Posted on August 15th, 2015
It was an absolutely perfect three days for the 22nd Annual Captain Steve Harman’s Poor Girls Open. The weather was absolutely beautiful, 135 boats signed up for this year’s event, and there were a ton of billfish caught. There were several big winners from the event, but none will win bigger than the American Cancer Society. The Poor Girls Open has donated almost $800,000 to breast cancer research, and this year will make another huge donation to a cause that unfortunately a lot of us are directly impacted by. We had three great days of fishing, lots of laughs and camaraderie, and most importantly had an opportunity to help a great cause. Here’s how all the action breaks down from the 22nd Annual Captain Steve Harman’s Poor Girls Open hosted by Bahia Marina.
Junior Angler
The junior angler category was locked up tight on day 1 when young Isabelle Marco fishing on the Sushi 98 released four white marlin and claimed first prize.
Wahoo
The first place Wahoo was caught on Friday by Jennifer Wojcik while fishing on the Reel Passion. Jennifer’s wahoo weighed 42.3 pounds and was the largest wahoo of the event.
Dolphin
The largest dolphin of the tournament was caught by the ladies on board the Billfisher and hit the scales on Saturday afternoon (more on Billfisher to follow!). Judy Duffie caught a 28.6 pound mahi that was good for 1st place.
Tuna
The largest, and only tuna weighed in the Poor Girls Open this year belonged to the crew of the Maverick. Nora Warren’s 139.8 pound bigeye caught on Friday was the only tuna weighed in this year’s event, but I’m confident it would have probably won the category even if there had been more.
3rd Place Billfish
Friday’s 2nd place billfish release boat the Reel Toy was bumped late in the game today by a couple of ticks of the clock. The Reel Toy released eight white marlin on Friday but had to settle for 3rd place in the billfish release category because ties are broken by time of release.
2nd Place Billfish
The team that did the bumping to the Reel Toy was the crew of the Billfisher fishing out of Sunset Marina with Captain Jon Duffie. The ladies on the Billfisher released eight white marlin as well, but released all of their fish by 11:26 am. That difference in time broke their tie with the Reel Toy and landed them in 2nd place in the billfish release category.
1st Place Billfish
On Friday the ladies fishing on board the Reel Joy with Captain Andy Helms came to the scales and posted eight white marlin releases and one spearfish release and we thought it was going to be tough to beat. There were some boats that gave them a run for their money, but in the end, the Reel Joy’s nine releases held on to first place in the billfish release category. Janelle and Shayna were overwhelmed when the scales closed at 7:30 and they realized that they had won the event. The crew of the Reel Joy has won over $89,000 for their first place effort.
Congratulations to all of the winners of the 22nd Annual Captain Steve Harman’s Poor Girls Open and to tournament directors Earl Connelly and Shawn Harman on another fantastic event.
