Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Davie fisherman wins Marlin World Cup
Anthony Johnson was in the right place at the right time to win the 31st annual Blue Marlin World Cup Championship.
Fishing out of Madeira, an archipelago in the eastern Atlantic Ocean that is part of Portugal, the Davie angler caught a 652-pound blue marlin Saturday.
That fish was the only marlin landed in the unique winner-take-all tournament, earning Johnson and his team a record payout of $656,000. A portion of the tournament proceeds supports the IGFA and The Billfish Foundation.
The World Cup was held on July 4. Teams can fish anywhere in the world that day for eight hours in their time zone. They can only boat blue marlin over 500 pounds.
Johnson fished on Pesca Grossa with Capt. Duart Nuno Goncalves of Madeira and Capt. Gerard “Frothy” de Silva of Trinidad & Tobago. When his fish was weighed, the other 149 teams were notified that they had to beat a 652-pounder.
According to tournament director Mike Leech of Fort Lauderdale, the day before the tournament, a team caught a marlin weighing 1,254 pounds fishing out of Cape Verde, off the western coast of Africa.
In Bermuda, 25 blue marlin were caught during the tournament. In Kona, Hawaii, where the 2014 World Cup winner was caught, 27 marlin were released. And one team fishing out of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean raised five marlin, but none was big enough to boat.
Other locations where marlin were raised, lost or released included the Bahamas, Panama, Mexico and the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States.
Peacock bass biting
Capt. Alan Zaremba of Hollywood reported that sight-casting with jigs is the best bet for peacock bass in urban canals. Michael Fuchs and Kayla Owsley of New Albany, Ind., caught 16 peacocks up to 3 pounds on a morning trip in the E-4 Canal, south of Lake Ida. Tom Settembrini and
Howie Bindler of Aventura caught eight peacocks up to 3 pounds in the C-8 and C-9.
Tim Gray of Coral Springs caught five peacocks up to 3 pounds in the L-3. Ben
Kilmer of New York caught 19 peacocks up to 31⁄2 pounds in the C-4. Jim Hellaby Jr .of Rochester, N.Y., his wife, Nicki, and their son Tyler, 7, caught 10 peacocks up to 5 pounds on a morning trip in the C-100.
River tour: A guided canoe and kayak tour of the Loxahatchee River is 10 a.m. to noon Friday at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound. The park entry fee is $6 per vehicle. Call 561-745-5551.
Snakehead tournament: A JD’s Custom Baits Snakehead Round-Up is safe light to 2 p.m. Saturday out of Veterans Memorial Park, 7044 NW 1st St., Margate. Entry fee is $40 per angler or $40 per two-person team. Payback is 100 percent. Call 754-816-2248.
Boating safety: A U.S. Coast Guard boating safety course is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Dixon Ahl Community Hall, 2220 NE 38th St., Lighthouse Point. Cost is $50 and includes lunch and materials. Email courses@aux37.org or call 731-907-0307.
Double tournament: Deliver the Dream’s Fishing for the Dream fishing tournament for kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, tuna and cobia will be held in conjunction with
RJ Boyle’s Sunburned Swordfish 7 tournament July 18 at the Lighthouse Point Yacht & Racquet Club. Anglers must choose which tournament they want to fish.
Entry fee is $750 for the swordfish tournament, which has 100 percent payback except for $100 donated to Deliver the Dream. Entry fee for Fishing for the Dream is $400 per boat for four anglers. Visit deliverthedream.org or call 954-564-3512.