Catch a $25,000 prize for reeling in a wahoo weighing 75 pounds plus! That’s the top prize in the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s (VIGFC) Annual Wahoo Windup Tournament, set for Oct. 22 at IGY’s American Yacht Harbor (AYH) marina. Early bird registration is $350 per boat before or by Friday, Oct. 13. Fishing is in U.S. Virgin Islands waters only. If you don’t catch a whopper? No worries! Prizes will be awarded to anglers catching the three largest wahoo by weight. The Best Boat award is determined by the total weight of the wahoo caught.
“We moved the date from November to October for a better shot at good weather and an even better wahoo bite. We’re expecting teams from St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John. It’s such a fun event. There’s sport fishing in the territory’s beautiful waters and then the camaraderie back at the dock where we’ll have our weigh-in, a cookout with food and drink, and the awards,” said Kelvin Bailey Jr., tournament director and president of the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s Board of Directors.
Register for the Game Fishing Club’s Wahoo Windup online at www.vigfc.com. Early bird registration is $350 per boat until Oct. 13 and goes up to $400 from Oct. 14 and Oct. 21. The entry fee includes four anglers and rods, with up to six rods allowed at $50 each.
The Captain’s Meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 20, at the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s clubhouse in Red Hook, St. Thomas. On Oct. 22, lines-in is at 6:30 a.m. All boats must be in at IGY’s American Yacht Harbor Marina by 4 p.m. for their fish to qualify. The Awards Ceremony will start at 4:30 p.m.
It’s not impossible to catch the tournament’s Top Prize of $25,000 for the catch of a single wahoo over 75 pounds.
Three anglers in tournament history have reeled in a whopper wahoo. In 2003, Mike Kuszewski, fishing aboard Capt. Jim Estraca’s St. Thomas-based charter boat, Black Pearl, landed a 94.1-pound wahoo. Then, in 2012, Clive Mahabir aboard St. John-based charter boat Mixed Bag, with Capt. Rob Richards at the helm, caught a 91.3-pounder. Five years later in 2017, Adrianne Baird Butler, boated a 76.3-pound wahoo from aboard Capt. Colin Butler’s St. Thomas-based charter boat Silver Fox.
The Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club appreciates the support of IGY’s American Yacht Harbor.
For more information, call 775-9144, email: usvigfc@gmail.com or visit: www.vigfc.com
