Wahoo Tournament II - Hemingway fishing in Bimini
by John Bell on 25 Jan 2013
Bimini Big Game Club John Bell
The Bimini Big Game Club Resort and Marina announced on Thursday the participation of fishing veteran John Hemingway in the Wahoo Smackdown II Tournament scheduled for February 21-23.
John Hemingway, grandson of the world-renown author Ernest Hemingway, next month will be trolling the same Gulf Stream waters as his famous grandfather, whose fishing exploits aboard his beloved 'Pilar' helped put this tiny Bahamas out island on the global map in the 1930s.
Ernest Hemingway was an early apostle to the Bimini experience in the 1930s, where he drank, brawled and wrote his way through several fishing seasons, traveling back and forth between home in Key West and his beloved 'Island in the Stream'. His creative workshop was the Compleat Angler and his characterizations came from a world populated by giant blue marlin, bluefin tuna and schools of sharks almost too large to count. With his literary acclaim and sporting prowess, Hemingway, together with countless other kindred spirits, established Bimini as the Big Game Fishing Capital of the World—home today to some 50 world record catches and counting.
The 52-year-old writer from Montreal will be fishing with Captain Alexander Jiminez of Miami and aboard the 33’ Contender 'Makin It Happen'. As a follow to the tournament, he will essay the history of big game fishing in Bimini.
John Hemingway is an American author from Miami, whose critically acclaimed memoir Strange Tribe examines the similarities and the complex relationship between his father Dr. Gregory Hemingway and his grandfather, Nobel Laureate Ernest Hemingway.
John has visited Bimini, the setting for his grandfather’s posthumous novel 'Islands in the Stream', countless times. His parents first took him to the island when he was a newborn and his childhood was spent fishing in the Gulf Stream with his father for Marlin and Wahoo and 'everything else that you could and can still catch in those waters.'
As a young man he moved to Milan, Italy in 1983, where he taught English and worked as a translator while pursuing creative writing. His articles and short stories have appeared in American, Italian and Spanish newspapers and reviews. His short story Uncle Gus was the featured piece for the re-launch of the Saturday Evening Post.
After leaving Italy in 2006 and spending a year in Spain, John now lives with his two children in Montreal, Canada.
'This is a real coup for us,' said Tournament Director Captain Paul Cameron. 'Imagine being able to brag that you actually fished with a Hemingway, and in Bimini, of all places.
Cameron said 'Makin It Happen', which has taken advantage of the Big Game Club’s seasonal marina rates, is looking for some heavy competition in February.
'This past November we had some 60 anglers competing for more than $30,000 in cash and prizes,' he said. 'Lots of action during the tournament with nearly a ton and a half of fish landed.'
The entry fee for the Wahoo Smackdown II (which includes four anglers per boat) is an affordable $1,250. First place prize is $5,000, followed by $1,500 for second and $1,000 for third.
Playboy Playmate Shawn Dillon, Miss February 2013, will also be on hand on Saturday, February 23rd, helping with the final weigh-ins, presenting trophies and posing for pictures and signing autographs for participating teams.