Guamanians top spearfishing tourney

Guamanian spearfishermen Myles Driscoll and Mike “Todd” Genereux dominated the 3rd Annual Saipan Spearfishing Tournament last Saturday by taking home the team and individual awards.

Driscoll and Genereux hauled in the most fish with their catch tipping the scales at 150.5 lbs—almost double the output of the runner-up team of Scott and Russell and Peter Houk.

The defending champions from Saipan netted 75.5 lbs., followed by Sasamoto brothers Felix and Gregg who speared 64 lbs. of fish.

Derek San Nicolas and John Kim (43 lbs.), Vince Tudela and Wyman Rechucher (38 lbs.), Henry Ilo and Ken Taitano (37 lbs.), Manny Camacho and Abraham Quitugua (35lbs), James and Ken Borja (32 lbs.), Pete Teigita and Visun Takahashi (15 lbs.), and Monique Genereux and Pat Atherton (11 lbs.) also competed in the team division.

Driscoll, meanwhile, left Saipan with two championship trophies after also winning the individual division courtesy of his haul of 86 lbs.

Genereux was a happy second placer to his partner after complementing Driscoll with his own 64.5 lbs. of fish.

Russell made the host island proud with his catch of 49 lbs., while local boys Felix Sasamoto and Derek San Nicolas complete the Top 5 with their catch of 40 lbs. and 39 lbs, respectively.

Driscoll said topping the individual division came as a big surprise for him.

“I really didn’t expect to win. It’s just luck because whoever catches the big fish wins and I just happened to be the one. My game plan was to have a good time and just be safe. Our boatman also showed us all the good spots,” he said.

Driscoll said while he is looking forward to coming back for the fourth staging of the event next year, he is not really that eager to defend his championship.

“Next year I will definately come back to have fun. If I win, I win. If I lose I’m just having fun,” he said.

Driscoll also thanked their boatman Ben Camacho for picking the right spots for them to fish.

The angler Driscoll succeeded as individual champion, his own partner Genereux, also gave credit to their skipper for his expert instincts in choosing rich fishing spots.

“Good team member and a very good boatman. A lot of hard work in rough water is just about what all I can say about that. Today we went to a new place we never tried before. We’re getting more familiar and next time we’ll come we pretty much know. It took us about 45 minutes to come to our first spot,” he said.

Marianas Apnea Spearfishing Club president Morito Asai said a total of 34 spearfishermen took part in the 3rd Annual Saipan Spearfishing Tournament, of which 12 were members of Guam-based Marianas Underwater Fishing Federation.