The Rooster Shootout will soon take centre stage on the Cayman Islands fishing scene.
The annual tournament is the next major competition for the Cayman Islands Angling Club. Slated for 23-25 March, anglers are expected to patrol Grand Cayman’s waters and show off their catches at the Grand Harbour weigh station.
Among the fishermen eager to compete is Robert Whorms, 32. The Savannah native states he is ready to replicate his 2011 success.
“We’re definitely doing the Rooster next,” Whorms said. “We got to defend our title from last year. We had the first place yellowfin tuna and dolphin, came second in wahoo and won the district cup.
“Everyone on the crew is with Caribbean Utilities Company and we’re doing all of the tournaments. We plan to do good in every category for the next tournament.”
Last year, the CUC Electrical Maintenance Manager was part of the Mustache Man crew that earned some US$10,000 at the Rooster event. Whorms joined boat captain Roger Wood and his 15 year-old son Johann Wood, Albert McLean and boat owner Danny Ebanks. Together they nabbed the heaviest dolphin at 37.5 pounds, the heaviest yellowfin tuna at 49.2lbs and won the grand slam award for the most pounds of fish caught by one crew.
Whorms admits the crew for the 2012 edition will look different.
“We got a secret weapon and an older guy with us in Ernest Bush. His brother is King Bush out of Bodden Town and Roger, who is also from Bodden Town, grew up with Ernest. If we can get him to stick with us (for all the tournaments), he can be a rookie angler. Though he’s been around and fished for many years, he’s never competed in a tournament. He’s old school with his old school gear like nine-pound rods but they work.
“Roger’s son has only gone fishing with us one time in a tournament at last year’s Rooster. For the other ones we’re looking to bring in a junior and lady angler.”
Whorms and company should be optimistic after a good effort at the 2012 Barcadere Classic last month. Though the crew did not win much in the way of prize money, they did earn some $2500-$3000 for the sale of 12 fish they caught during the tournament. In all, they hooked 429lbs of fish in two days, good enough for a $500 fuel voucher from Scotts Landing, sponsored by the angling club.
Whorms states those earnings capped off a great event.
“We had seven wahoo, two tunas and two dolphins on the first day before weighing another dolphin on the second day. It’s the most fish we’ve caught in one day in local waters. It’s a tournament but it was a lot of fun.
“We got our spot, we like the area and we know it well. We went out a couple of weeks before the tournament and we had seven wahoos and nine tunas so we were hyped for the classic; we did good, just as we had hoped.”
The big catches seen at the Barcadere Marina came from the I and I crew of Waylon Bush, Franklin Kerr and Stephen Ebanks for a 93.5lb tuna (the heaviest catch in the tournament which netted a $2,000 cash prize and a $300 fuel voucher), Jason Powery of Morning Spirit for the second-heaviest tuna at 68lbs (earning $1,000 cash and a $300 fuel voucher), Eric Maierhofer on Run Around for the tournament’s heaviest wahoo at 67.7lbs (netting $6,000), Rob Jones of Strikeforce for a 67.2lb wahoo catch (good for $3,000), Simon Wetherell of Team Tukka for a 63.1lb wahoo (worth $1,000), Daniel Kirkconnell of Blue Diamond for the heaviest dolphin at 27.9lbs (earning $2,000) and Leon Dilbert of Miss Nyah for a 25.5lb dolphin (netting $1,000).
Jenny Elvidge of Kai One On was the top female angler (earning a spa treatment from Spa Escape), Alyssa Cayasso of Topless was the top junior angler (earning a rod and reel) and Al Parsons of Strikeforce had the most marlin releases (good enough for a prize from Guy Harvey).
Interestingly, part of the proceeds from the Barcadere Classic (US$2,000) recently went to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation to fund local marine research. Neville Scott from the Scott Group, the organization that owns George Town’s Barcadere Marina, states the investment was sound.
“I am pleased that the Barcadere could once again contribute to the foundation and I encourage others to do the same, as it is a fantastic way to have a direct and positive effect on the future health of our marine environment,” Scott said. “Our respective relationships with the foundation and the angling club have provided us better insight into the issues facing our local marine life. We have committed ourselves, and our facility, to helping with the ongoing preservation efforts, so that future generations might still have the benefit of our islands’ precious marine resources.”
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