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.