A good use of social media has finally come forth and no — it’s not for selfies or the ability to tell everyone who doesn’t care that you are off to the store to get a loaf of bread.
Social media finally proved itself this past weekend as an unlikely medium of communication for a major sport: big-game tournament fishing.
In Kona during the summer, there is a tournament every weekend, but as a spectator sport, big-game fishing is challenged. There is no stadium, no finish line, no goal post or net, and sadly, no cheerleaders on the sidelines. TV coverage has proven to be the only media to bring the action into your home or local sports bar, but broadcasting live from the high seas is impossible. The Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series hosted national TV coverage for some 12 seasons, and after some time away from the tube, are negotiating to get back on TV. But things in the TV business tend to drag on like a bad anchor, and nothing this summer went in the can.
If there was ever a tournament that should have been on TV though, it was the Big Island Marlin Tournament just this past weekend. People are still astounded at what transpired, and instead of TV, social media carried the action around the world.
On the first day of fishing, wahine angler Michelle Amador brought to the scale the first marlin that would be weighed in the 33rd BIMT. It was 579.5 pounds and the largest blue marlin of her angling career. She hooked her beast at 3:27 p.m., just prior to stop fishing.
Up until that point, the action has been all tag and release, but not your ordinary one or two here and there.
While Michelle was waiting all day to get her big bite, Capt. Tracy and crew on “Last Chance” tagged and released six marlin and as the reports came in to tournament control radio, they were relayed around in real time, on social media.
All in all, there were 30 marlin caught on the first day of the 33rd BIMT. About 65 percent of the fish were caught before 1 p.m., so the action was hot right out of the chute and the interwebs were abuzz.
At the end of Day 1, Last Chance had amassed 1,200 points and their nearest competitors — Bwana and Strong Persuader — trailed with 600 points each. It wasn’t until after stop fishing that everyone learned about Michelle’s 579-pounder, which also earned 579 points. This was the first-place “Biggest Marlin.”
EZ Pickens and Huntress had two tags each worth 400 points per boat, and many in the fleet headed toward the barn with one tag to their credit.
Day 2 of the BIMT dawned just like the day before, with fish biting from the get go. When the spray had settled, Last Chance had shocked everyone by tagging six marlin for the second day in a row. Capt. Epstein could now notch on his belt two six marlin days, one seven marlin day and two eight marlin days. No one in Kona can match this record.
Hot on their heels was Bwana, tagging four and weighing a 671.5-pound blue, angled by Craig Lindner, the boat owner. This knocked Ihu Nui to second place.
Chip Wagner came in with a blue that just barely beat the 400-pound minimum, tipping the scales at 404.5, but good enough to lock in third place — for the moment.
Honey tagged three and Anxious tagged two, and only a handful of boats tallied one tag apiece on Saturday, but the overall standings were quite interesting indeed.
At the end of Day 2, Last Chance had racked up an impressive 2,400 points from an amazing pair of back-to-back six fish days, but Bwana had now counter punched their way out of a corner to First Place with the Biggest Marlin of the tournament (671.4) They added that one to 4 more tags on day one for a total of 7 tags and a weighed leader.
Add it all up and Bwana and Last Chance were locked in a slug fest that made jaws drop among the social media followers.
Final score at end of Day 2: Last Chance 2,400 points; Bwana 2,071.5 points and first place in the biggest marlin race.
One couldn’t help but think that nothing could top these two days of incredible fishing… but hey, this is Kona.
On the morning of Day 3, Bwana came out swinging, posting a tag at 8:05 a.m. and then went cold. Last Chance started cold and stayed that way as something even more astounding than a tag war started to unfold up off the Grounds, on the opposite end of the field.
Marlin Magic II reported that they had put a fish in the boat that they estimated to be 800 pounds.
About an hour later, Marlin Magic II hit the scales and their fish was, indeed, heavier than 800 pounds. On top of all the great action and a total tournament catch that would tally 80 marlin, Keith Hilton stood in awe on the deck and watched as a true behemoth was winched out of the Marlin Magic II, and went into shock when told that the first marlin of his life weighed 1,035.5 pounds!
A “Grander” is the holy grail of marlin fishing, and few anglers even see one much less have a chance at catching one, so catching a grander as your first marlin and in your first tournament was just another jaw dropper for the now impressive online audience across the world.
The Big Island Marlin Tournaments just seemed to keep going and going, off the deep end of the record books of Kona fishing history.
But there’s more. Bwana wasn’t done.
At about 1 p.m. Last Chance struck back and tagged a blue marlin. From then on, however, it was all Bwana. Nine minutes later they counter punched with a tag and went on to tag three between 1-3:12 p.m.
Hall of Fame NFL quarterback turned TV host Don Meredith used to sing Willie Nelson songs at the end of Monday night football, to signify the looming end of the game. Usually, he sang “Turn Out The Lights, The Party’s Over.”
Although 4 p.m. rolled around and fishing was over, the party that was the 33rd BIMT was going to kick one more special effect into the picture. The legendary Jimmie Vaughan rocked the Hawaii Big Game Fishing Club with almost three hours of non-stop music, which started immediately after the BIMT Awards Ceremony.
In the end, Marlin Magic II stole First Place in the Biggest Marlin division from Bwana and earned a pay check of $113,850.
Getting some revenge and satisfaction, Bwana ended up stealing first place with the most points from Last Chance and held on to second place for biggest marlin, pocketing $159,030 along the way.
Wahine angler Michelle Amador dropped from first to third place in biggest marlin and grabbed $24,300, happy to have hung on to a top three position.
After a stellar performance of two six marlin days, Last Chance still got to pocket $31,410 with a total of 2,600 points, just shy of the 2,871.5 points Bwana gathered as they sped by at the checkered flag.
The BIMT was the first tournament ever produced by Tropidilla Productions, way back in 1987. The intention of the scoring system and rules format was to keep teams “in the game” until the final moments of the final day of fishing. Up until the BIMT, all tourneys in Kona simply paid the largest fish at the scales, and if a fish like the one 1,035.5 came in, the tourney was pretty much sealed up. If it happened early in the comp, then the rest of the tournament would be a let down.
There’s an old saying, “it takes a long time to be an overnight sensation” and for the BIMT, it took about 33 years. Although all of them have been memorable and have even had “granders” the way this one unfolded was truly a sensation and will not soon be forgotten.
