PORT ANTONIO, Portland — Nuh Reely clipped the 61st Port Antonio International Marlin tournament, hosted by Sir Henry Morgan Anglers Association, three minutes ahead of Integrity who was second as both boats released five marlin at Ole Marina.

Safe Passage was third with three releases while 24 marlin were released over the three days — three on the opening day, 11 on day two, and 10 on day three.

The top male angler was Radcliffe Gayle from Nuh Reely, with Paulette Tai Chun coming out as the top female from Still Keepin It Jiggy.

Tournament Director Max Rochester was pleased with the tournament’s success.

“The weather had been fantastic — and that makes a big difference — and we had a number of very large boats that have not been around for a while, and the fishing was fantastic. On day one we released three marlin, and the hook-up rate was very good. Day two 11 [were released], and day three 10 — that’s 24 in three days for 14 boats, which has a marlin boat ratio of 1.7 which is excellent. We didn’t catch a lot of boat fish this tournament but the water was so warm,” commented Rochester.

“We are happy for our many sponsors who were engaged in the tournament and involved in the activities. We had two boats catching five marlin — as it was close going — and what differentiated first from second was the time. I am very pleased,” he said in closing.

Robert “Bobby” Stewart was delighted with topping the tournament with his new yacht.

“It was fun; everybody had a great time. It had a great vibe and it was very competitive. At the end of the first day we realised we had a chance [and] we worked, we worked for every fish all of Friday. It just kept going back and forth all day, and we thought we equalised yesterday [Friday] in the afternoon but we had an angler who wasn’t registered so we disqualified that fish and on Saturday we ran out at 6:30 in the morning. We got in at seven, and within three minutes we had the first marlin and equalised, and the rest of the day it was just a game of back and forth and we just came in three minutes ahead of Peter (Peter Cowan – Integrity). In the end, we clinched it,” said Stewart.

“It was always good fun, and we can’t complain. The moon phase was the best moon phase out of all the tournaments, and it showed itself. The marlin were here and everybody felt it,” said Peter Cowan.

Andrea Cowan from second-place Integrity added: “It was fantastic, it was awesome — the camaraderie, the team spirit — as this is probable one of the most successful tournaments with 1.7 marlin per boat and 24 marlins. This is a high number for one event, and the spirit and energy were good. The competition was good and it was a lot of fun,” Cowan said.

— Everard Owen