HIBT Leader Board 2011
Fish SponsorDistance

"West Marie"

8

West Marine 2188 nm
7 Laguna Niguel Billfish Club #1&2 1752 nm
5 Kona Game Fishing Club - Taiyo 1053 nm
4 Louisiana Hot Sauce Club 1028 nm

"Merlin"

 10 

Patricia Steele and Sherry Vann 522 nm
2 Bay of Islands Swordfish Club #1&2, and Stephen Chow 515 nm
Great Marlin Race Blog
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The 2011 Great Marlin Race is Off to a Good Start

 

Boats await the Start Fishing call to begin the 2011 HIBTWhen the Start Fishing call came at 7:30 this morning, the Third Annual Great Marlin Race at the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament (HIBT) was off to a fantastic start.  Through the generous support of several corporations, angling teams and individuals, we started the day with eight tags fully sponsored!

The Great Marlin Race Banner leads the parade

Tags went out this morning with six teams:  the Bay of Islands Swordfish Club, the Laguna Niguel Billfish Club #1 (which is also carrying the tag sponsored by West Marine), the Balboa Angling Club, the Game Fishing Club of South Australia and the Louisiana Hot Sauce Angling Club.  An eighth tag will go out with the Kona Game Fishing Club - Taiyo tomorrow.  From this list it is obvious that, not only have a lot of tags been sponsored - but the sponsors have come from all around the world.


The fishing off Kona has been excellent in the days leading up to the tournament, with several very large females having been encountered by a number of boats.  This is great news for the Great Marlin Race, and we'll hope that tags start going out soon!