Grand Bahama Island, the Bahamas: Once again, the overall result of the Bahamas Wahoo Championship came down to the last day of fishing during the 3rd and Final Leg of the Bahamas Wahoo Championship held March 15-20, 2009.

After nine days of fishing only eight points separated the first and second place boats in the Championship. At the final weigh-in, “Llangus”, a 44’ Riviera owned by Dan Riggs of Boswell, PA edged out Marshall Leeds’s “Svengali” for the overall win and the title of Champion of Champions. “Llangus” is a Freeport; Bahamas based boat captained by the veteran Captain Kurt. Third place went to Dan Swanson’s “China Girl”.

The Heaviest Wahoo in this year’s Bahamas Wahoo Championship was a 79.5 pound fish caught by “Llangus” during the third and final leg.

The dates for the 2009-2010 Bahamas Wahoo Championship, as well as the venues for the events, will be announced shortly.

 

February 23, 009 – Bimini, Bahamas - As the wahoo season winds down so does the Bahamas Wahoo Challenge.  By the time February rolls around the teams have fished two grueling tournaments and they are ready for the third and final leg: the Championship Leg hosted once again at the beautiful Bimini Bay Resort. The teams had high expectations as the cold front which kept some teams away promised to “push the fish down” as cold fronts tend to do.

The first day of fishing had brisk NE winds with seas 4-6 feet.  That did not deter teams from making long runs to where they thought the big fish would be found.  By the end of the day only one team was able to weigh four fish, “Ocean Alley.”  They weighed in 141 pounds which was good for the Friday daily and first place for the time being. “Blue Label” weighed in a couple of fish for second place followed by “Airborne” and “Shine.”

The second day promised to be better and teams reassessed their strategy as the tournament was wide open with only a few fish weighed in.  “Ocean Alley” was back to the docks first and weighed in several fish totaling only 80 pounds. None of their fish helped their overall total. But down the dock the team on “Blue Label” ran to the weigh station with a very nice haul of fish.  Their fish included a 51-pouinder and three other fish giving them a total beating out “Ocean Alley,” but there was controversy at the weigh-station.  The tournament has a local rule which does not allow for teams to run the channel heading into the marina. All boats must travel this channel at idle speed and “Blue Label,” in fear of being late, ran the channel.  Subsequently the team’s fish for that day were disqualified and they dropped into second place.  “It’s a tough call to make, but we have to enforce the rules,” explained Tony Albelo the tournament director. “They realized that they made a mistake and owned up to it. They did not dispute their disqualification.”

“Ocean Alley” won the tournament and also ran the table and swept all three legs of the Challenge.  This is an amazing feat considering the level of competition that these events attract.  “Blue Label” finished in second with newcomers “Shine” finishing in third.  Crowd favorite “Fulunga” ended up with the largest wahoo of the tournament at 46.15 pounds.

 

2009 WAHOO CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE IN TOTAL 1219.3LBS OF WAHOO CAUGHT IN THREE DAYS WITH 13 BOATS

1ST PLACE PERFECT PARTS 288.1lbs  2ND PLACE FISHIN A LOAN 249.5lbs   3RD PLACE SUNRISE ONE 225.8lbs

BIGGEST WAHOO WAS PERFECT PARTS 93.2LBS

TWO CATS TWO 146.4lbs, TWO CATS 146.3lbs, COW HUNTER 49.3lbs, ICEMAN 35.9lbs, SAVANNAH LYNN 41lbs, & TEAL 29.8lbs

 

Old Bahama Bay, West End, Grand Bahama Island:

“Svengali”, a 41’Albermarle owned by Marshall Leeds of Boca Raton survived a last day rally by reigning champion “Llangus” and won the tournament by a slim margin of 32 points. The first two days of the tournament were fished under some frightening weather conditions and as the weather improved so did the daily catches. “Llangus”, a Freeport based boat made a gallant last day run at “Svengali” and did managed to overtake “China Girl”, a 65’ Ryco owned by Dan Swanson of Palm Beach, Florida to earn second place.

Winner-   “Svengali”    185.5 points
Second-   “Llangus”     153.5
Third-    “China Girl”  145.00

After the first two legs of competition, “Llangus” leads the Bahamas Wahoo Championship with 273 points. “Svengali” is in second place with 250 points, a mere 23 points separates the first two places after six days of fishing. “China Girl” is in third place with 145 points.

The third and final leg of the Bahamas Wahoo Championship will be held at Port Lucaya Marina, Grand Bahama Island March 15th-20th, 2009. “Svengali” and “Llangus” have already indicated that they will be present for the event so it does look like the overall Bahamas Wahoo Championship will have another classic finish.

 

January 19, 2008 – Freeport, Bahamas - The second leg of the Bahamas Wahoo Challenge was exactly that: a challenge.  The great people at NOAA predicted 25-30 knot winds for the general area and many teams actually listened to the report.  These people have not learned that the NOAA offices do not have windows, but that’s another story.  Many teams called to express their concern and cancelled due to weather, but other teams decided to make the crossing.  By the time the captains’ party rolled around, there were only four teams ready to compete.  The weather never became a factor.

 

OLD BAHAMA BAY, GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND, NOVEMBER 18, 2008:

“Llangus”, a 40’ Wellcraft owned by Dan Riggs of Friedens, Pa. won the first leg of the Bahamas Wahoo Championship at Old Bahama Bay. In what turned out to be a very competitive tournament, fished under ideal weather conditions, “Llangus” beat out Marshall Leeds’s “Svengali” by 57.5 points. “Llangus”, captained by Bahamas based Kurt Sewall, was consistent with their daily catch, weighing-in more than two Wahoo per day each day of the competition. “Svengali” encountered mechanical problems on the second day of fishing and could not weigh-in their catch. They did roar back on the last day of fishing with what proved to be the heaviest Wahoo of the competition, a 65.5 pound fish.

 

A mere 9.5 points separated the second, third and fourth place finishing boats. Third place “Jade Sky”, owned by John Angelini of Ft. Lauderdale, FL and fourth place “High Life”, owned by Dennis Thies, of Lantana, FL both caught identical Wahoo weighing 46.5 pounds.

The new competition rules of the Bahamas Wahoo Championship were implemented in order to increase the competitiveness of the events. Heading into the second leg of the competition, just 19 points separate the first through fourth place boats.
 
First Place        Llangus         141.5   points
Second Place    Svengali        135.5 points
Third Place        Jade Sky        125.0 points
Fourth Place    High Life        122.5 points

For further information, and/or photographs, please contact Tournament Director Raul V Miranda at 305-234-7386 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The second leg of the Bahamas Wahoo Championship will be held February 4 to February 7, 2009. The venue will be announced shortly.

 

November 10, 2008, Bimini Bay, Bahamas - The 2008-2009 Wahoo Challenge started off with incredible weather and even more incredible fishing.  Teams came from across the state and the Bahamas to compete for $50,000.00 in cash.