Tournament at historic Bimini Big Game Club draws record anglers

by John Bell on 20 Nov 2014 With 29 boats and over 200 anglers competing, Wahoo Smackdown V, hosted by the historic Bimini Big Game Club Resort and Marina, provided heavy action this past weekend.

Taking home the first place trophy—an original painting by renowned marine artist Carey Chen— and a check for heaviest wahoo caught (47.6 pounds) was Team 'Cash Out' captained by Jimmy Wickett from Broward County, Florida. Second place in the largest fish category was Team 'Island Runner ' skippered by Joe Slobodian from Jacksonville, Florida with a 46.1 pounder. Junior angler William Thomas, 14 of Orlando, caught the third-place fish, a 45.4-pounder aboard 'Fishin A Loan.'

Five heaviest fish taken over two days was Team 'Fishin A Loan' from St. Augustine with a total 212 pounds.

Tournament Director Chase Camacho paid more than $30,000 in cash and prizes were awarded for the two-day tournament.

'This was one of the largest tournaments in the history of our popular Smackdown Series and were looking forward to surpassing these numbers when we host Smackdown VI this February,' said Camacho. 'The Big Game is back in Bimini and our intention is to continue to grow this series as well as other types of future tournament action.'

Anglers this past weekend were joined by artist Carey Chen, a respected world class fisherman, Tournament Grand Marshal, John Hemingway, a Montreal-based writer and grandson of author Ernest Hemingway, and Playboy Centerfold and Florida native Shawn Dillon.