Utila wins the Roatan International Fishing Tournament!
Intimidation. Stealing. Gloating. That was what transpired this weekend at the Roatan International Fishing Tournament as the Utila boat “Valeria” stole back a trophy from Roatan, the same way they stole Utila’s last fishing tournament trophy.
Intimidation: Some scoffed at “Valeria’s” five reels, compared to their eighteen and twenty! But what does that matter if you don’t understand fishy-thinking, like I know these guys do!
The boat called Valeria, captained by Harris and Wilmer Pineda, was on the small side of the sixty boats competing for the trophy. Some boats worth well over a million dollars and far more well-equipped were no match for the super-fisherman team from Utila – Joseph Muñoz, Erik Ramon and Peter Taylor (originally from the U.S.).
After two days of the tourney, here were the standings, with the Valeria-team in first place!
1st & 2nd Day Fishing Results
September 12 & 13, 2014
Judges Report
Fishing Hours: 6:00 am – 5:00 p.m.
Billfish Category
Boat Valeria (Capitan Wilmer Pineda) 2 Blue Marlins
Boat OK Then (Captain Jerry Hynds Jr) 1 Blue Marlin
Boat Ex Forest ( Captain Geovany Fuentes) 1 Blue Marlin
Boat Easy Times (Captain Mario Canahuati) 1 Blue Marlin
Boat Catch & Relay (Captain J. Chain) 1 Blue Marlin
Boat Little Darwin (Captain E. McNab) 1 Sailfish
Stealing: And what happened then? The last day of the tournament, the boys caught a sailfish, which put them in first place to win! With a purse of $15,000 or 320,000 lps, respect and admiration, they stole the Roatan trophy and brought it back to Utila, returning home to Utila just a few hours ago as heroes! Combined with the festivities of Honduran Independence Day, I’m pretty sure there is going to be come partying tonight! … and perhaps some gloating.
Congratulations to all of you! We’re so proud of you!
And by the way, the Roatan International Fishing Tournament has converted to a full adult Catch-and-Release tournament!
About Utila, Real Estate & Island Living 
Sep 18, 2014 @ 16:11:12
What was the weight of the winning fish? Do they not calculate weights anymore – just number of fish caught? I believe that I remember a few years back (4 or so) that the winning fish was caught by a local in a small boat. It took several men to hoist it up on some scaffolding at West End so it could be seen more easily. Obviously, at that time, it was not ‘catch and release’. Dave
Sep 18, 2014 @ 18:18:52
Thanks for your comment Dave. I just got off the phone with one of the winning fisherman Joseph Munoz. Because it is a full catch-and-release tournament, the catch is captured on video, and the tournament works on points. The winning team caught 2 marlins and one sailfish, about 140 pounds, 85 lbs and 45 lbs. The next closest team only caught one marlin each. You get an extra 100 points if you can take the hook out too. If your fish is over the record of 700 odd pounds, you are allowed to bring it in. But you better make sure it’s over the record weight, otherwise you’ll get disqualified.
Oct 07, 2014 @ 00:49:43
Yeah! Please tell Joe congrats from JT and the Tierney crew! We are proud of him!
Oct 07, 2014 @ 13:05:07
Absolutely! Will do! We’re all so proud of him!