Charlie Cat tips scales with monster marlin

The 20th Annual Saipan International Fishing Tournament finished with a bang yesterday as Nguyen Hoa and the crew of the Charlie Cat saved the best for last, coming to the courtesy dock with a last-minute entry that blew away the competition by about 140 lbs.

As the hours of the two-day fish-a-thon ground down to minutes, victory was all but assured for Team Palau and their 379.19-lbs. marlin caught off of the coast of Banzai Cliff, when spectators heard a request over the radio waves for the Mayor’s Office “boom” truck to get ready because a big fish was on its way in.

After bringing in three billfish on the first day of the tournament, Nguyen maneuvered his craft through the channel with a fish almost as big as his boat inside. When the Charlie Cat made its way to the dock, the crowd clapped and cheered when the crane hoisted the 519.40-lbs. marlin out of his boat and onto the scale.

When the weight was announced, the crew and the spectators erupted. After hugs, kisses, and a number of photographs, the captain explained where he caught the behemoth, and what it took to capture the beast.

Nguyen didn’t have to go too far out to get the catch of his life. The angler of anglers in this year’s event and his team caught the biggest of the billfish off the coast of Marpi.

“We were out by Marpi when we found him. We fought him for about an hour before it went down to the bottom and kind of drown and then it took us about an hour and a half just to reel it in,” said Nguyen.

Now that the fish has been donated, there will be plenty of room in the Charlie Cat for the $10,000 first place prize and the prestigious trophy from the Saipan Fishermen’s Association.

According to tournament tradition, the biggest fish caught gets donated to the tournament banquet. However, with an hour to go in the annual event, Team Palau elected to donate the smaller fish and to keep the 379.19-pounder that they fought with for about an hour and a half.

The captain and crew of Team Palau were confident that theirs would be the first place winner, but soon learned the fate of those that part with tradition. The crew of the Charlie Cat did not make the same mistake, as they were quick to donate the catch to the banquet.

This was the first time that Nguyen had ever participated in the Saipan tourney, but after his experience, it’s a safe bet that the man from Guam will return for another round next year.

The hunt for the monster marlin has lured in 93 teams this year from Guam, Palau, Rota, and Tinian.

Many of the region’s finest anglers participated in the two-day event in search of prizewinning fish, and though no fisherman was able to win the special $20,000 cash prize set aside for the angler who broke the record for biggest Marlin (624.43 lbs.) set in 1997 by Danny Agulto, Nguyen will have plenty of reasons to be happy.

For bringing in the whopper, the captain and crew of the Charlie Cat not only reeled in the grand prize purse of $10,000 for netting the heaviest overall catch, but also the $4,000 in cash and the Governor’s Cup for taking first place in the bill fish category.

Team Palau didn’t walk away empty handed either, as they can smile about the $2,000 cash prize and a weeks worth of sashimi for finishing in second place.

The only item left for business for the tournament organizers is the annual banquet, which will be held for all of the participants tonight at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach at 6pm. With several hundred pounds of fish donated to the tournament, the banquet is shaping up to be yet another highlight to the biggest angling event ever to hit the Northern Marianas.