2011    Bermuda Billfish Blast Final Day Press Release

  'Wound Up' WINS THE BLAST  WITH 4 BLUE MARLIN RELEASES ON FINAL DAY INCLUDING ESTIMATED 600 AND 700 POUNDERS   ...'Wound Up's' final day heroics of four Blue Marlin release earned them 2000-points, First place honors, Day 3 Billfish Release Jackpots and First place Marlin jackpots totaling $ 135,341.67. Angler Mike Medeiros earned the Top Angler award and prizes as he caught all four fish on the final day to win the coveted trophy and prizes. "Wound Up now becomes the first ever repeat champion of the Bermuda Billfish Blast- Capt James also won the 2009 blast (as well as the 2009 World Cup). It's the second consecutive triple crown event that 'Wound Up' has taken the glory in the final day. In the2010 Sea Horse tournament, 'Wound Up' won most of the cash awards with the largest fish caught in last years series, an 858 lb Blue Marlin on the final day. So this is on RED HOT boat and Captain.... photos to follow  

After great Wahoo catches at the end of May/early June the fishing eased up. Wahoo catches slowed to 4 - 10 per trip and after slow tuna fishing for the past month, the Yellowfin bite heated up. For a week and a half we were catching between 6 and 15 Yellowfin per trip - then they really turned on !! On June 12th we caught 25 Yellowfin Tuna . This was the start of the best Yellowfin Tuna fishing we've seen in Bermuda in a long time. For the next 3 weeks, most days you could catch as many as you wanted. We fished a lot of short days (due to angler fatigue) , spent a good % of our time in the deep Blue Marlin fishing and caught 272 Yellowfin Tuna in 13 trips. All of these fish were caught in the chum on Tiagra 16's and averaged over 40 lbs a piece - our best catch was on June 28th - 34 Yellowfin Tuna in just over 4 hours of fishing with Josh Lewis and his nephew. Phenomenal fishing !!!

We had a decent Wahoo run to the SW of the island on both the edge and the banks for the later part of April and for most of May. Catches ranging from half a dozen to the high teens started to taper off by the end of the month as the wind blew hard from the NE. Sick of pounding home  25miles into 20+ knots of breeze and reports of decent catches down at the east end sucked me into running that way on May 29th. We fished with Bill Bearns and friend invery challenging conditions - we called it a day a 2pm with 24 wahoo and a few Mahi. I ran back there the next morning and with one angler we caught 26 Wahoo, a few mahi and couple tuna by mid afternoon and headed home - down wind, worn out and covered in salt. I took the next day off to deliver fish and much needed tackle maintenance. I fished solo on the 1st of June in slick calm conditions finishing with 21 Wahoo. After the previous two trips, the lack of wind was a treat. Our trip east paid off -  71 Wahoo in 3 Trips !!! Is there a better, more consistent place to catch Wahoo then in Bermuda ?  I don't think so. still trying to find and sort out a pile of last year photos. coming soon. i promise

The good fishing here in Bermuda continues. The Wahoo fishing has slowed compared to the last month, but the Yellowfin Tuna are still chewing and there are still a few Albacore , Blackfin Tuna and Skipjack Tuna around. We are giving the offshore scene a break, leaving Bermuda and taking a family ski trip to Utah followed by a boys trip to Florida and a few 'Furthur' concerts. So no fishing for quiet a while after finishing our winer fishing on a great note.     Our last 3 trips -  15/3 ,  13 Yellowfin Tuna, 1 Blackfin Tuna, 1 Skipjack Tuna and 2 Wahoo.   - 17/3 , 15 Yellowfin Tuna, 3 Blackfin Tuna and an Albacore Tuna.   - 19/3 , 19 Yellowfin Tuna, 2 Blackfin Tuna and a Wahoo.     Our year to date stats thru March 19th ( 20 Trips) -  103 Wahoo, 146 Yellowfin Tuna, 29 Blackfin Tuna, 9 Albacore Tuna and 0/2 on Bluefin Tuna.   I've misplaced a ton of pictures on my Mac. I'll ad them later when/if I find them.  

Between cold fronts we had some beautiful days and excellent Bermuda fishing !! The mix of Wahoo and Yellowfin Tuna continues with a few Bluefin and Albacore Tuna encounters for the fleet. I'll let the pictures and daily catch log tell the rest of the story. 17/2 - 7 Wahoo, 15 Yellowfin, 1 Blackfin.    18/2 - 21 Wahoo, 2 Yellowfin, 6 Albacore.    25/2 - 7 Wahoo, 22 Yellowfin, 2 Blackfin.   27/2 -  6 Wahoo, 14 Yellowfin, 2 Blackfin.    28/2  - 6 Wahoo, 7 Yellowfin.  

Both Bermuda's weather and fishing so far in 2011 have been a vast improvement on the end of 2010. The gales of December have given way to some nice days and good fishing. Most days find us Wahoo fishing thru mid morning and Tuna fishing the rest of the day. The catches have been split pretty even between both species until out past 2 trips - 10 Wahoo on 5/2/   &   4 Tuna , 18 Wahoo on 11/2 .

Working on long over due reports. Stand by.  

'Offshore World' Magazine. Bermuda Edition. 2001 Sea Horse Billfish Tournament. ...Day 3 belonged to Capt James Robinson and team aboard 'Wound Up'. At 8:50am in the deep off Grape Bay on South Shore, a blue marlin piled on and angler Ken Winton hooked up tight. An hour later, an 858-pound gladiator was on the deck.......The 858-pounder was enough to take the Big Blue Marlin Jackpot worth $47,520 and the Day Three Blue Marlin Jackpot worth an additional $17,820. Ken Winton's 1,358 points earned him the prestigious high-point angler award, worth another $2,800 for a total of $68,140.

James,

Unbelievable!!  Thanks again for an amazing trip.  I think we saw more species of fish in the chum line than you can see in most aquariums! (Ocean Trigger, Yellow fin, robins, mackerel, tiger shark, wahoo).  I thought I had seen everything until the Manta Ray joined in.  Pulling in 10 yellow fin, a black fin, a wahoo, and a giant mackerel which was caught on the live robin, all by 12 noon was definitely the highlight of my yearly trip to see my brother.  See ya next year!  I’ll try to send you some pics when I get them uploaded.

Thanks again,

Mike Hansberry

Basic Chemical Solutions, L.L.C.

448 Cadillac Pkwy. Dallas, GA  30157