June 2000 Table
of Contents
21st BERTRAM/HATTERAS SHOOTOUT
by Margo Albury
The sunlight shimmered on the water and boats danced across the sea as invited sports
fishermen raced in their streamlined Bertram and Hatteras craft towards the Big One,
the marlin that would be found and fished and trophied. Everyone on the first day
of the three-day 21st Bertram/Hatteras Shootout was looking forward to bringing in the
Big One and receiving the grand prize.. Only one, however, would be the winner.
The annual Shootout between Jim Schaffer of Richard Bertram and Hutch Hutchengs of
Hatteras of Fort Lauderdale is the result of a long, amicable dispute between old
friends which has been held at Abaco Beach Resort & Boat Harbour Marina in recent
years. A total of 70 craft, 35 on each side, lined up to give even competition.
The competition began on May 4th and right from the start there was great fishing.
Many gamefish were tagged and released but by the end of the first day there was
only one marlin boated. The 390 lb blue marlin belonged to team Dealer Incentive
out of Delray Brach FL. The Dealer Incentive
is a 55 Hatteras owned by Dan DeSantis and captained by Harry 'Snick' Akers.
On day two the Dealer Incentive
boated another blue marlin which weighed in at 500 lbs. With the two boated fish and
their many releases, this placed the Dealer Incentive
in the lead.
On the final day three blue marlin were boated. The first weighed in at 411 lbs and
was brought in by last year's winner of the Shootout Chupacabra
of Wilmington DE, owned by former Miami Dolphins player Mike Mullen. A 415 lb blue
marlin was caught by the Hatt Box
of Isle Palm SC. The Sea Angel
of Baytown TX caught the final and largest fish of the tournament which weighed 579
lbs.
After the long days of fishing the participants had wonderful food and entertainment
provided for them. The second night was awesome! Entertainers from Freeport put on
a show of fire and limbo dancers with steel band music. A fireworks display accompanied
the awards ceremony and banquet.
A Bertram craft won the largest fish category while Hatteras took top honours in the
tagged, released and boated fish categories. The overall winning team was Dealer Incentive
which also took home top boat, top Hatteras and most released honours.
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