Historically the even-numbered years have been reserved for the Tahitian International Tournament and the odd-numbered ones for the Tahitian Inter-Island Tournament. This year however the tournament in Papeete was another inter-island affair rather than of the expected international flavor. It seems the new hotel in Bora Bora, which will be the site of the next Tahitian International Tournament, was not yet ready for use. Despite that limitation the competitive field was the largest in French Polynesian history with some 48 boats entered. Anglers had come from as far away as Christmas Island off of Chile, Japan, and the United States.

My partner, Houstonian Richard Richardson, and I fished the Tevaite II, a 32-foot Blackfin owned by accountant Charles Musiyan. Long time friends Richard and Charles had fished this tournament together for some time and this year I had the pleasure of joining them. Richard, having come over on the boat from Raetea where he had spent his honeymoon, caught a Pacific blue marlin weighing over 400 pounds the day before the festivities were to start.

Day one of the tournament was slow initially, but just before 10 a.m. Richard hooked a nice fish. He fought her for about 30 minutes before our Hawaiian wireman Captain Scott "Scooter" Fuller could grab the leader and I applied the gaff. That afternoon at the scales Richardís fish weighed 502 pounds and we walked away with the first dayís daily jackpot.

We held first place until the last day even though we didnít land another billfish or even a yellowfin tuna (also point-getters in this tournament). But then the locals showed us how it was done. One of the Bonito boats brought in a 937 pound blue marlin which handily took over first place. Another caught a nice tuna which when added to their release points dropped us to third place. We were still quite happy with that finish though since there were some 48 teams entered. And we had captured the second largest fish of the tournament and finished first among the visiting teams. Just being there to witness the spectacular pristine beauty of the crystal clear azure blue water and rugged green foliage-covered volcanic islands made all in attendance winners of sorts!

502# Blue Marlin	Richard and Scooter	Richard and Scooter