Captain James Roberto, second from left, and the crew of Saba Too, pose for a photo with their winning catch in the 3rd Annual Tasi To Table Mix Classic at the Smiling Cove Marina on Saturday.
BOAT Captain James Roberto and the three anglers of Saba Too stole the show by bagging first place in the 3rd Annual Tasi To Table Mix Classic on Saturday. Their catch’s combined weight was 143.7 pounds.
Roberto and his three anglers were blessed by the sea gods as it only took them a little over an hour to find their first catch — a billfish that weighed 97.5 pounds. “The water was choppy sometimes but for the main part, it was good,” Roberto said. “Honestly, we just let the lures go. We weren’t looking for something specific, just hoping something would bite.”
He added, “As soon as we let the lures go, we hooked up something and came back at 7 a.m.”
To qualify, however, the catch must include a combination of the qualifying pelagic species — for example, billfish and wahoo or yellowfin tuna or skipjack tuna.
So the crew had to go back to the open waters to get another fish.
Eventually, Saba Too caught a yellowfin tuna weighing 46.2 pounds.
With a combined weight of 143.7 pounds, Roberto and the Saba Too crew clinched first place to take home the title and the $3,000 cash prize.
Roberto, who is also a board member of Tasi To Table, said he always aims to participate in every fishing derby. “This is what we do. It’s just how we were raised growing up,” he said. Although Roberto has over 20 years of fishing experience and has won many titles, this is the first title he won in an event organized by Tasi To Table.
Roberto noted that “Carmelita II [and] Alex Castro Jr. wanted to get a three-peat so I’m kind of happy to hold him back from getting that and now it’s up to us to defend the title. But it’s all for the love of fishing,” he added.
In second place were Captain Richard Quitugua and crewmember Triggah Vibez. Their catch had a combined weight of 127.7 pounds and consisted of a billfish (116lbs) and a skipjack (11.7lbs). Quitugua and Vibez received a $2,000 cash prize.
In third place were Alex Castro Jr and the crew of Camelita II whose catch had a combined weight of 124.6 pounds — a billfish (109.1lbs) and a wahoo (15.5lbs). They took home a $1,000 cash prize.
Tasi To Table President Gene Weaver said this year’s fishing derby was another success. “This year’s turnout still came close to the number we had last year, which I am happy with: 23 boats went out and 23 boats returned,” Weaver added.
On behalf of Tasi to Table, he thanked Marine Patrol, AMP, FJR Enterprises, CorosionX, Marpac, Bud Light, Ghost, KKMP, D&Q International Distributors, Island Imaging & Motion, Fish & Wildlife, the Marianas Visitors Authority, and the event’s other sponsors.
“We all came together to make things happen so my hats off to everyone that came here and supported the event,” Weaver said.
