T&T secured the lion's share of awards at the recent Spice Island Billfish Tournament in Grenada at the weekend, to confirm their dominance in the sport in the region.
Led by captain Adrian De Silva from the sister-isle of Tobago, the T&T contingent captured 11 of the 18 awards at stake in the tourney, including the Best Boat, Best Angler, Top Junior and Heaviest Fish.
De Silva who was aboard Hard Play II copped the best boat category by virtue of catching a total of nine billfishes which included five sailfishes and four blue marlins. They were followed by another T&T crew–Realin & Dealin in second position with a catch of six releases that comprise four sailfishes and two blue marlins.
The Barbadian teams of De Reel Viking, Grey Ghost and Newver Enough took third, fourth and fifth positions but T&T completed the top 10 finishers by grabbing sixth (Searenity with 3 releases–1 sailfish & 2 blue marlins), seventh (ParTtime with 3 releases –1 white marlin & 2 blue marlins), eighth (Pair a Dice with 5 releases–4 sailfish & 1 white marlin), ninth (Blue Fever II with 4 releases–3 sailfish & 1 blue marlin and tenth position through Lady Mary with three releases that comprise one sailfish and two blue marlins.
T&T also dominated the Best Anglers competition, claiming the top two positions from David Sheridan and Michael Matouk.
Sheridan cruised to the top spot with five releases, consisting three sailfishes and two blue marlins while Matouk had to settle for the runner-up spot with three releases–one sailfish and two blue marlins.
Later T&T's Isaiah Aleong-Baksh was named the top junior following his catch of four releases that consisted three sailfishes and a white marlin on board Pair A Dice, while Anthony Lawrence collected the award for the Heaviest Yellowfin Tuna catch at 145 pounds on board Cocobel from T&T.
WALTER ALIBEY