Good fishing in the 12 x 12 challenge
The competition limits the number of catches per boat, greatly reducing the number of fish killed
ST LUCIA anglers rounded off 2015 with a 12 x 12 Species Challenge, only the second such competition hosted by St Lucia Ski Boat Club.
The idea is for each boat that enters the challenge to catch as many of the 12 listed species as possible.
Only five fish per species may be weighed in over the duration of the competition.
Among the species the boats must set out to catch are blue/black marlin, striped marlin, sailfish, yellow-fin tuna, couta, dorado, Natal snoek and wahoo.
Eight of the 12 species were caught over the course of the three-day competition, although day two was blown out, with the ‘Bizy Liz’ crew reeling in four different species, the most of the tournament, and winning R15 000 cash, an Iland lure pack worth R5 000 and a Garmin sports camera kit for their efforts.
‘Fintastic’ came in second with three species and won R7 000 cash, an Iland lure pack worth R3 000 and a Garmin sports watch, while ‘Thunderstruck’ finished third with two species and won R3 000 cash and an Iland lure pack worth R1 000.
The same three boats were placed first, second and third in the same order on points.
Species prizes went to, among others, ‘Thunderstruck’ for their marlin, ‘Game Hunter’ for their 14kg dorado, ‘Boertjie’ for their 7kg Natal snoek, ‘Bizy Liz’ for their sailfish and ‘Fintastic’ for their kingfish.
By far the majority species, 60 dorado totaling 311kg were caught during the competition, 11 yellow-fin kingfish which were all released, three yellow-fin tuna totaling 24kg, two wahoo totaling 17kg, one 9.9kg king mackerel, one 7kg queen mackerel, one black marlin and one sailfish, both of which were released. The limit of five fish per species per boat for the duration of the competition greatly limits the number of fish killed.
St Lucia Ski Boat Club Competitions Organiser, Brad McLaren extended a ‘thank you’ to all sponsors.
