The Tribune

ANGLERS competing in the year-long Sportfishing Series at the historic Bimini Big Game Club Resort & Marina set their hooks this weekend towards gathering points leading to a November payout and awards ceremony where final series champions will be honoured.

The first tournament in the series, Wahoo Weekend saw competitive wahoo and mahi action with Team No Credit from Fort Lauderdale taking the winning team honours with a total of 262.8 pounds over two days of offshore action. Team members included captain John Saul, Martin Thifauelt, Kenny Schmidt, Heath Lverniche and Douglas Hughes.

The biggest wahoo caught by Team J.R. out of Fort Lauderdale weighed in at 72 pounds. Team members were captain Pete Varona, Mike Jones, Mickey Garrell, Leo Levarity and Rich Stone.

Landing the tournament’s largest mahi was Team Red Pepper based in New Providence, Bahamas. The 19.7-pound fish was caught by captain Gary Sands, Ron Albury, Peter Auberg and Ari Burrows.

Sportfishing Series points for wahoo and mahi were awarded at a rate of one point per pound over a minimum scoring weight of 20 pounds. Double points were awarded to the first, second and third place finishers.

The tournament ended Saturday with a gala award ceremony poolside.

Upcoming dates for the 2016 Big Game Club Sportfishing series include the BBGC Billfish Tournament April 13-17, the BBGC Tuna/Mahi Tournament May 26-29 and the BBGC Wahoo Smackdown VIII November 10-13. Overall, to qualify for point payouts, anglers must have entered and fished at least two of the Big Game Club scheduled events. Point payouts will be awarded at the BBGC Wahoo Smackdown VIII Awards Banquet on November 13.