Team Reel Steel Wins 2019 Sea Horse Anglers Club Bermuda Billfish Tournament

Reel Steel catches six blue marlin in the final two days to take home the win.

Game boats head offshore during the 2019 Sea Horse Anglers Club Bermuda Billfish Tournament. | Michelle Gaylord, Out Your Front Door

The 46th annual Sea Horse Anglers Club Bermuda Billfish Tournament ended up with a record 38 boats participating in the final leg of the Bermuda Triple Crown series. The tournament saw the highest billfish catch rate of the series and had its share of twists and turns to keep fishing teams on their toes. The final catch numbers for the three-day event were 50 blue marlin and six white marlin, in addition to three dolphin and a single wahoo.

Team Pescador flew out of the gates with three blue marlin on day one, with Miss Magnolia one release behind.

Pescador continued to roll on day two, with one blue marlin and two whites giving them a total of 2,400 points. However, Team Reel Steel made a run of their own releasing three blues to put them into contention. Blank Check also made headlines by releasing a blue marlin and boating a 666-pound blue marlin for the biggest fish on the dock daily jackpot.

On day three it was Reel Steel who continued to roll and released another three blue marlin. Pescador also released a blue marlin and the fleet in general had one of the best days of the series with teams releasing a total of 25 billfish.

When it was lines out, Captain Jason Parker’s Reel Steel was in first place with 3,200 points followed closely by Captain Jeremy Fowler’s Pescador which had a tally of 2,900 points. Third place went to Captain Bryce Garvey’s Flyer with a very respectable 2,500 points.

Reel Steel won $102,900 at the 2019 Sea Horse Anglers Club Bermuda Billfish Tournament. | Michelle Gaylord, Out Your Front Door

As well as first-place honors, Reel Steel also won the Overall Release Points Jackpot, and the Day 1 and Day 2 Release Points jackpots, to give them a grand total of $102,900 in winnings. Team Pescador took home a check for $22,800 for their second-place finish.

Flyer, taking third-place overall, also won second-place Overall Release Points Jackpot, winning $28,140.

The Day 1 Release Points Jackpot was won by Captain Brooks Smith’s Uno Mas which earned them $20,400.

Captain Brian Rabbit’s Big Deal won third-place Overall Release Points Jackpot which got them a check for $11,160.

The Largest Blue Marlin Jackpot was won by Captain Danny Hearn’s Blank Check with the 666-pound blue marlin caught by angler Steven Walker. As this was the only qualifying fish all tournament, it won all three daily Largest Blue Marlin jackpots, as well as the Overall Largest Blue Marlin Jackpot, bringing home a check for $126,000.

The overall High Point Angler and Junior Angler was Marc Verzaleno, who had previously been High Point Angler in this tournament, accumulating 2,700 points aboard Reel Steel. The High Point Lady Angler was Debbie Capps, who scored 500 points on Captain Patrick O’Donnell’s Freyja.

In the Gamefish awards, Andy Periera won the wahoo category with a 38.9-pound wahoo caught from Captain Ricky Sousa’s Hot Spot. Three dolphin were weighed in during the tournament. The largest dorado was Teresa Rodriguez’s 37.8 pounder and was caught on Captain Paul Rodriguez’s Miss TJ. These fish got both Hot Spot and Miss TJ checks for $2,850.

Check out images of the winners below:

Team Big Deal won $11,160 at the 2019 Sea Horse Anglers Club Bermuda Billfish Tournament. | Michelle Gaylord, Out Your Front Door

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Team Blank Check won $126,000 at the 2019 Sea Horse Anglers Club Bermuda Billfish Tournament. | Michelle Gaylord, Out Your Front Door
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Team Flyer won $28,140 at the 2019 Sea Horse Anglers Club Bermuda Billfish Tournament. | Michelle Gaylord, Out Your Front Door
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Team Pescador won $22,800 at the 2019 Sea Horse Anglers Club Bermuda Billfish Tournament. | Michelle Gaylord, Out Your Front Door
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