The long holiday weekend commemorating the arrival of the Garifuna people to Belize was celebrated with the first fishing tournament in its honor. Held on Sunday, November 19th, the over-the-water bar and grill Overseas hosted the fishing rodeo, attracting close to 20 teams. The long-day competition saw some of the best anglers rom the island, but only one team could take the grand prize home. At the end of the day, team The Navy, manned by Kristian Marin, Jailene Ancona, and Guillermo Nuñez, were the winners. They also took the top prize for the heaviest fish (Wahoo, 39lbs) and top angler.
The fishing tournament included a briefing on Saturday, November 18th, where captains and teams were provided with the tournament rules. They were informed that the contest would run via a point system, and boats had to be at the weighing station by 4PM. The fish species in the tournament included Wahoo, King Fish, Mahi Mahi, Tuna, Mackerel, Jack Fish, and Barracuda. Bill Fish was not included in the list.
At 6AM the following day, the teams headed out to sea and quickly started reporting their catch, gaining points throughout the day. Plenty of Wahoos, Mahi, and Barracudas were scored at the time of the weigh-in. After the weigh-in, points were tallied, and the top three winners were announced. Team Catch N Bills made third place, manned by Richard Zetina, Briand Bradley, Roy Bradley, Saul Coba, and Zenadine Pinelo. Team Reel Envy took second place, and members included Bryan Garcia, Jason Dean, Pancho, and Jose Perez. Taking home the grand Prize was Team The Navy.
Organizers thanked all the teams for participating and the sponsors who made the fishing tournament possible. They congratulated the winners and told everyone to look forward to a second fishing rodeo in 2024. The 2024 fishing tournament is expected to have more prizes and categories.
