January 21, 2008

West End, Grand Bahama, Bahamas – “Karma.”  That was the word of the week at the second installment of the Bahamas Wahoo Challenge at Old Bahama Bay. It seems that this tournament is susceptible to karma… good karma in particular.  See, last year the tournament committee needed a ride to West End due to a boat issue.  They also needed a boat to help transport all the t-shirts and bags over.  “Nothin’s Wild” volunteered to shuttle the committee to West End and “Wake Up Call” agreed to transport the shirts. What were the results?  Well, “Nothin’s Wild” weighed in a 95-pound behemoth and won the tournament plus $48,000 dollars and “Wake Up Call” took home second place and $18,000.  There is that good karma we are talking about.  But that was last year.

This year, karma reared its beautiful head once again.  On day one, the team “Triple Chief” was headed for the docks with some nice fish when – silence hit them.  Their motors shut off and they realized that their sled was out of fuel.  The call for help was received at the docks while the weigh-ins were in full swing.  “Zephyros” heard the call and volunteered to take the stranded team some fuel and help their fellow anglers.  This deed would not go unpaid.  The teams that did make it to the docks on time weighed in some impressive fish including a 52, 57, and 60 pounders by “Savanna Lynn.”  This was good enough for them to take the lead after day one.  Right on their tail was “Ocean Alley” followed by “Knot Guilty.” 

Day two saw brisk winds and choppy seas, but the teams would not be deterred by the conditions.  All the teams headed out for a difficult day of fishing.  Slowly, but surely, the teams returned to the docks; each one of them a little earlier than they hoped.  Although early arrivals usually mark slow fishing, this was not the case.  The teams coming in were weighing some monster wahoo.  First to hit the scales was “Ocean Alley” with a pair of nice fish at 35 and 49 pounds.  This helped propel them into second place. Leg one’s winners “Top Vee” dragged up two giants at 48 and 69 pounds. That’s two tournaments in a row with 69-pound wahoo for the “Top Vee” crew.  But there was quite a rumble down the docks.  Things looked very active over by “Zephyros.” That’s right, the gas-toting heroes from day one had something nice in the boat; something really nice.  When this beast was lifted onto the docks, the crowd gave a collective gasp.  This fish looked as if was missing some sort of Naval markings.  This fish was huge. As it was dragged up to the weigh-station, everyone knew it would be special.  It was heaved onto the scales and it tipped it at 104.75 pounds!  This is the largest wahoo taken in any Bahamian tournament ever!  Just as if were written by a striking screenwriter, the heroes from day one were rewarded with a record-setting fish and $17,000.00.  Although this was the fish of a lifetime, it did not help the team in the “Overall” category.

The Overall Winner was “Savanna Lynn” who kept their first day total of 201.19 pounds with only four fish.  That’s an impressive average of over 50 pounds per fish!  Second place went to “Ocean Alley” with 198.30 pounds; just three pounds shy of first place.  And “Svengali” took home third place with 166.51 pounds.  Overall the tournament paid out over $70,000 in prizes.

The series is led by “Top Vee” with 222.27 pounds and followed by “Savanna Lynn” with 204.03 pounds.  The series champion is tallied by taking the teams heaviest two fish from each event and totaling the six-fish weight. 

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