LITTLE BAY – Following the moderate success of the first Montserrat Volcano Catch Fishing Tournament last weekend, the promoter is reviewing the event and already making plans for the second one.
Jermaine Wade of Fabulous Entertainment said he was quite astonished at the interest in the May 1 – 4, 2015 competition which saw a total of 24 Deep Sea participants and 9 vessels from across Montserrat and neighboring Nevis.
“The interest however expressed in the tournament was indeed overwhelming with expressions of interest from 13 other vessels with a minimum of three people in the crew to participate coming in from Antigua, Anguilla, St. Kitts & St. Marten/Saint Martin. Unfortunately for many legitimate reasons they were unable to participate this year at the very last moments. Having considered the support we received nonetheless in just one (1) month of promotion, we have seen the prospects of where we can take this event in future.”
The tournament featured in addition to the Deep Sea segment other categories such as Most fish caught by pot, Shoreline Fishing and the one that stole the spot light in particular and with an impressive weigh in of the Fish caught by Spear segment. It culminated on Labour Day May 5 with a Seafood Festival at Marine Village in Little Bay.
“Being our first event of this nature we are assessing our execution so we can learn from the experience to enhance the product for next time. Critically important is also finding the best fitted time to host this event as that was a major challenge in securing participation with so much alternative marine activities happening in the month of May,” Wade explained.
Several neighboring islands have ocean/fish related events as well: Sailing Week in Antigua, the Guadeloupe International Bill Fishing tournament, Antigua & Barbuda Sports Fishing Tournament and the St. Barth’s Regatta. Wade is considering positioning the competition during Montserrat’s popular St. Patrick’s Festival Week or some time later in the year on the back end of the hurricane season around October or November.
To this end, Fabulous Entertainment intends to host a tournament this October to test response, before introducing the regatta aspect of the event. Wade envisions that the regatta could host a fleet of yachts and perhaps power boats racing from Little Bay Montserrat around Redonda on a charted course and back to Little Bay.
He added that “certainly the introduction of this event has truly demonstrated the need and importance of a Marina and safe harbor in Montserrat. We have seen with little effort the spill off of this event to the hoteliers, taxi drivers, restaurants, bars, vendors and others in the service industry benefiting from the event in one way or the other. There was indeed an unusual economic buzz for the Labor Day weekend that many benefited from resulting from the Montserrat Volcano Catch Fishing Tournament & Regatta and for that we are definitely elated.”
Wade congratulated the winners and thanked the sponsors who were instrumental in providing up to $20,000 in prize money for the various categories. He gave special mention of the media partners which included Discover Montserrat, Goldenmedia Spirit of Montserrat and ZJB Radio Montserrat.
See the previous stories for daily winners:
Volcano Catch Fishing Tourney Winds Up Today, Get Sunday’s Results
Day Two of Volcano Catch Fishing Tournament on the Way
