Bermuda Billfish Blast

View Press release and photos of winning teams in the Photo Gallery

Que Mas 1st Place

Press Release: Jonathan Reiss

QUE MAS AMASSES HUGE LEAD WITH 5 BLUE MARLIN RELEASES THE BLUE MARLIN BITE IS ON IN BERMUDA !!

We had a red hot blue marlin bite in Bermuda for the first day of the 6th Annual Bermuda Billfish Blast. The first day of this tournament is a 100% release format - "Queen of Hearts" got things going quickly with a white release at 8:42 am. It was then quiet for half an hour or so until the bite turned on fully. By the end of the day, 39 boats had successfully photographed and released 21 blue marlin and 6 white marlin.

"Que Mas" battled and released blues seemingly continuously throughout the day. The 5 blue marlin they released is the most ever caught in a tournament in Bermuda, and included one blue estimated to be in the 700 lb class. The 2,500 points are the most ever amassed in the Blast even with another day of fishing to spare and gives the team a potentially insurmountable lead upon which to try to become the first ever repeat winner of the Bermuda Triple Crown series. It's strange to think that an 8-day series could be wrapped-up in the first day, but "Que Mas" will be especially hard to beat because they are so consistent. This team finished runner-up in the Blast in 2008 and 2007 and finished third in 2005, and they were the 2008 Bermuda Big Game Classic winners, which was the year they won the Bermuda Triple Crown. So, it will be hard work to catch them, but there is plenty of fishing to go..........

Needless to say, "Que Mas" won the Day One Release Daily worth $48,510.
Huge congratulations to Capt. Travis Butters and team aboard "Que Mas !!!

There were plenty of other teams who enjoyed success on the first day and there were also a lot of fish hooked and lost (I think Que Mas even pulled-off at least two other blues). In 2nd place at the end of the day was visiting boat, "Click Through", with 2 blue marlin releases and in 3rd lies Capt. Allen Desilva and his "Mako" team also with two blue marlin
releases. The fleet averaged 300 points per boat, which is the fourth
best "points per boat" day in the 5+ year history of the Triple Crown Series.

QUE MAS WINS THE 2010 BLAST

The 5 blue marlin released by "Que Mas" on Day One were more than enough to comfortably win the 6th Annual Bermuda Billfish Blast. The team added a white release late during Day Two to finish with 2,700 points. This sets a new points record for the Blast, and the 5 blue marlin released on Day One are the most ever caught in a single day during a tournament in Bermuda.

Team "Que Mas" also become the first to win all three of the Bermuda Triple Crown events - they won the 2007 Sea Horse and the 2008 Big Game Classic. So they sit alone in achieving this "career slam" so to speak. Can anyone win all three tournaments in the same year? I seriously doubt it, but I would not bet against them holding on this year to become the first ever repeat winners of the Bermuda Triple Crown Series (they won the 2008 Triple Crown).

For the first time since 2002, Bermuda did not weigh a qualifying blue marlin in the Blast or World Cup, and this is also the first time ever that no blue marlin were weighed in a Bermuda Triple Crown tournament. Of course, this was bound to happen one day in the Blast given that it is only a two day event and one of the days is mandatory release. In fact, on Day One there were at least a couple of 500 lb+ blue marlin released. This all meant that "Que Mas" pretty much cleaned-up with official cash prizes. They won $27,300 for 1st Place, a further $48,510 for the Day One Release Jackpots and because no blues were weighed the big Blue Marlin Jackpots of $94,050 all rolled-into their hands also. In Bermuda, we are not used to seeing the dock money defaulting to the top release team, but 5 blue marlin released in a single day was great and one of those releases was a slob - so it's fully deserved. Team "Que Mas" cleared $169,860 of official cash awards and many more prizes and trophies - HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO CAPT. TRAVIS BUTTERS, WALLY WHITLEY AND THE AWESOME QUE MAS TEAM !!!!

"Weez in the Keys" released a crucial blue marlin at 4:16 pm on Day Two to secure 2nd Place overall with 1,200 points and $15,600 of cash winnings.

"Click Through" held on to 3rd Place overall with 1,000 points and $7,800 of cash winnings. The other team celebrating at the end was the 2009 Triple Crown Champion, team "Bree", who scored a blue marlin release and a white release to win the Day Two Release Jackpots worth $48,510.

Day One of the tournament resulted in 21 blue marlin released and 7 whites released. The bite on Day Two was unable to maintain that terrific pace and there were a further 7 blue marlin released and 8 whites released. So, over the two days, 39 boats released 28 blue marlin and 15 whites. For the first time in tournament history viewers can not only keep track of what is happening on the live score keeper they can also view the release photos and video of the catches.

The final Blast standings are as follows:

1.    Que Mas - 5 blue releases; 1 white release - 2,700 points and cash winnings of $169,860 and invitation to the IGFA Offshore World Championship.
2.    Weez in the Keys - 2 blue releases; 1 white release - 1,200 points and cash winnings of 15,600
3.    Click Through - 2 blue releases - 1,000 points and cash winnings of $7,800
4.    Mako - 2 blue releases - 1,000
5.    Artemis - 2 blue releases
6.    El Cazador - 2 blue releases
7.    Off Piste - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700
8.    Bree - 1 blue release; 1 white release - 700 points and cash winnings of $48,510
9.   Chaos - 3 white releases - 600
10. C-Ya - 1 blue release - 500
11. Reel Lax - 1 blue release
12. Unreel - 1 blue release
13. Matanza - 1 blue release
14. Wound Up - 1 blue release
15. Ms. Knox - 1 blue release
16. Sea Scorpion - 1 blue release
17. Paradise One - 1 blue release
18. Treasure Isle - 1 blue release
19. Certifiable - 1 blue release
20. Blank Check - 1 blue release
21. Ovation - 2 white releases - 400
22. Queen of Hearts - 1 white release - 200
23. Over Budget - 1 white release
24. Pink Impression - 1 white release
25. Reel Addiction - 1 white release
26. Freedom - 1 white release
27. Margin Call - 1 white release