m., Treasure Isle reported a doubleheader with father-and-son team Allan and Mike De Silva battling side by side. They subsequently released both blue marlin at 4:18 and 4:21 p.m., respectively - this achievement took them to 1,200 points, which was ultimately good enough for third place overall (worth $8,000) and a very special memory. Meanwhile, the drama continued aboard Reel Addiction as they hooked up again with just 25 minutes to go (4:05 p.m.), and at 4:17, they scored their third blue marlin release of the day, which along with the white release, took them to a tournament-winning total of 1,700 points. Many congratulations to Capt. Cragin Curtis, mate Nick Martin, angler Park Berolzheimer and crewman/"camerman" Jamie Todd (and that is not a typo - camerman Jamie Todd, folks!). Other boats that scored in those last two hours included blue releases for Weez in the Keys, Lone Star and Triple Play, and a white release for Anita Jean. The blue released by Weez was another nice one – a 500-pounder.

This is the third consecutive Triple Crown tournament that has been won in dramatic fashion by a red-hot boat on the final day (last year it was Que Mas in the Sea Horse and Perfect Parts in the Classic with bumper last-day wins). There were 21 blue marlin and nine whites released on the second day, and when you consider the size of many of the blues, it was an awesome day of action for a 40-boat fleet. In total, the Blast saw three blue marlin boated, and 36 blue marlin and 15 white marlin were photographed and released. This compares very favorably with prior years - in 2007, the same number of contestants boated two blues and released 26 blues and 13 whites.

Reel Addiction won both Day Two Release Jackpots worth $49,000 and first place overall worth another $32,000, for total cash winnings of $81,000. Angler Park Berolzheimer won the High Point Angler award.  Their 1,700 points is the highest-winning tally ever in the Blast, and this win ends a streak of six consecutive Triple Crown tournaments won by visiting boats. Reel Addiction also qualified to compete in the IGFA Offshore World Championship in May 2009 in Cabo San Lucas. Que Mas very nearly won their second consecutive Triple Crown event, and they will still be all smiles at the awards ceremony tonight, as the 718-pound blue took both Blue Marlin Jackpots worth $91,000 and secured second place overall for another $16,000, for total cash winnings of $107,000. They have been one of the hottest teams in recent tournament action - last year they also took second in the Blast, won the Sea Horse and finished second overall in the Triple Crown. They also finished third in the inaugural 2005 Billfish Blast (they certainly like the Blast!).
Treasure Isle secured third place overall for $8,000 of cash winnings.
Wound Up is the other big winner in this tournament, as they won both Day One Release Jackpots worth $49,000. Austin Burr won the High Point Junior Angler award with two blue marlin releases aboard Spencer 66 O'Hana, and the High Point Lady Angler award went to Kalen Jones on Tease Em.

The Final Bermuda Billfish Blast standings are as follows:

1) Reel Addiction - three blue releases; 1 white release - 1,700 points and cash winnings of $81,000; qualified for IGFA Offshore World Championship
2) Que Mas – 718-pound blue and one blue release; 1,218 points and cash winnings of $107,000
3) Treasure Isle - two blue releases; one white release - 1,200 points and cash winnings of $8,000
4) Paradise One – 617-pound blue; one blue release - 1,117 points
5) Wound Up -  two blue releases; 1,000 points and cash winnings of $49,000
6) Spencer 66 O'Hana - two blue releases; 1,000 points
7) Tease Em - two blue releases
8) De Mako – two blue releases
9) Great Escape - two blue releases
10) Bree - two blue releases
11) Lone Star - two blue releases
12) Triple Play - two blue releases
13) Tenacious – 558-pound blue; two white releases - 958 points
14) El Cazador - one blue release; one white release - 700 points
15) Smooth Operator - one blue release; one white release
16) J.A.C.S. - one blue release; one white release
17) Sportsman - one blue release; one white release
18) Fa-La-Me - one blue release; one white release
19) Sea Scorpion - one blue release; one white release
20) Anita Jean - one blue release; one white release
21) Reel Hot - one blue release; 500 points
22) Size Matters - one blue release
23) Aquadisiac - one blue release
24) Touchdown - one blue release
25) Off Piste - one blue release
26) Weez in the Keys – one blue release
27) Rum Bum - one white release; 200 points
28) Reel Lax - one white release
29) Margin Call - one white release
30) Jammer - one white release