EAGER participants took to the seas, last weekend, as the Saint Lucia Game Fishing Association (SLGFA) hosted a highly-rated return of Saint Lucia International Bill Fish Tournament which includes local and regional anglers.
Blue Fever, from Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) led the top ten participating boats in the Normal Class with a total of 2, 633points, followed by Saint Lucian boats Exodus and Reel Extreme with 2,400 and 2,100 pts. respectively.
Individual prize awards were as follows:
Best Male Angler – Mark Telfer on Blue Fever with 2,100 pts. Best Female Angler – Robyn Merry and Rafael De Silva on the Saint Lucian boat Mac Daddy with 600 pts., each.
Best Junior Angler – Brody Mc. Queen with 600pts. aboard Exodus
President of the SLGFA, Ryan Devaux was a team member on Reel Extreme.
“We’ve had a great three days …and we are in third place with two sail fish and a dolphin. We’ve got seven for the tournament, but lost quite a few which tells us that the fish are there and everyone has had a great time fishing,” said Devaux.
He noted that several participants have expressed that they are keenly interested in returning to compete “and we will keep building on our tournament.”
Veteran Saint Lucian angler Bernard Johnson was pleased to be back in the water and involved in competitive fishing. “I’m probably the oldest man here and been fishing all my life. It’s something that I love …and it was good, the sea was calm, we got fish everyday and as always, we lost a lot to get a few,” he said. “But that’s fishing …with fishing you never know what will happen, its either everything or nothing. But I love it and it’s my main sport.”
Adrian Saba and Sean Abed, two visiting anglers aboard the boat AFUNDAY described the local marina as one of the best in the region and spoke highly of the “warm hospitality” that they received.
“The tourism industry in Saint Lucia is second to none, and the hospitality industry here, you guys know how to accommodate everybody and put on a show and make us feel like we’re at home,” declared Abed.
The tournament was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Development & Sports through its Alternative Sports Program with corporate sponsors Republic Bank as the Platinum Sponsor.