Jim Jefferson, James Luse and Bill Ramsey caught a Super Grand Slam their first day out, including a Black, Blue, and Striped Marlin as well as 3 Sailfish. These guys ended the week with 7 Marlin released: 3 Black, 1 Blue and 3 Striped Marlin, plus 10 Sails! Carl, James and Harley Feldbaum released 5 Blue and 1 Black Marlin. Stephen and Stephen Rhodes, Jr. released 2 Blacks, a Blue and a Striped Marlin for a Marlin Grand Slam Week. Stephen Rhodes and Steve Rhodes, Jr. caught 2 Blacks, 1 Blue and 1 Striped Marlin. One Black was estimated at 600 lbs.

The fourth week some cooler water arrived and even with finicky fish, we kicked the week off with a Marlin Grand Slam on day one, with a Black, Blue and Striped Marlin. There were 40 Marlin raised and 17 caught the last week.

MARCH:

The cooler water remained into early March. 11 Black Marlin were released, of which 9 were "firsts" for our guests! Inshore, Emma Hoover caught a huge 70 lb Roosterfish. TSL's Captain Alberto won a Billfish Foundation Award for the most tagged Black Marlin. A Tropic Star captain has won this award for the last four years!

By the second week, Grand Slam opportunities were in the wind, 14 Black Marlin, 12 Blue Marlin and 3 Striped Marlin were released, as well as 136 Sails. Samuel P. Dennison, Charles Bayne and Dan Mayes each had a Grand Slam Week with 3 Blacks, 2 Blues, 1 Striped Marlin and 14 Sails. Michael Conley had a Super Grand Slam Week!  We presented 34 first ever certificates for anglers releasing their first Marlin or Sailfish.

Mid March brought us 49 Marlin releases in 6 days. We had 25 anglers catching their first Marlin and two anglers catching a Grand Slam on the same day on the same boat. In one day, the Miss Tropic Star released 2 Blacks, 2 Blues and 2 Sails. Anglers Bill Gillespie and Steve Carlson each had a Grand Slam Day. Shep Johnson and Michael Pierdinock raised 11 Marlin and released 4 Blacks and 2 Blues. The McComas family, with Fred, Theresa and 15 year-old Michael, released a Marlin a day for 5 days. Mike Riley, David Theis, and Floyd and Chris Hatch released 6 Marlin. It was also a first Black and Blue for both father and son and a Grand Slam Week! Carl Belk, who has had family vacations in Piñas since he was a kid, returned with his parents, his wife Anne, and their kids, Tricia and David. Anne landed a Black estimated at 450 lb and a 600 lb Blue Marlin!  Tricia caught a 550 lb Blue Marlin and a 50 lb Roosterfish and David released a Black Marlin after a 6-hour fight! I think we just started the third generation of Belk Family Vacations in Piñas! This week produced 14 First Blacks and 11 First Blues for our guests!

The end of March 36 Marlin and 31 Sails were released with lots of Roosterfish and Snapper inshore making for a good all-around fishing week. Jim Seegraves from Alaska released 4 Marlin on the last day; three Blacks and a Blue Marlin. Son Cody caught a Junior Angler World Record with a 47.7 lb Pacific Cubera Snapper. Gus Gillespie headed south from Alaska to release 4 Blacks and a Blue Marlin, as well as 4 Sails. Michael and Susan Voisin came from England to catch 4 Black Marlin. James Brooks landed a 200 lb Yellowfin.

APRIL:

April begins our "half" week options, which means you have the option to fish either a full week, or three or four days. Fishing times are normally split three ways between Marlin, Sails, and inshore fishing. The Marlin bite was a bit slow the first week of April with 8 Blacks and 7 Blue Marlin, as well as 42 Sails for the week.