| Big Island Marlin Touranment Results: August 12, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE A combination of both "seasoned veterans" and tournament "newcomers" rounded out the field for the 17th Annual Big Island Marlin Tournament. The BIMT is 5th stop on the Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series, and was the founding tournament of the Series. Several changes were made to the format of this year's tournament. Earlier in the Series at the Firecracker Open, a 1258.5 pound marlin was caught by Miguel Koenig. This was the largest marlin ever caught in a tournament in the history of the sport – any where in the world. Since the Firecracker is a "most points" tournament, this great catch did not actually "win" the tournament as Randy White and company outscored Koenig with 1600 points – all through tag and release of small marlin. In response to this, a number of anglers felt that this was unfair, so the BIMT was reformatted to become a "big fish" tournament where the largest marlin would win, regardless of points totals. Another significant change, made to promote the release of healthier fish, was to restrict the fishing of live bait to the use of "circle hooks". On board "Chiripa" with Capt. Uncle Buck Crawford, tournament newcomer Rodney Stonehouse struck early on the first morning. They were headed back to the Fuel Dock within 3 hours of the call of "Start Fishing" with a 477-pound blue. Jim Feinman onboard the High Noon with Dee Bradford tagged a blue an hour earlier to take the first fish of the tournament while Pat Brian, fishing with Neal Isaacs on the Anxious, rounded out the first day's catch with both a tag and a blue that weighed 444 pounds. Team Anxious took the lead with 644 points. David Beaudet, captain of the Boomerang, took Day Two honors when he decided to go live baiting and put angler Richard Compton from St Louis, MO on three marlin. Not to be outdone, Pat Brian and Team Anxious tagged 2 marlin. Jeff Stafford of Team Intrepid, Jeffery Gillette of Team Maui Jim team each tagged a marlin. Team Anxious carried a 400-point lead going into the final day of fishing. Either a tagged fish and/or a weighed fish over the 300-pound minimum could easily change the outcome of the tournament. With that in mind, all competitors raced off the starting line at the call of Start Fishing. Sticking to what worked, Boomerang was the first of the day to hook and tag a marlin on live bait to narrow the Anxious lead. David Keinath aboard the Five Star with Carlton Taniyama tagged a fish less than an hour later to finally get on the board, while Jeff Stafford aboard the Intrepid looked to catch up with a tagged marlin of his own. Rodney Stonehouse and Capt. BC on the Chiripa collected a purse of $16,920 for First Place Largest Marlin. Taking a commanding lead, Pat Brian on the Anxious tagged a marlin late in the day to cement their win, and walked away with 1244 overall points and $18,450 in prize money. Second Place with 4 tags and 800 points and picking up $12,240 was Richard Compton aboard the Boomerang. Rounding out the top three places, (and adding to his Series Standings) with 400 points was Jeff Stafford. Jeff and the Intrepid crew took home $6,840. Producers of the Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series, have a well-deserved three-week break before heading to Oahu for the 17th Annual Ho'ole'a fishing tournament scheduled for Labor Day weekend. The Maui Jim Series to Kona the following weekend for the 15th Annual Okoe Bay Rendezvous before finishing off the season with the Series Championship in early October. National television coverage of all this great tournament action is provided through the support of the Maui Jim Sunglasses and the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Television coverage can be seen on "Pacific Expeditions" each week on the Outdoor Life Network, Tuesday @ 7:00 am and Thursday @ 4:30 pm. Hawaii residents can catch the action on "Outside Hawaii" which airs on Oceanic Cable 16 Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings at 8:30 pm. For information on the Maui Jim Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series call Tropidilla Productions at 808-327-1440. |
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