Fishing in the Cayman Islands hits the high seas this week and one angler looking to reel in big fish is Shelly Ware.
A financial controller at Owen Roberts International Airport, Ware is no stranger to competitive angling circles. She ended last year with a sizeable catch and hopes to do more of the same this weekend.
“This year we hope to have bigger fish to take pictures of and be featured in the paper,” Ware said. “I’ll be back at it (this weekend). I’ll be using my big muscles to reel in fish.”
The first fishing tournament of 2012 takes place this Saturday and Sunday, 21-22 January. Fishermen are expected to hunt the waters around Grand Cayman and display their catches at the Barcadere Marina from roughly 4pm. Tournament registration is this Thursday, 19 January, at the Grand Pavilion courtyard from 6.30pm. An entry fee of CI$300 is in effect. Prize-giving is slated for Monday, 23 January, at the Cracked Conch from 7pm.
Ware is coming off a stellar outing at the All-Tackle tournament last November, the final fishing event for 2011. She would compete aboard Run Things, alongside celebrity angler Charles Ebanks and fellow fisherman Emil Terry, and take home $2,000 along with Carey Chen artwork for a 28.4 pound dolphin.
The big winner for the All-Tackle event was actually Leon Dilbert, who earned $3,000 for catching a 38.6lb wahoo and a 26.2lb dolphin aboard Miss Nyah with captain Joel Francis. Vaughn Smith of Miss Nicole earned a cool $1,000 for a 32.8lb wahoo and junior angler Andrew Schirn of Deep Thought won a rod and reel combo for a 24lb dolphin.
Interestingly, the All-Tackle tournament was her biggest highlight for what was an unusually quiet year at sea. Ware reveals she had focused much of her energies on bodybuilding. She readily admits her efforts have created tangible results.
“I started bodybuilding in February and went at it hard-core in March. I lost 47lbs as I started out at 194lbs and my body fat went from 34 per cent to 14 per cent. I’m 151lbs now.
“At first I was training three times a day. I did cardio in the morning, at lunch and in the evenings. Now I’m maintaining as I do cardio most days with weight-lifting in the evenings. My workouts start at 5am and I’m two days on and one day off.
“I skipped fishing events for workouts and I missed most of the tournaments last year. Charles wasn’t too happy but that’s the commitment I had.”
It will be interesting to see how Ware stacks up to a traditionally strong field. At last year’s Barcadere Classic, the big winner was Bruce Bush who caught a 53lb wahoo on Howdy and earned $5,000. Oliver Dubock aboard Makaira 2 had a 22.4lb dolphin and Marlon Bodden of Outcast nabbed a 44lb tuna, earning both men $2,000 apiece.
News of this week’s tournament comes after local fishing recently got international props. Cayman was featured in the second 2012 episode of ‘George Poveromo’s World of Saltwater Fishing’ on the NBC Sports Network. American TV personality George Poveromo came to Cayman to film the show last November.
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