The Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series is over the hump and coasting downhill after 202 fish caught and is in the fishing version of a seventh-inning stretch. Five of the seven tournaments in the series have fished, and the team on board Bwana has taken a very bossy lead.
Bwana is an African term for Boss, and Capt. Teddy Hoogs and company are living up to the title. Boat owner Craig Lindner is 1,350 points ahead of his nearest challenger in the top angler department with his 3,800 points. Guy Arrington trails with 2,450 points. Neither angler has brought a marlin to the scales. All of their points have been tallied with fish that were tagged and released.
Lindner has tagged and let go 15 blue marlin, aided by Hoogs and his deck team K.J. Robinson and Carl Shepard.
Arrington has nine tags under his belt so far this summer. Arrington fished “Strong Persuader” with Capt. Shane O’Brien until mechanical issues popped up. When Strong Persuader developed transmission issues, Capt. Boyd DeCoito had them hop over to Foxy Lady where Guy tagged four of his nine fish.
Bwana also holds a commanding lead in the top boat division with 4,269 points, leading the second place boat, Marln Magic II, by 1,363.5 points. Marlin Magic II has weighed two of the four fish scaled so far this summer, and added 1,400 tag and release points to the 855.5 points scored with fish weighed in for a total of 2,905.5 points, once the various bonus points are added in.
Grady Mulberry started their run off at the Kona Kick Off when he weighed a 427-pound blue marlin. Paul Douglas scaled a 428.5-pound blue at the Kona Throw Down that earned the team a record pay check after he added an additional 200 points with a marlin tagged and let go.
There are six teams in the boat division within striking distance, holding more than 2,000 points. The Angler division is a bit more spread out, with the Top 10 list posting from 700 to 3,800 points.
There have been 135 teams that have fished in the first five events of the HMTS this year. The five events have generated a total available purse of more than $1.6 million dollars, making the Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series the second heaviest sports property in Hawaii, trailing only the tournaments of the PGA.
After the seventh-inning stretch, the series returns Aug. 15-18 with the 33rd Big Island Marlin Tournament. The BIMT was the first tournament in Hawaii to offer purse for the tagging and releasing of live marlin, overcoming more than a little skepticism from folks who said it just could not be done.
The BIMT is the “flagship event” of the series and features Grammy Award winning entertainers each summer. Jimmie Vaughn will headline the grand finale this year. Jimmie first played the BIMT in 1988 and 1989 when he was with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Returning 30 years later, Vaughn will be showcasing his trio, featuring Mike Flanigan on the B-3 organ.
For more information on the Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series, log on to www.konatournaments.com.
You can enter the BIMT or the final event of the series, the It’s a Wrap Tourney, by clicking the registration tab on the top menu bar of the website.
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Top 10 Anglers
Through 5 tournaments
Craig Lindner 3800 BWANA
Guy Arrington 2450 STRONG PERSUADER & FOXY LADY
Ed Artecona 2088.5 SAPO
Rick Shedore 1500 LIGHTSPEED
Paul Douglas 1428.5 MARLIN MAGIC II
Chad Beaudry 1350 SWEET SADIE & LAST CHANCE
Greg Marsolei 900 IHU NUI
Patrick Beal 850 GO GET EM
Tom Kuljis 850 SWEET SADIE
Henry O’Connell 700 MELEE
Top 10 boats
Through 5 tournaments
Marlin Magic II 2905.5
Ihu Nui 2900
Strong Persuader 2650
Lightspeed 2150
Sapo 2088.5
Sadie 2050
Honey 1950
EZ Pickens 1800
Go Get Em 1550
