Padre De Familia leads SFA fishing tourney

A father and his daughter check Padre De Familia’s 137.40-lb marlin caught last Saturday during the opening day of competition in the 32nd Annual Saipan International Fishing Tournament.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Padre De Familia’s 137.40-lb marlin was the single heaviest catch in the first day of the 32nd Annual Saipan International Fishing Tournament.

The Calistro Reyes-captained boat was in the best position to top the weekend event as it remained in the lead as of 5pm yesterday. Cabo Express, which failed to turn in its catches that met the weight requirement last Saturday, showed up at the weigh station in Smiling Cove Marina yesterday and handed their 117.50-lb marlin to place second one hour before the competition concluded.

Rosemary, which also came up empty in the billfish category and instead turned in a 26.85-lb wahoo and 4.15-lb skipjack tuna on Day 1, had a 110.65-lb marlin on Day 2 for the field’s third best pending the final results of the tournament. K Fisher also made up for its zero catch in the opening day with its 109-lb marlin yesterday.

With Cabo Express, Rosemary, and K Fisher making it to the leaderboard on Day 2, Day 1 second and third placers Sea Hawk and Keilani Ko were bumped off. Sea Hawk landed a 105.40-lb marlin last Saturday, while Keilano Ko turned in its 102.20lb catch an hour before the opening day of the tournament ended.

Day 1 was a bit slow for the 65 boats that participated in this year’s competition.

“A lot of boats headed north, but turned back because of the big waves,” according to Saipan Fishermen’s Association’s Floyd Masga.

Last year’s grand prize and total weight winner Emmanuel was among those affected by the uncooperative water conditions on Day 1, as it did not turn a single catch last Saturday and was nowhere on the leaderboard one hour before Day 2 of the competition closed.

Meanwhile, in other categories, My Lady Gora, Marlin Chaser, Sweet Candy, and San Juan I were ahead at press time.

My Lady Gora’s 51.20-lb yellow fin caught yesterday led the 50.95lb of Don Pedro and 50.30lb of Fiona. Don Pedro was ahead after Day 1, while Scallywag (44lbs) and Sweet Candy (43.89lbs) were in second and third, respectively.

In the wahoo category, Marlin Chaser’s 31.10lb put them ahead of Luka Ben’s 28.10lbs and Team Q’s 26.90lbs. Sweet Candy kept the lead in the mahi category as its 19.40lbs in Day 1 was way on top of Flames of Love’s 3.45lbs and Relax’s 2.85lbs. San Juan II’s 24.50-lbs skipjack tuna caught yesterday slid My Lady Gora to second place (14.50lbs), while Carmelita II’s 14.30lbs bumped of St. Christopher (11.25lbs) from third place.