Bahamas Billfish

June 2000 Table of Contents

BAHAMAS BILLFISH CHAMPIONSHIP

At the conclusion of the North Abaco Championship, leg two of the five tournament Bahamas Billfish Championship, team Terminator from Paterson NJ moved into first place in the series. The Terminator tagged and released two blue marlin and two white marlin to win the North Abaco Championship with 1,000 points. Team Terminator also took top tag and release honours for the tournament. Being the first team to tag and release three blue marlin, the Reel Tight of Hillsborough Beach FL, winner of the 1998 series, finished second with 900 points. Finishing third, also with 900 points was Sonny Boy of North Palm Beach FL. The Maverick, which led the 74 boat fleet for two days, finished fourth with 800 points.

Sue Royal on the Reaper was top lady angler for the North Abaco Championship which caught a total of 60 billfish: 48 blue marlin, 11 white marlin and one sailfish. Of the three boated blue marlin, the Freebie of Fort Lauderdale FL caught the largest fish of the tournament, a 745 pound blue marlin. The Davis 50 caught a blue weighing 554 pounds and the Palawan caught a blue weighing 356 pounds.

All 146 teams in this year's Bahamas Billfish Championship are competing for the $600,000 Rolex Grand Prize. Title BBC sponsor, Rolex, will award the money to any registered angler who breaks the existing blue marlin record of 1060.5 pounds.

Through the generosity of Championship sponsors, anglers and crews, the newly created Bahamas Billfish Championship Scholarship Fund is well on its way to enabling a Bahamian student the opportunity to pursue a degree in marine biology. A longtime supporter of billfish research, the Bahamas Billfish Championship established the scholarship as a means of generating greater awareness in marine biology and its importance to the growth of recreational fishing. The scholarship recipients will be selected by the BBC's Steering Committee and the Bahamas Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

After two legs of this year's Championship series, the standing look like this:
1st Place Terminator 2,000 points
2nd Place Cool Runnings 1,838 points
3rd Place Hattitude 1,700 points
4th Place Weekend Hooker 1612 points

For the first time in its 27 year history, the Bahamas Billfish Championship series moved to Nassau/Paradise Island for its third leg May 21st through May 26th. Leg four, the Chub Cay Championship, will take place at Chub Cay Club in the Berry Islands June 4th through June 9th. The Championships conclude with the Boat Harbour Championship at Abaco Beach resort, Marsh Harbour, June 18th through June 23rd.

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