77.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesWave Paver Runs Away with USVI Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament

Wave Paver Runs Away with USVI Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament

Team Wave Paver, from left, Ryan House, Jason Parker, Top Angler Jr. Davis, Scott Glasscock, Jerry Owens and Capt. Jason Sinclair. (Dean Barnes photo)The team aboard Wave Paver pulled away from the pack with four blue marlin releases Thursday, raising to nine their total for the four days of fishing, and giving them first place in the 41st USVI Open Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament.

If that weren’t enough, the ship’s owner, angler Jr. Davis, released six of the blue marlin to earn the Top Angler title and pocket $10,000 in cash, according to tournament organizers.

“The first two day days were good and we finished the second day in the lead with five releases,” Davis said. “Then, we had a bad day the third day. Didn’t catch a thing. We headed out on the lay day to fish and found a place on the (North) Drop that was productive for us. We headed back there today and it all came together for us.”

Wave Paver is 61-foot Garlington based in of the Port Canaveral, Fla.

Eight boats were tied for first place with five blue marlin caught and released going into Thursday’s final leg of the tournament. Jichi, a 68-foot Paul Mann homeported in Florida and helmed by Capt. Gene Lenow, jumped into the lead early, catching and releasing the day’s first marlin, bringing its tally to six.

“Jichi got the jump on us and we knew we needed to get going,” Davis said. “It was around 9:30 to 10 a.m. that I released a blue that bit on the pitch, and then another 10 to 20 minutes later. That put us back in the lead with seven releases. There’s a bunch of really good boats fishing there so we knew that anything could still happen.”

Wave Paver’s Davis released his third blue marlin of the day mid-afternoon, followed by a fourth released 15 minutes before lines out.

“We knew we had it after that fourth fish today,” Davis says. “We have a great team of guys, have fished together a long time and have a lot of fun together."

This is the first time Davis and his Wave Paver team have fished in the ABMT.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to fish this tournament,” Davis said.

Casca Dura, a Brazilian-based 80-foot Merritt that held the first-day lead Saturday, finished second with seven blue marlin releases, five of them by angler Lucas Abud, who also ended as the runner-up top angler.

“This is our first season fishing in the Virgin Islands,” Abud said. “We fished the July Open and liked it so much we decided to stay and fish this tournament too.”

Abud added, “We’ve fished off Anegada the other three days. Today, mid-morning, we decided to pull in the lines and head to the North Drop. That’s when we caught and released our two blue marlin.”

Jichi finished third with six blue marlin releases, while Black Gold’s Mike McCarthy ended third in angler standings with four blues.

In other awards, sixteen-year-old Alex Chouest, aboard Chach, won Top Junior Angler with two releases. Laura Coburn, fishing from Debaitable, scored Top Woman Angler with three blues, while the Top Local Charter Boat award went to Marlin Prince with three releases.

The 28-boat fleet caught and released a total of 115 blue marlin in four days of fishing

Started by Chuck Senf back in 1972 – and nicknamed The Boy Scout Tournament since a portion of the proceeds have always benefited the VI Council of the Boy Scouts of America, one of Senf’s favorite charities – the ABMT has evolved into one of the most competitive saltwater sports fishing events in the world. It’s one of legs of the prestigious Bermuda Triangle Series and Spanish Main Series.

The ABMT is fished under International Game Fishing Association rules, and is overseen by a professional Board of Captains and qualified observers.

More information and full tournament results are online at www.abmt.vi and the event’s Facebook page.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.