That's A Big Catch

August 3rd, 2007 4:04pm

Molly Dwyer

The Nantucket Anglers Club hosted the 39th Annual Billfish tournament, which began last Sunday. The fishing tournament serves as a qualifying round for the Rolex/IFGA Offshore Championship Tournament and a fundraiser to benefit the Nantucket Anglers Club Scholarship Fund. Throughout this week, fishing boats left the Nantucket Boat Basin at 3 A.M. and headed for the Canyons, 100 miles offshore. Bill Rodenberg of the Nantucket Anglers Club expects this year’s tournament to be a slow one, “The bite just isn’t there,” he says. This year’s cold spring weather left the water at unusually low temperatures. Despite the lack of warm, or “blue” water, the fishermen cast their lines with the hope of catching Marlin and Swordfish, the two most valuable fish within the Tournament’s point-system. One fishing boat, in particular, has found luck in the deep sea despite the water conditions. James Stratton of the boat, Son Fish, reeled in a 482-pound Blue Fin on the fourth day of the Tournament.Though the fishermen are largely motivated by the competition, the tournament focuses on tradition and family fun, rather than results.

“It’s a bragging rights tournament,” says Christie Bassett, the leading female angler of last year’s tournament. The sense of camaraderie among the fishermen also serves as motivation, “They fish because they like it, they fish because they like to fish with each other,” explains Bill Rodenberg.

Find all of the official results of the tournament here.