My Lady Gora tops Mahi Derby

 My Lady Gora’s captain Jess Aldan and crew members Jason Aldan, Ton Manibusan, and Bernard Reoligio reeled in a 26-lb mahi to win the Saipan Fishermen Association’s 8th Annual 2012 Mahi Fishing Derby last Saturday at Smiling Cove Marina.

The group topped 34 other competitors and went home with a prize package valued at $1,495, which included $1,000 cash and 11 Mobil smile cards worth $45 apiece.

Captain Aldan said the group landed its big catch northeast of Tinian around 7:30am last Saturday. Notably, they were one of the first teams to come in. My Lady Gora’s docked around 2:30pm and started its long wait to see if anyone was going to knock the team off the top spot.

It was a long sweat indeed on a hot and sunny Saturday. Aside from the heat, the conditions were great for catching fish as 20 boats submitted entries of which less than three pounds separated the Top 5 finishers. Moreover, the average catch-weight of the 20 entries was just under 19.1lbs.

My Lady Gora edged out Pare (25.85-lbs) by less than a quarter of a pound. Pare captain Enrique Babauta and angler Jack Sablan split a hefty runner-up prize package that consisted of $500 cash and eight Mobil Smiles cards.

Coming close behind in third place was the 24.05-lb catch of Fish Hunter, which has Steve Reyes as boat captain and Pat Takeda as crew. They shared a prize bundle of $250 cash, three Mobil Smiles cards, and a Samsung B2100 equipped with a free SIM card and $10 load.

Joker II’s captain Manding Legaspi and crew members Ranie Soriano, Justin Casana, and Nanding Arabit settled for fourth place with their 23.95-lb catch that was good for $150 cash, Samsung B2100 with a SIM card and a $10 load. Joker IV’s skipper Mario Barit and Annie Legaspi rounded out the fifth spot with their 23.10-lb mahi that gave them $100 cash and a Samsung B2100 with a SIM card and a $10 load.

In addition, Fish Hunter won an $800 side bet with its 22.75-lb wahoo that bested Zeppelin’s 22.50lb. Sixteen boats chipped in $50 apiece to see which could bring the biggest wahoo to the scale.

The 2012 Mahi Derby was sponsored by the Marianas Visitors Authority, Marpac-Budweiser, Mobil, Docomo Pacific, DPS/EMO’s boating safety unit, American Memorial Park, and the Department of Fish & Wildlife.

Meanwhile, SFA would like to remind interested participants and fishing enthusiasts that the 2012 Saipan International Fishing Tournament is scheduled for July 14 and 15 at Smiling Cove Marina.

For more information, contact Frank Tudela at 664-3200 or visit the SFA website at www.sfacnmi.com.