Bahamas Wahoo Championship Goals

Bahamas Wahoo Championship Goals

GOALS:
The BAHAMAS WAHOO CHAMPIONSHIP is a series of four wahoo tournaments designed to foster a competitive angling atmosphere in pursuit of a species of fish which is not endangered and cannot be harvested commercially. The wahoo is an outstanding gamefish, reputedly the fastest gamefish in the ocean. It requires a lot of skill and knowledge to boat this fish successfully.
The Bahamas Wahoo Championship is designed to honor and recognize those anglers, captains and mates, who take great pride in the pursuit of this wily and cunning game fish. The Bahamas is known world-wide as a prime location for the pursuit of wahoo and the Wahoo Championship is designed to coincide with major wahoo runs in the participating resorts.
OBJECTIVES:
The BAHAMAS WAHOO CHAMPIONSHIP intends to foster a common interest, camaraderie and sportsmanlike competition between the anglers, the participating resorts, and the Bahamas ministry of Tourism. Effective links of communication will be established between all parties to ensure that this championship series, the island of the Bahamas, the resorts, and the participating anglers receive world wide recognition for their participation and their achievements.
Because the wahoo is a migratory species, the championship will have a time restraint. November thru February are the prime fishing months.
Obviously, a boat that participates in all four legs of the BAHAMAS WAHOO CHAMPIONSHIP should have a better chance of winning than a boat that participated in fewer legs. however, this does not mean that a boat that fishes only one leg will be at a major disadvantage. The boat that fishes only one event will hopefully have had a great time in the Bahamas, met fellow wahoo enthusiasts, and hopefully might fish other legs at other times. Finally, because each leg will have winners and awards, each participating boat will have a chance to share in the glory and awards.

HISTORY:
The Bahamas Wahoo Championship is the brainchild of Tom Malone, an angler from Atlanta, Georgia, who has been fishing for Wahoo in the Bahamas for over twenty five years . Tom fishes on his boat "Justice". Another driving force behind the concept is long-time Bahamas tournament promoter, Penny Turtle from Boat Harbour. It was Tom Malone and Penny Turtle who contacted Raul Miranda and asked for his assistance in getting the Bahamas Wahoo Championship off the ground.

Raul, Tournament Director, has had ample experience running Wahoo Tournaments. The late New York Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. started the first Wahoo tournament in Bimini in the early 1960's. After a successful run of Tournaments by the Bimini Progressive Sporting Club, the Big Game Club took over the management of the Wahoo Tournament in Bimini in 1987.

The legendary Captain Bob Smith from Bimini dominated the early Wahoo Tournaments, which lasted until Bermuda fishing captains Henry De Silva, Allan Card, and Dean Jones came to Bimini and introduced new Wahoo fishing techniques. A current leader of innovative Wahoo fishing techniques is Miami based veteran Captain Ron Schatman.

The first competition for the Bahamas Wahoo Championship was the 1997-1998 season. Five Tournaments were scheduled over a four month period, two in Bimini, one in Freeport, one in Marsh Harbour and one in Eleuthera. The first winner of the Championship was Joe DePaola's "Concrete Machine", a 72' Donzi. The "Concrete Machine" won three out of the five Legs. "Sea Hunter" came in second place.

The second Bahamas Wahoo Championship series was held during 1998-1999. For this series, only four Legs were to count towards the overall Championship, one in Bimini, one in Freeport and two in Abacos. "Wizard", a 43' Viking owned by Ft. Lauderdale businessman Mark Weiner and captained by Ron Schatman was the overall winner accumulating 2,062 points over the four Legs. "Favorite Charity" was the second place boat.

Duane Gossett and his family crew on the "Double Eagle". won the Third Bahamas Wahoo Championship. Starting from scratch, the "Double Eagle" practiced and practiced and perfected their wahoo catching techniques. Their patience and perseverance paid off when they won the overall Championship.

Captain Ron Schatman returned to the winner's circle during the 2000-2001 series onboard Jim Montgomery's "Sorry Dear", along with co-captain Jack Plachter. The crew on the "Sorry Dear" set new records for the Bahamas Wahoo Championship during the fourth series.

Duane Gossett and his crew on the "Double Eagle" returned to the winners' circle during the 2001-2002 series and became the first boat to win two Bahamas Wahoo Championships. This was the most contested year of the series as only seven points separated the first place "Double Eagle" from second place Sea N'Double.

The Bahamas Wahoo Championship is now entering its sixth year of competition. The Championship continues to grow in terms of the number of participating boats and anglers, and the amount of eligible fish brought to the docks. The Championship is scheduled to coincide with the prime migration of Wahoo near the four participating resorts. The Wahoo is found in greater numbers in cold water and thus the Championship is scheduled during the Winter months. However, please remember that to us in the Bahamas, winter represents temperatures in the 70's. The winter months in the Bahamas are traditionally the peak tourist season, as visitors from the North flock to the Bahamas to escape their chilly winters. The weather is usually great and there are no huge summer boating crowds, which leads to personalized service and attention. There is no better way to spend the winter months than WAHOO fishing in the Bahamas.

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