The smallest angler reeled in the biggest fish at the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s (VIGFC) annual Wahoo Wind-Up tournament, held on Sunday, Nov. 21. Nine-year-old Nathan Gatcliffe caught a 36.37-pound wahoo aboard the 36-foot Calypso, Double Header IV, to earn Top Angler and a $1000 cash prize.
“I caught it in about 10 minutes,” said Gatcliffe, who fished with his father, Capt. Jonathan Gatcliffe. “I knew I’d catch something if I used that black and white lure.”
Gatcliffe’s fish was the first of three caught aboard Double Header IV. Ironically, his fellow angler, Aaron Batten, reeled in an identical weight or 36.37-pound wahoo. Length served as the tie-breaker, with Batten’s fish measuring only 53.10 inches to land him Second Top Angler and a $500 cash prize. Gatcliffe’s winning fish measured 58.26 inches.
“Neither wahoo was caught in the same place,” saed Batten. “We headed out and started fishing off Ram’s Head this morning and just worked our way west, speed-trolling down sea. We caught almost a fish every hour between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.”
Brian Kamin, aboard the 24-foot Rampage finished Third Best Angler with the catch of a 25.35-pound wahoo. Kamin won a $250 cash prize. No angler caught a wahoo over 75 pounds, the weight that was needed to score a $10,000 cash prize.
Two boats, Double Header IV and the 40-foot Luhrs Express, Mixed Bag, tied for Best Boat with four wahoo caught apiece; however, Double Header IV took the trophy and the $1000 cash prize home for the second year in a row by tallying a greater weight of fish, 113.08 pounds of wahoo compared to Mixed Bag’s 52.89 pounds.
Eight to ten foot seas proved challenging for the anglers fishing on the 10 boats participating in the tournament, but that didn’t stop the catching. A total of 17 wahoo came to the scales, collectively weighing 326.9 pounds. Personal from the Department of Planning and Natural Resource’s Fish and Wildlife Division conducted the weigh-in.
“We had a great tournament,” said director Jeff Kreiner. “There were a lot of close weights and ties among the catch and some 60 percent of the boats caught wahoo. That’s pretty good.”
For more information about the VIGFC, visit vigfc.com
