By Darrin Sands – Spanish Wells
Day One
The 2012 Harbourside Marine Bahamas Rotary Tuna Classic was exciting to say the least.Paul King, captain of Kingfish was truly KING for day one. He reported to me that “it was the best hour of fishing he had ever seen”. Kingfish landed 14 yellowfin tuna in the final hour of day one. Mr. Jim Bernard landed the biggest one weighing 70.3 pounds and Geoff O’Connell landing the second largest at 66.7 pounds. Captain Jeff Waugh of Rake & Scrape brought in two yellowfin, one caught by Greg Neil weighing 62.7 pounds and one at 49.7 pounds landed by Jeff Waugh. Jeff told me that it was a good day for him and his crew, there was a lot of fish out there but you had to be patient. Capt. Thomas Bethel of Senior Frogs brought in two wahoo. Thomas Bethel landed one at 38.7 pounds and Nick Winters landed one at 23.3 pounds. It was a great day of deep sea fishing here in Spanish Wells.
Day Two
Around 7 p.m. on June 2, day 2 of the Harbourside Marine Bahamas Rotary Tuna Classic, spectators began to gather at the weigh-in station at Spanish Wells Yacht Haven. Everyone was anxious to see if the catch would be as good as day one. It seemed that all the anglers were fishing to the final minute to see if they would have good fortune as Kingfish did on day one.
At 7:30 p.m. the fleet started arriving at the dock. The catch was good; each boat had done well but none with 14 tuna as Kingfish brought in on day one.
Travis Kelly, captain of White Rat, landed the biggest yellowfin tuna weighing 59 pounds. I spoke with Mr. Keith Kelty, an angler onboard the Kingfish who reported that Kingfish has won two previous tournaments this year, but commented that this one, (Harbourside Marine Bahamas Rotary Tuna Classic), is the toughest one to win. He said that on day one, when Kingfish caught the 14 tuna in one hour, he would throw out the live bait and the tuna would jump at the bait right next to the boat with such velocity that the tuna would go eight feet into the air! He said: “It was spectacular to see”.
A BIG THANK YOU to Harbourside Marine and Bahamas Rotary for sponsoring this tournament. Also, a BIG THANK YOU to all the boat captains, anglers and their families who chose to stay here in Spanish Wells for the Labour Day Holiday Weekend. We really appreciate you staying with us and we hope to see you back in the near future.
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