Mapepire gets biggest bites at Tarpon Thunder

DOMINIC Wallace and his crew on Mapepire were invited to compete against the best in the world at next year’s Offshore World Championships, in Costa Rica, after winning the Best Boat award at the two-day Trinidad Tarpon Thunder, which concluded on Sunday.

Hosted by the TT Game Fishing Association (TTGFA), the annual tournament and World Championship qualifying event was held at Island Yacht Charters, Gasparee Island.

Wallace, the stand-out angler over the weekend, scored 1700 points, which earned him the Best Angler Award. He set the tone early on by catching and releasing the first tarpon at 5.37 am, for which he receive a third award.

Mapepire produced the top three Best Male Awards with Christian Valdez (1400 points) and Luke De Gannes (1000), taking second and third, respectively.

Amanda Hoein on EZ Going was named the Best Female Angler. The other individual awards went to: Best Foreign Angler (Mark Zillar, Monsta); Most Lure Released (Chad Chu Cheong, Ramajay); Most Stick Released (Fernando Navarro, Monsta); and Best Junior Angler (Chad Ferreira, Scatter Brain).

The nearest challenger to Mapepire was a considerable distance away with a total of 3200 points. Monsta (3000) took third, followed by Moisturizer (2100) and Moet (1400).

The top anglers were awarded sponsored prizes for their efforts which included rods and reels, Yamaha generators and tackle from Guy Harvey.

Sponsors for the event included Carib, Purity Water, Gatorade, Real Marketing Limited, LP Marine, Reel Tackle and Seafoord, Elee Angencies Ltd (Yamaha), Mamac Ceramics Trinidad, Island Yacht Charters and Monsta Tarpon.