The Third Annual Bom Bom Island Invitational Blue Marlin Tournament was held August 14th through August 19th at the beautiful resort on the north side of the island of Principe. My good friends John Paul (JP) from Newport Beach, California and Ian McTurk from Valdosta, Georgia accompanied me and competed in the tournament. Also joining the competition were three delightful and funny South Africans Franscois Erasmus, Lappies Labaschagne, and Michael Viljoen. Ian and JP fished together spending three days on Blackfin with Captains Mark Gaudin and Carlos Correia and three days on Blue Marlin with Captain Allen Ferguson. I fished alone with my videographer Steve Jam from southern California and alternated with Ian and JP on the Blackfin and Blue Marlin. Lappies and Franscois fished with fellow South African Captain Richard Scott on the Ballyhoo. And Michael fished alone aboard Dorado with local Captain Argentino Costa. The tournament was a modified tag-and-release format. One received 500 points for all released blue marlin and 1 point per kilogram for any fish weighed, but only if it was greater than 800 pounds. The entry fee was $500 for each boat and the purse was to be split between the boat with the most points and the boat with the biggest weighed fish. All of the pot would go to the boat with the most points if no qualifying fish was weighed.

Once again we traveled Air France through Paris to Libreville, Gabon which is a much easier and shorter trip than going through Lisbon to Sao Tome. A charter company called Naturelink with very experienced and pleasant South African pilots then transported us directly to the Bom Bom Island Resort on Principe. We arrived late in the afternoon and had time to get "moved in" and have a nice dinner before going to bed to try to recover from the "jet lag" we were experiencing.

Day one dawned a beautiful sunny day with only a rare scattered cloud in the sky. Ian came with me on Blackfin to film with our digital video camera since Steve had just missed his connection in Paris. We had quite an active day although not as productive as we would have preferred. All boats left the dock at 8 a.m. Our first strike came at 9:45 on the lumo-colored Pakula sprocket we had trailing off the short rigger but the fish didn't stick. Our next strike was on the same lure an hour later. The small blue ran off about 50 yards of line but came unbuttoned before I could get into the chair. At 11:45 another small fish of about 300 pounds came in and looked at the Pakula Smokin' Joe in the long flat position but disappeared without taking a shot at it. Then his partner came across and ate the popular lumo sprocket on the short rigger. While we were pulling in the lines a larger fish grabbed the stinger bait but came off after a short run. That left us with a 500-pounder still attached to the short rigger. I was able to bring her to the boat in about 7 minutes where she was quickly tagged and released. An hour later we had a short strike on the stinger bait, a dark-colored C-lure. The fish also came up and zipped the Pakula sprocket but didn't catch iron on either lure. At 2:45 p.m. we had another short zip on the lumo sprocket but we didn't get a good look at the fish. The rest of the afternoon was quiet. We fished until "lines out" at 5 p.m. without so much as a knock-down. It certainly was not a bad day though as we had raised 7 blue marlin, had 6 strikes including a "double-header," hooked two, and caught and released a 500-pounder. Mike Viljoen on Dorado had three strikes but no hook-ups. Lappies on Ballyhoo had released a 300-pounder. They had a total of four strikes during the day and had lost a blue they estimated at 600 pounds when the wind-on leader came apart. JP was fishing alone with Allen on Blue Marlin and had released two nice blue marlin. The first was a 500-pounder and the second they had called 650 pounds. With his 2 releases he became the early leader of the tournament.
 
 

Mates Domingos & Luis	32-foot Blackfin "Blue Marlin"

The second day I fished aboard Blue Marlin with Captain Ferguson. Steve had still not arrived so I took a French cameraman with me who was vacationing from Gabon. Just before noon we had a nice fish of about 750 pounds grab my skipjack-colored Black Bart Abaco prowler and run out 75 yards of line. Unfortunately she spit the lure on her first jump as I was getting buckled up in the chair. The only other action we saw was at 3:45 in the afternoon when we had a short zip on the Pakula lumo-colored longshot in the stinger position which was followed immediately thereafter by a similar bite on the purple, black,  and silver Black Bart Zulu Impe on the short flat. Unfortunately neither of these fish found the hook. Ian and JP had only one knockdown the entire day aboard Blackfin. They were fishing with local Captain Correia as Mark was experiencing the early symptoms of a malaria relapse. Lappies and Franscois had 2 strikes but no hook-ups. Mike however aboard Dorado had caught and released a 600-pound blue. He had gotten away from the dock an hour late due to engine trouble on the boat. Then shortly after he got his lines in the water he hooked a marlin but lost the 350-pounder with a broken line when the reel seized as the fish went crazy next to the boat. (I was the only angler who had brought his own equipment). Just as he was beginning to think he was snake-bit he hooked the 600-pounder.

I went back on Blackfin with Captain Correia on the third day. About 10 a.m. we hooked-up on the stinger bait, my Pakula lumo longshot, with a nice fish that we estimated at 800 pounds. This was on one of the resorts 80-pound 2-speed International outfits since I had room in my luggage for only 4 rods and reels of my own. That proved to be a grave mistake when the reel seized as I started to wind as the marlin slowed on her first run. A few seconds later the line parted and my fish and my most productive lure were both gone! An hour later we hooked up again only this time it was on the long rigger bait, a dark-colored Black Bart super plunger. This lure was attached to one of my 130-pound outfits (a custom Stealth Rodworks bent-butt rod armed with a 12-0 Duel wide spool reel wrapped with 130-pound tournament Jack Erskine dacron with a 300-yard top-shot of tournament Amilan-T). After an exciting 20-minute fight I had the marlin at the transom. We backed down the entire way since Captain Correia was not familiar with running on a fish. The large blue dove under the boat as mate Domingos grabbed the leader and we had to make a tough decision. She looked like she might be over 800 pounds and we needed to do something quickly. Also another one of my favorite lures was in jeopardy. When she slowly rose up close to the surface we stuck her with the gaff as the crew thought she was the largest fish they had seen this season. We had to lash the marlin to the side of the boat since not only was the transom door too small but it was also fused closed. It took an hour for us to slowly make our way back to the dock from the Raza bank where we had been fishing. Once we got close we measured the fish and the formula predicted a weight of 830 pounds. She was long but looked somewhat skinny to me. The tail stump though had a circumference of 17.5 inches which suggested a weight of 750 pounds. Much to all of our surprise however on the certified scale she weighed only 627 pounds. We therefore forsook our planned celebration and went back out fishing. We had a small marlin zip two of our lures late in the afternoon but he did not find the hook. JP and Ian had experienced a single short strike all day. Lappies and Franscois had released a 350-pounder and lost a much larger fish they reckoned weighed 700 pounds. Mike had a great day aboard Dorado though with 8 strikes, 2 hook-ups, and 2 releases. Both released blues were estimated at 400 to 500 pounds. The fish seemed to be "sport feeding," striking with their bill and not eating the bait, thus explaining the low hook-up ratio we had been seeing.

627# blue marlin	Capt. Mark & Terry

Day four I was back aboard Blue Marlin with Allen Ferguson. We started at the Garlie Bank and had a strike from a small fish about 10:00 a.m. It hit the lumo sprocket in the stinger position some six times without getting hooked. I would tease him up and he would grab the lure only to drop it again. Finally he grabbed the lure and ran off 50 yards of line at a quick pace. I picked up the rod to go to the chair and the fish was gone. Steve Jam finally was able to get a connection out of Paris and arrived in Bom Bom late in the morning. One of the other captains brought him out to the boat by skiff. We went up to the Raza Bank in the afternoon since we had seen no more action, but found it equally as dead there. Ian McTurk caught his very first marlin early in the morning aboard Blackfin. It was a nice 600-pound fish that he released after a 20-minute fight. Not bad for a first fish! JP had another even larger marlin on later in the day but she spit the hook not far from  the boat. Mike released his fourth fish that morning, a 350-pounder, on Dorado thus solidifying his first place position for the tournament. Lappies, Franscois, and Captain Richard Scott were bored on the Ballyhoo as they didn't even get a knockdown.

I was back aboard Blackfin and joined by videographer Steve Jam for the start of day five. Mark was feeling better and took over the captain's helm. We had an early knockdown but saw no action the entire rest of the day. Franscois and Lappies had a fish on for quite awhile but lost it before getting it to the boat. JP released his third fish for the tournament, a 400-pounder that he wrestled to the transom in only 15 minutes. Mike released a nice blue marlin which he called 600 pounds. This was his fifth fish of the tournament and kept his boat in first place. Ian and JP were close behind with 4 releases.

Our sixth and final day of the tournament began as another beautiful sunny morning. Steve and I were back aboard Blue Marlin. We had absolutely no action until 4:30 in the afternoon. Then we had a zip on the short flat (a Marlin Magic super giant ruckus) and a knock-down of the Black Bart Abaco prowler on the short rigger by a 400-pound blue marlin. We had no more action the remainder of the day. Ian had had a strike but the fish spit the hook before he could get to the chair. And JP lost a fish late in the day when he pulled the hook next to the boat. Lappies and Franscois had 3 fish on during the day but lost all three. They also had another strike without a hook-up early in the morning. Mike Viljoen had the best day though when a grander came up and took three shots at his stinger bait but didn't find the hook. It was satisfying just to see such a fish. That was the only fish of that magnitude that any of our participants saw during the tournament. Last year during our tournament there were 6 such fish seen with 3 hooked-up.

All in all once again we had a great time at the Bom Bom Island Resort. South African Mike Viljoen aboard the boat Dorado was the tournament winner with 5 blue marlin releases for a total of 2500 points. Since there was no qualifying fish weighed he took home the entire $2000 purse. Americans Ian McTurk and John Paul took second place with 4 releases and 2000 points. Our group of 6 anglers fishing on 4 boats caught thirteen blue marlin during the six day tournament with an average weight of 506 pounds. We didn't have as many fish caught this year as last year but the average weight of the marlin caught continues to be in excess of 500 pounds. That has been true for all four trips I have made to this beautiful island paradise!
 
 

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