The 2024 Republic Bank Sir Charles Williams International Fishing Tournament, set for next month, promises to be an exciting event with increased prize money, benefits and categories for local competitors.
President of the Barbados Game Fishing Association (BGFA) Paul Hamel-Smith said yesterday evening, during a press conference at Pier One Restaurant, Port St Charles Marina, St Peter, that although the BGFA expected another great turnout from regional competitors, the focus this year was on increasing the number of local fishermen involved in the five-day event.
“In fact, we have introduced a number of changes to this year’s event designed to encourage more local participation in the tournament and to make the tournament more welcoming to smaller boats. The first is the introduction of greater prizes in what we call the Meat Fish Division of the tournament. It consists of daily prizes for the heaviest wahoo, tuna, dolphin, and barracuda for the first time.
“Each day, there is going to be a $1 000 prize for the heaviest of each of those species, as well as overall prizes. There is also going to be, for the first time, a National Barbados Barracuda Record introduced into this tournament. The winner is not only going to get the bragging rights and trophy but also $6 000 cash. We think that is a big draw for the guys that like fishing the barracuda in Barbados,” Hamel-Smith explained.
Fishermen will now also be allowed to keep the fish weighed at the scale. In previous years, the BGFA retained all weighed fish.
Due to these changes, along with Republic Bank’s financial support of $50 000 for the competition, the BGFA president said there has been a significant increase in registrations.
“I’m happy to say that the amount of pre-registrations that we have had to date as compared to last year is more than doubled. So we think we are on the right track in terms of getting a bigger turnout for this year’s tournament. We are really excited about that result,” Hamel-Smith said. “We as a committee would really like to honour Sir Charles’ legacy by putting on a great event once again for all spectators.”
This year’s tournament will run from April 9-13.
