‘Most unlikely’ fishermen nab winning ahi

Cecilio & Kapono captain Gary Sword and crewmembers Rep. Ralph Yumul (R-Saipan), Rep. Ivan Blanco (R-Saipan) and his son Ivan Jr. receive the first place trophy in the yellow fin category during the 37th Annual Saipan International Fishing Tournament’s awards banquet last Monday at the Aqua Resort Club poolside. (Mark Rabago)

To their own admission, the crew of Cecilio & Kapono had no business winning first place in the yellow fin category of last weekend’s 37th Annual Saipan International Fishing Tournament held in the waters off the CNMI.

During the awards ceremony last Monday night at the poolside of Aqua Resort Club, captain Gary Sword was as surprised as everyone standing on the stage as he and his crewmembers—Rep. Ralph Yumul (R-Saipan), Rep. Ivan Blanco (R-Saipan) and his son Ivan Jr.—received the handsome hand-carved first place trophy for the heaviest ahi caught during the two-day fishing derby.

“We’re the most unlikely group because none of us own a boat. We actually asked our brother Cecilio (Raiukiulipiy) to loan us his boat. Master navigator Cecilio said ‘you can use my boat’ but then he had to go to Pagan and we couldn’t contact him. About 6am on Saturday morning we didn’t have a boat,” he said to the delight of the cheering crowd.

Sword said because Raiukiulipiy’s boat was AWOL, they were forced to give other boaters a two-hour “head start” as if their relative inexperience as fishermen wasn’t enough of a handicap.

“We set out at 8 o’clock in the morning. Everybody was out except us. We were like ‘what the heck is this!’ We didn’t know what we were doing but it’s OK we are Micronesian fishermen—we make it happen! So we left at 8 and at 8:15 we hooked up with this beautiful ahi and we really didn’t know that our equipment was new, not our boat, and we didn’t know if we could bring this thing in. It took us two hours to bring it in. And [everyone’s] wondering why it took us that long to bring in a 60-lb yellowfin, but we didn’t know the [heck] we were doing but we had had fun,” he said.

Sword also revealed that a fifth member of their crew was Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig, who wasn’t there to join them on stage during the awards banquet.

“We thank the Saipan Fishermen’s Association for this and we have our floor leader Ralph Yumul and also we have our minority leader Ivan Blanco and the secretary of Finance David DLG Atalig who by the way was bad luck for us on Sunday. He didn’t show up on Saturday but was bad luck for us on Sunday. It’s alright Dave you could still join us and you’re still part of our team… I’d like to thank the Saipan Fishermen’s Association for putting together this international derby…With COVID, everybody here was just about ready to get the [heck] out of their house and go fishing!”

Coming in second to Sword and company’s 67-lb catch in the yellow fin category was MV Kiddo and their 58-pounder, while Sesa was third with a 50-lb ahi. MV Kiddo was skippered by Tak Nakazato and his crew were Courtney Nakazato, Koniko Nakazato, and Jowel A. Naputi. Sesa was captained by Steve Reyes and had Kevin Diaz and Jesse Borja as crewmembers.

Cecilio & Kapono won $1,000 for first place, while MV Kiddo and Sesa went home with $750 and $500 for finishing second and third, respectively.

In the wahoo division, J&MJ captain Manuel Mogar and crewmember Lawrence Pantola landed the heaviest fish at 32.2 lbs and won $1,000. The St. Cristopher came in second with a wahoo weighing 25.8 lbs and skipper Juan O. Barcinas and crewmen Robert Sasamoto and Antonio Muña are now $750 richer. Rosemary of captain Tom Aguon and deckhand Gene Bolton finished third with a 24.7-lb wahoo and got $500 for their troubles.

Regulator of captain P.J. Alan and anglers Phil Aldan, Ben Fitipol, Ricky George, Ray DL Cruz, and Kiko Togawa topped the mahi mahi category and took home $1,000 after reeling in a 24.7-pounder. Coming in second was Salty Bandits with their 9-lb fish and captain Masaki Kitami and crewmembers Kalama Fernandez and Joey Tudela are now $750 richer. Third place and $500 went to Catmandu of the Snell family—skipper Michael II and crewmates Michael III, Latrell, and Lorenz—after they landed a 7.5-lb mahi mahi.

In the skipjack division, Santa Soledad nosed out Handliner for the $750 first place purse with a fish weighing 9.4 lbs. Santa Soledad was captained by Melchor Lerum who had help from Joel Jeminez. Handliner captain Maxi Morag and lone crew James Rayphand settled for second place and $500 with their 9.3-lb catch. Captain Tony Tenorio and crewmembers Jennifer Tkel and Jessie Tenorio were third with an 8.7-pounder and pocketed $250.

A total of 90 boats—60 from Saipan, 17 from Guam, and five from Tinian—took part in the two-day fishing derby that is sponsored by the following: Marpac Budweiser, Mobil Oil Marianas, TSL Foundation/TanHoldings, Triple J Enterprises, Pacifica Insurance Underwriter, Inc., CIC Insurance, Docomo Pacific, Roil Soil, Pacific Rim Land Development, Paradise Dental Spa, Coca-Cola Beverage Co. (Micronesia), Inc., Atkins Kroll Saipan, Matson Inc., D&Q International Distributors, Naked Fish, Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council, Muzik Production, WSTCO, MINA, Micronesian Marine, Marianas Coffee, Johnny’s Bar & Grill, Herman’s Modern Bakery, Century Hotel, Fishing Tackle & Sporting Goods, Joeten Motors, Inas’ Kitchen, and Bank of Saipan.