How the Bahamian team hooked a big one in Hawaii

By SHAVAUGHN MOSS,NG Sports Editor

It took five days of intense fishing for the Bahamian team of Phil "Boot" LeBoutillier and Jeff Waugh to grab the big one - a win at the 46th Hawaiiian International Tournament.

Big game fishing in the waters at Kailua-Kona, Hawaii's Big Island, the duo took the first day lead aboard the Pamela, after having caught two Marlin - one was on board when they returned to port, the other was tagged and released.

The fish that remained on board was an impressive 562-1/2 pounder caughy by Waugh and worth a valuable 950 points, with a bonus for the largest fish of the day. The duo earned an additional 300 points for the Pacific Blue Marlin caught by Waugh and released which had an estimated weight of 160 pounts.

With those two catches, Team Bahamas led with 1,250 points after the the first day of fishing on Monday, August 1, a lead they held onto through the second day of fishing.

But by day three the Kenyan team had taken the lead with 1,737 points and Team Bahamas slipped to second place with 1,550 points, although LeBoutellier had tagged and released a Blue Marlin with an estimated weight of 160 pounds, which had earned them another 300 points.

By day four, Team Bahamas had slipped another notch to third, but on Friday's final day of fishing, Waugh tagged and released two Blue Marlin estimated at 150 pounds each which he caught with a 50 pound test, to give The Bahamas 300 points for each fish.

Waugh and LeBoutiller, this time on board the Tara II captained by Scott Fuller helped Team Bahamas leap from third place to capture the gold with a total of 2,150 points.

Leaving Hawaii broken-hearted by the Bahamians were Malindi Game Fishing Club of Kenya with 2,137 points and Buzzard's Angling Team of Temecala, California, which finished third with 1,993 points.

To big game fishermen worldwide, the Hawaiian International Bill Fish Tournament is known around the world as the "Grandfather" of all big game fishing tourneys. And teams come from all over the world to compete - from Australia to Bermuda, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, New Guinea, Northern Ireland, the United States as Kailua-Kona has a reputation for bing a fishing hot spot.