Amber Marie crewmembers pose with the first-place trophy in the mahimahi category of the SFA 40th Annual Saipan International Fishing Derby during the awards banquet at the Pacific Islands Club on Monday.
GUAM was stapled into the record books of the Saipan Fishermen’s Association 40th Annual Saipan International Fishing Derby after Captain Adam San Gil and two anglers took the Amber Marie through unfamiliar waters and did well in three categories.
Over the weekend, participants hauled in several species of fish, but, strangely, what did not bite was the mahimahi.
After completing the first day of the tournament on Saturday, things were looking up for Guam’s Amber Marie, which had caught a billfish weighing 123.5 pounds. But after learning that larger billfish had been caught by other boats, they decided to turn their sights toward the mahimahi.
Unfamiliar with Saipan waters, Gil decided to ask local fishermen where to go, which eventually led to nabbing two of the only three mahimahis caught during the tournament. Amber Marie’s winning catch weighed 23.9 pounds.
“The second day of the tourney was kind of rough, so we decided to drop lines early instead of pushing throttle to the spot. We were just blessed with a double banger mahimahi early in the morning,” Gil said.
Hello Fishy crewmembers pose with the Total Weight trophy during the awards banquet of the SFA 40th Annual Saipan International Fishing Derby at the Pacific Islands Club on Monday. Hello Fishy’s total haul weighed 319.4 pounds.
Placing second was Hello Fishy, which reeled in a mahimahi weighing 10.4 pounds.
Amber Marie also bagged third place in the skipjack category with a catch weighing 14 pounds, and placed fourth in the billfish category for their 123.5-pound haul. They likewise received $800 from the Greg D. Perez Sportfishing Foundation.
Gil said he has been joining the annual fishing derby for about six to seven years now. He said he always returns to Saipan because the derby here is “a lot bigger than any derby in Guam.”
He added, “The community is awesome. There’s a lot of planning that goes into it and the prizes are great and the banquet is awesome. I love the Saipan derby. Any Guam boats that haven’t made the journey up here yet, if you think your vessel is safe and seaworthy to make it up here, you should definitely come up to Saipan and check out the derby. It’s a big derby and the community is awesome.”
Other winners
First place in the skipjack category was Chang with a 16.1-pound haul followed by St. Jude which caught a 14.6-pound skipjack.
First place in the billfish category was Le’Ana Vae from Tinian with 153.2 pounds. Coming in second was Defiance with 132.5 pounds while Sweet Candy placed third with 130 pounds.
The grand prize went to the 211-pound billfish caught by Only Reels, which took home $3,000 and the side bet of $5,800 for a total of $8,800.
This year’s tournament sponsors were the Marianas Visitors Authority, Mobil Oil Marianas, Budweiser, Docomo Pacific, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Paradise Dental, Hawaiian Rock Products, Matson Navigation, Coca-Cola/Foremost, Pacifica Insurance, Century Insurance Co. Ltd., RNV Construction, Bridge Capital Investments LLC, United Management International, JEM Mobile Stations, Fishing Tackle & Sporting Goods Store, Pacific Basin Insurance, and Tinian Shipping.
