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One of the competitions on the Seychelles Sports Fishing Club calendar is the La Digue tournament scheduled for October. (State of Seychelles)
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The fifth tournament of the Seychelles Sport Fishing Club season, the Southeast Monsoon Sailfish Tournamenttakes place on Saturday, 11.
Boats for the tournament are allowed to depart from Marine Charter, Eden Island Marina and Providence and fish at two fishing grids – northeast and southeast of Mahe. Anyone fishing outside the two grids will be disqualified.
All teams must abide by the rules of the International Game Fishing Association (IFGA) at this tournament. The only exceptions to these rules are in the following circumstances; Once a fish is hooked, the rod can only be passed to one angler. Once the rod has been passed to the angler it cannot be passed to another angler and IGFA tackle rules apply as well. However, the IGFA fishing rules do not apply to ladies and juniors.
Club chairman Tarak Patel told SNA that “at this tournament, the main battle will be against the weather. It’s going to be very tough for everyone involved, but at the same time it’s something we always look forward to and I think it’ll go well.”
The Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, is currently in its southeast monsoon, which begins from May to October and brings with it strong winds that make the sea choppy.
The winning team and runner-up will be determined using a points-based system calculated based on the number of Sailfish released, with 2000 points awarded for each Sailfish released. In the event of a tie, the winner and runner-up will be determined by determining the earliest Sailfish caught.
Other prizes include the heaviest fish caught and the species included are Barracuda, Dorado, Bonito, Yellowfin Tuna and Wahoo. A prize is also awarded for the most released swordfish.
Patel said the season has gone very well so far and the club are “very pleased that we have been able to hold our scheduled tournaments so far and to be honest the turnout has been very good.”
Four tournaments took place – the Heineken Slam, the National Championship, the Marlin Slam and the Trevally Slam.
This year, a team from the UAE also took part.
“The team has been involved in all the tournaments to date and even came back a week after each tournament for the awards ceremony which shows their appreciation for what we do,” added Patel.
He said the UAE team expects to sign a partnership agreement with the UAE Seychelles Sport Fishing Club In December.