By John Denny Observer Reporter
(Oualie Beach, Nevis) ” Big fish, big prizes, bragging rights and the chance to help the local hospital will all be at stake this weekend when competitive sport fishing come to Nevis. The Nevis Yacht Club will be hosting the 14th Annual Sport Fishing Tournament at Oualie Beach Resort on Saturday, Oct. 11, with some of the proceeds of the event being donated to the Alexandra Hospital. Competing fishermen from Nevis and all neighboring islands are expected to participate. “We expect 120 fishermen on 30 boats to be competing,” said Oualie Beach Resort General Manager Vaden Jones. “We are very excited about welcoming the participants back to Nevis. Every year the number of visiting boats from overseas keeps growing as do the number of locals participating.” Carib Breweries is the official sponsor of the Sport Fishing Tournament. The company will provide for much of the entertainment. A captain’s briefing is scheduled for Friday evening with a cocktail reception to follow at 8 p.m. “This provides a large economic impact for Nevis by all the people that come in for this,” said Mr. Jones. “Supermarkets, car rental, accommodations, taxes” all of those are affected by this tournament and of course this is a benefit event with proceeds going to the Alexandra Hospital.” The tournament gives out about 12 prizes each year. The species generally caught are oahu, dolphin, tuna and sometimes marlin. Prizes are awarded for total pounds of fish caught, biggest fish, biggest in each category, heaviest fish, and prizes for boats under and over 25 feet. “I think last year we just had one boat under 25 feet and it won Champion Boat” it was from Montserrat and we have already confirmed those guys will be back this year,” he said. “We are going to see how Nevis rises to the challenge. This is going to be a whole weekend of fun and we would like everyone to come out Oualie Beach and enjoy themselves.” On Saturday, the fishing boats are expected to return to Oualie Beach with their catch no later than 3:30 p.m., according to the rules of the tournament. However, some boats may return before this time and fish will be available for purchase from the returning contestants.
