THE seventh Mayberry Superstars Portie Marlin International Tournament was topped by Caymanian team Brac Rebel as the adjudged winner with 900 points, same as Bye Pass (second), Diana (third,) and Fair Prospect (4th) — with cash prizes of US$7,000, US$4,000, US$2,000, and US$1,000 warded, respectively.

In winning, Brac Rebel walked away with the awards of US$3,000, Best Captain Eric River, Top Angler and Female Angler Samara Persaud.

Dax Foster from winning boat Brac Rebel said, “This is great teamwork. This is my first time here and it is a great experience, great fishing, and fishermen. We had engine problems, and the Jamaican mechanic here got us going again so that we could fish. That”s a part of the team work and we went fishing and came out on top. The weather was good, and the hospitality too. It was a great tournament”.”

Samara Persaud, the top angler and top female angular, agreed.

“”It was great,” she said. “I didn”t catch a big marlin, but a small one and [I had] a safe release and I am happy. We are all happy that we won. We came in 2019 and we were second, in 2020 there was COVID-19, in 2022 we were fourth, and this year [we placed] first.”

Tournament Director Bobby Stewart described the event as fantastic.

“”We had 23 boats registered, which was fantastic and a record for us,” he said. “We lost two at the last minute here [as] one had a mechanical issue and the other some other issue, so we ended up with 21 fishing. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a great time out there. The winner, Brac Rebel, had some mechanical challenges and got it fixed and went on to win the tournament, so congratulations” to them.”

A total of 72 anglers, who included five female anglers and one junior angler, competed on those 21 boats.

Sixteen billfish were caught, of which 15 were blue marlin and one a white marlin, which were released. One blue marlin was disqualified.

— Everard Owen