SUMMARY OF 46th PORT ANTONIO INTERNATIONAL MARLIN TOURNAMENT
September 26th to October 3rd 2009
24 boats
124 Anglers, inclusive of 20 foreign anglers
46 Atlantic Blue Marlin raised (reported as seen by the bait)
19 Atlantic Blue Marlin lost in the fight.
28 Atlantic Blue Marlin successfully fought with a total of:
- 26 Atlantic Blue Marlin fought, subdued, Camera-confirmed after TBF-Tagged and then Released alive (one technically disqualified for non-payment of dues).
- 2 Atlantic Blue Marlin landed but disqualified – one dead in the fight despite all attempts to resuscitate it and the other not attaining a 99 inch measurement and therefore judged to be undersized – owner/angler had thought that the old First Marlin Ever exemption from a penalty still held.
Opening on Saturday 26th September 2009 at the “ole” Port Antonio Marina with a bustle of registration of boats and anglers, the 46th Port Antonio International Marlin Tournament (PAIMT) created quite a stir in the sleepy town of Port Antonio. On Sunday a Welcome Aboard All-Inclusive Frenchman’s Cove Beach Party by Ian “Gibbo” Gibson’s “Nothing Fancy Marlin Madness” group took the crowd back to basics in a renewal of the time-honored gathering of old and new anglers. This party-renewal is to continue into the future entertainment planned for the PAIMT.
The PAIMT event had started in 1959, pausing for some three years in the bad economic times experienced in the mid-1970’s and also missing out in the year of Hurricane “Gilbert”. Since 1990 the emphasis of this tournament had been on marine conservation of the Atlantic Blue Marlin, all efforts being made to Tag them with an international “The Billfish Foundation (TBF)” number and Releasing them (Tag & Release format) alive in order to study their migratory patterns and growth. So far one such TBF-Tagged fish was recently reported recaptured off Panama in 2008, while another was recaptured in 2009 off Venezuela, both five (5) years after release.
On Monday the new Coast Guard County-Class Cutter “HMJS Surrey”, and the Custos Rotolourum of Portland, the Honourable Roy Thompson, took out the orderly 24 boat parade with 124 participating anglers out through the Navy Island ship’s channel to a cannon-start “Bimini” boat race to signal the start of the 2009 Atlantic Blue Marlin (ABM) Tournament.
Within 45 minutes the first ABM was tagged with a TBF-numbered tag, photo-confirmed at boat-side and released by “Reel Teaser” Peter Andrew Thomas jnr. This set the tone for the rest of the tournament as “Reel Teaser” could then do no wrong, ending up with three (3) other marlin Tagged and Released over the next three days to win the tournament with a score of four (4) ABM, TBF-tagged and Released alive.
In total 46 marlin were reported raised (as seen behind the boat and/or bait), 19 were lost in the fight, 26 marlin were successfully TBF-Tagged and released alive while two (2) were landed but disqualified as they did not reach the tournament-specified minimum length of 99 inch (approximate 344 lbs.) necessary for landing.
On Wednesday 30th September 2009 the “Big” boats take a rest on the Rest (Or Lay) Day and a 40-canoe strong local canoe tournament was organized as a community effort. The canoes went out and landed 3 marlin. Canoe “Black Emperor” won the JAGRA Wine Trophy with a 133 lb. marlin, closely followed by “Yellow Fin” with a 128 lb. marlin for the Happy Ice Trophy and “Faith” with a 112 Lb marlin for the Jamaica Tourist Board Trophy.
The overall winning boat of the main event was “Reel Teaser” with Andrew Peter Thomas jnr. of NPG Insurance clearing up with First Marlin of the Tournament 2009 (KFC Trophy); Male Angler Most Marlin (Phillip Matalon Trophy); First Marlin Day 4 (Peter Stewart Trophy); Boat Most Marlin, All Jamaican Tournaments 2009 (Busha Jervis Trophy).
“Reel Teaser” went on to be the overall winner as the Team 2009 and collected the Appleton Rums Trophy. They were also judged to be the overall winner of 2009 and recommended by The Sir Henry Morgan Angling Association (SHMAA) for the coveted International Game Fish Association (IGFA) invitation to attend at the “Olympics” of angling in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to be held in May 2010, The Bonnier-IGFA World Offshore Championships.
