June 4, 2002 – Catch the excitement July 14 when the Northside Sportfishing Club hosts its annual Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament at Hull Bay.
This biggest little fishing event in the Virgin Islands draws the highest participation of any inshore fishing event of its kind, offering fishing fun and top cash and luxury prizes for competitors, charitable contributions for community organizations and college scholarships, and special shoreside activities for everyone to enjoy.
First organized by the Northside Sportfishing Club in 1987, the tournament has become one of the highlights of French Heritage Week festivities. The event benefits the Joseph Sibilly School, St. Thomas Rescue, The American Red Cross, The Victim's Advocate Program and also provides scholarships for college-bound students.
A captain's meeting and registration will be held at 7:30 p.m. at Hull Bay Hideaway on Friday, July 12. Entry forms can be obtained from E&M Grocery, Bryan's Electrical and Neptune Fishing Supplies. Fishing starts at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, July 14, and ends at noon, sharp. From noon until 2 p.m., while the weigh-master and judges go to work, all anglers can quench their thirst at a open bars – including a Snapple bar for the young. There will be drink, food and live music by Lashing Dogs throughout the afternoon for community spectators who come down to see the catch and catch the fun for the day. The Awards Ceremony starts at 8 p.m. at Hull Bay Hideaway, with music by Obsession.
And the prizes?
Coors Light and Snapple, distributed by Bellows International, Ltd., is once again a Gold Sponsor of the event. They've donated more than $75,000 in cash and product over the last decade, and continue in a starring sponsor role this year.
A prize for the largest kingfish this year will be a spectacular 25-foot Eduardono sport fishing boat ready for outfitting, a donation from long-time sponsor Offshore Marine Services.
The largest kingfish award also includes $2,000 cash, a donation from new sponsor, N.E.M. (West Indies) Insurance Limited, managed in the Virgin Islands by Red Hook Agencies, Inc.
The prize for second largest kingfish is $750 cash, provided by sponsor FedEx. FedEx is also donating all the official angler hats that have proved to be both a keepsake as well as symbol of a savvy angler.
All anglers will receive an official Bastille Day/Guy Harvey T-shirt thanks to combined sponsorship support.
And the prize giving continues. Royal Caribbean has donated a
7-night Caribbean cruise for two, and more than a dozen hotels on St. Thomas and
St. John have supported the event by offering overnight excursions along with dinner for two. Local restaurateurs have also contributed dinners for two as additional prizes.
Generous sponsor support also enables the tournament to reward anglers catching not only the largest kingfish, but also those reeling in the argest jack, barracuda, bonito, tuna, mackerel and dolphin. In addition to "Best Captain" award, there are also prizes for best boat, best female angler, best male angler, best junior female angler and best junior male angler.
Anglers of all skill levels are invited to enter, and everyone comes away a winner. "We're expecting more than 300 anglers this year and are grateful for the positive response we've received from all our sponsors," says Monica Lester, tournament director. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, entry fees are low – $35 for adults, $20 for juniors ages 8 to 16.
As an added enticement for junior anglers this year, "I Do" Video & Photography will sponsor a special "Catch In The Hat" award for all registered junior anglers. This means that all junior anglers' names will be placed in a hat and nine names will be drawn at random. The first eight juniors will each receive $50 cash, with the ninth junior being awarded $100. Juniors must be present at the awards ceremony to win.
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