Aspiring fishermen can compete in a new competition this weekend.
The Cayman Islands Angling Club is putting on a junior angler fishing tournament. Titled ‘Family Ties,’ the event is expected to take place this Saturday 3 September around the waters of Grand Cayman.
Angling Club President Franklin Thompson states the event is about getting more young blood in competitive angling.
“The angling club wants to open the sport of fishing to more junior anglers,” Thompson said. “We try to run a junior event every summer. We’re doing it at the end of summer as opposed to the middle in order to get a high attendance rate. The middle of summer is when kids tend to be off-island while towards the end most kids are here and in school.”
The basic format sees fishing hours from 7am to 3pm on Saturday. For anglers aged 14 and under, all of the major big game species are eligible; namely wahoo, yellowfin tuna and dolphin.
As Thompson states there are also some additional fish youngsters like Ryan Barnett can catch to earn prizes.
“Barracuda is another of the eligible species. There is also a release category for tarpon. For most junior angler tournaments barracuda is used. It is an abundant fish in these islands and are small to medium size. Kids can handle them easier and fight them easier than 70 or 80 pound tunas.
“The releasing of tarpons is meant to get kids in the mind-set to conserve fish. We’re getting them prepared to release billfish such as blue marlin later in life.”
The Barcadere Marina in George Town will serve as the weigh station for the catches. Residents can see fish being weighed 3-4pm on Saturday with prize giving scheduled immediately afterwards at roughly 4.30pm.
A number of prizes are on offer, including LIME phones, Cayman National Bank savings accounts, rod and reel combos and marine artwork.
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