With great weather and terrific fishing in the forecast, the participating fleet of 36 boats looked forward to this year’s Bermuda Big Game Classic. After the first day of fishing, the anticipation would grow even higher as 18 blue marlin and three white marlin were released. Two blues came to the scales: Big Deal weighed a 520-pound fish for owner Ed Russo and Capt. Brian Rabbit, and Pink Impression‘s angler Tony Cabral scaled a 703-pounder for owner Paul Rodrigues.
Fishing picked up on Day Two with 30 blue marlin and three white marlin releases, and two additional fish coming to the dock. Seamaster released three blues to move into the lead while several other teams also made big moves up the leaderboard with released blue marlin.
On the third and final day, several teams found excellent action offshore. Triple Play boated a massive blue that weighed 934 pounds for junior angler Jacob Estis, which would prove to be not only the largest of the tournament but also a possible IGFA junior angler world record. Seamaster won this year’s Bermuda Big Game Classic with five blue marlin and one white marlin, all released, for owner Dan Devine, Capt. Nick Venture and local deckhand Dan Lee. In addition to their cash and prizes, the team also received an invitation to compete in the Offshore World Championship in 2017.
Big Deal was second with three blues released and their 520-pounder weighed. They also repeated as Marlin Magazine’s Manufacturer’s Cup winner for Spencer Yachts, worth an additional $10,000 in winnings. Overproof finished in third place with four blue marlin releases. Overproof‘s angler, Jason Friedman, was also the high point angler for the tournament with 2,000 points and four blues released. This year’s Bermuda Big Game Classic awarded over $350,000 in cash and prizes.
