myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Today, Thursday was the first day of the International Game Fishing Tournament held in Charlotteville. There was a Bimini start this morning at 7AM. It was quite a sight with over 40 boats all starting at once. The sea was rough this morning but calmed down in the afternoon. The biggest fish brought to the scales were, Dolphin a little over 50 lbs., Wahoo a little over 68 lbs., and one Sailfish at a little over 67 lbs. One Marlin was brought to the scales in the local tournament but the fisherman did not weigh it. It was estimated at over 150 lbs. The big Wahoo was also brought in by a local fisherman. The Tournament committee has done a fantastic job organizing this years event. Fishing will continue tomorrow and Sunday with Sat. being a "Lay Day" with a Tarpon tournament in the moring. Phil

Only 6 fish came to the scale on Friday. A 40 lb. Wahoo was the biggest. Most boats reported a number of Marlin coming up but not taking the bait. There were some reported Marlin hook ups but none were boated and I don't know if any were tagged and released. One boat had a nice sized Marlin at the boat with the bill in hand and before a picture could be taken it flipped off. Curtis on Workshop reported a Marlin strike that could have been a record but lost it after a short fight.
Today was the Lay-Day and a lot of fun was had by both anglers and villagers participating in a number of games on the playing field. .
The tarpon tournament only produced one catch and release. A local fisherman netted 18 tarpon in Pirates Bay last week and decimated the population.
Tomorrow is the final day of the tournament. Phil

The Tournament ended on Sunday March 9th. The results can be seen on the Tournament web site at http://www.tgft.com I don't think this years photos are on yet. It was a little disappointing that not many fish were brought to the scale. The two biggest fish to the scale were the sail and wahoo mentioned in my first post. On the last day a Dolphin (Mahi Mahi) was brought in that beat the first days 50 pounder by less that 1 lb. The Tournament was great fun. I did not hear any bad comments. As I said in my first post the Tournament Committee did a fantastic job. The Sunday night awards dinner was real nice with Sharon & Phebes catering the dinner. The Tobago Chief Secretary, The Honourable Orville D. London, was on hand to help present the prizes. Charlotteville has now calmed back down. I hear that planning for next years Tournament will get under way soon. Phil