We begin the season with the Annual Tropic Star Lodge Billfish Tournament benefitting the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation. The two-day tournament is a qualifier for the Offshore World Championship, the premier offshore tournament in the sport of game fishing. With the leadership of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and the Dophinfish Research program, the fleet tagged and released Dorado as well as deployed satellite tags on billfish. This is part of a larger initiative with the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation to advance education and conservation in our area and worldwide.
13 teams competed in the 2018 qualifying tournament. Collectively, in two days, we released 25 Marlin, and 13 Sailfish. Well over 140 Dorado were tagged and released during the tournament. The results were as follows:
Team places
| 3rd Place | Team Nothing Matters | 900 Points |
| 2nd Place | Team The Hooker | 1000 Points |
| 1st place | Team The Happy Hookers | 1200 Points |
Top Anglers
| 3rd Place | Tyler Brielmayer | 600 Points |
| 2nd Place | Brian Gorski | 700 Points |
| 1st Place | Dean Meyer | 700 Points |
We are proud to report that the top boat was our very own Miss Scandia with Captain Jose at the helm and Mate Eladio on the deck. They finished the tournament with an impressive 1,600 points.
Overall the tournament was loads of fun and was an excellent platform to highlight conservation and its absolute necessity to preserve the sport we all love so much. We’d also like to say a big thank you to our tournament participants and sponsors for making it all possible.
We are looking forward to a spectacular 2019 season.
Tight lines and fair seas,
Capt. Richard White
