Happy New Year!

We wrap up 2009 with a “State of our Progress” report for our fishing friends and sponsors.

Introduction:  If you aren’t familiar with us, we are an all volunteer group calling ourselves the ABMT.  That stands for the Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament.  Our base of operations is St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.  Other names we answer by are the “Boy Scout Tournament.” the Bermuda Triangle Series and the Spanish Main Series.  Our website is www.abmt.vi  and our email is loveto@islands.vi.  We can be reached by telephone at (340) 775-9500.

Our Purpose:  We are on a self-appointed mission to help perpetuate the sport of Big Game Fishing.  We do what we can to help make the sport better!  All monetary rewards earned from our endeavors benefit the VI Council, Boy Scouts of America.  When we are operating on foreign soil, our tournament profits are shared with similar youth organization from the area.  We also fund and support an educational program that we developed named the Marine Vocational Program (MVP).  This program introduces the youth of our islands to their water surroundings.  We provide them with free lessons in sailing, scuba diving, fishing and other tourism related activities.  The idea is to expose our kids to the many career opportunities that are available in the marine industry.   

Our History:  We’ve been operating fishing tournaments for thirty-seven years!  We were among the first in the world to promote the release of blue marlin (1979) and we’ve helped other operators to create release formats with the help of our observer program.  We were also a major player behind the 2004 debut of the Big Game Room at the Miami International Boat Show.  We now operate tournaments in 5 countries.  In 2007 we introduced our tournament magazine ON THE EDGE which can also be viewed online at www.abmt.vi/pages/otedirective.htm.  We are proud of these accomplishments and the best is yet to come!        

Our Future:  The long-term goal is to create the World Series of Big Game Fishing. The eventual “Battle for the Title” will be held on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.  The short term plan is to continue the development of regional “series” such as the Bermuda Triangle Series and the Spanish Main Series.  As the economy allows, we will establish the next series named the Pacific Rim Series, fishing the hotspots of Central and South America.  With that accomplished, we’ll straddle the Pacific with a fourth regional series named the “Southern Cross Series” (Panama, Hawaii, Australia) with the last leg ending on the GBR.  After a winner of the final series of the year is declared (and while the winning team of the SCS is still out on the reef), the other regional winners will arrive, pumped and ready to compete.  The stage will be set and fishermen around the globe will be watching this four day fishing event … and yes, the fur will fly! 

It sounds ambitious, but we are steadily on the march towards our goals and we have accomplished much!  To promote the event, we’ve developed a popular website www.abmt.vi (35,804 visitors in 2009) and we’ve created OTE magazine with 20,000 copies circulated… two very important vehicles needed to spread the word!  We are also blessed to have a large presence in our booth at the Big Game Room at the Miami International Boat Show.  It allows us to catch up with everyone (sponsors and participants alike) in person.  We invite everyone with an interest in Big Game Fishing to join in and help us to create the World Series of Big Game Fishing.         

Ok…. how’d it all go in 2009?

2009 Report

The Big Game Room (BGR) – What a success it has turned out to be!  Held annually during the Miami International Boat Show - the BGR has become an attraction inside of a major attraction!  Thousands of fishermen visited the area last Feb. and the traffic flow is growing each year.  Joanne Zito of the NMMA reports that the booth space is almost sold out for this year’s event (Feb. 11-15, 2010).  New for 2010 we are creating the “Flats Room” for those who enjoy fishing the shallows.  If you are involved in that segment of the fishing industry you might want to reserve a booth.  Contact Joanne at 954-441-3229 or jzito@nmma.org.  You can also contact Hell’s Bay wendi@hellsbayboatworks.com for their ideas on the many ways there are to participate.

Bermuda Triangle Series (BTS) – Spanish Main Series (SMS).  We struggled in 2009 with the legs of both series.  Fortunately we read the economy correctly and we didn’t blow money trying to operate tournament legs that we knew were not going to happen.  We are more optimistic for 2010 and we are asking for team support.  As mentioned, the SMS, BTS and the series planned for South and Central America are the qualifying events (all operating under a similar modified-release format) that will lead up to the World Series of Big Game Fishing.  See our website at www.abmt.vi for the dates of our 2010 events.  Teams can be made up of club members, corporately sponsored members or international fishermen wanting to join in the challenge.

The 37^th Annual USVI Open “Boy Scout” Tournament – St. Thomas, VI - Keeps getting better each year!  Anglers on 24 boats released an incredible 159 blue marlin!!  Top Angler was Jon Jennings (7 blue marlin/Revenge), 2^nd place was Ryan Baldwin (6 blue marlin/No Excuse), 3^rd was Humberto Danato (5 blue marlin/Amirita).  Top Boat was Revenge (12 blue marlin/Capt. Mike Lemon), the 2^nd place boat Mr. B II (8 blue marlin/Capt. Rick Ogle) and in 3^rd place was No Excuse (8 blue marlin/Capt. Tony DeMoya).  Top Female Angler was Lisa Kettenacker on J.A.C.S. (4 blue marlin/Capt. Ed Yannetty).  Top Local Boat was Marlin Prince (5 blue marlin/Capt. Eddie Morrison).

Then the September Moon came along and became one of the best moon periods in North Drop History!  Here are the numbers:  439 blue marlin released + 3 whites, 1 sail and 1 spearfish.  The captains reported 715 blue marlin bites.  68 fish were raised with no bite.  There were a total of 167 boat days or an average of 10.4 boats fishing per day over the full moon period.  Captains and boat owners – we recommend that you get your dock reservations in for the 2010 season!  Mike Falk of AYH (marina) will be joining us in our booth at the Big Game Room to help you with your summer dockage needs.

Financial Disclosure:  With the help of sponsor contributions and a successful “Boy Scout” Tournament (thank you anglers and crews!) … we were able to hand over $75,000 to the VI Council, Boy Scouts of America.  We also funded the second year of the MVP’s scuba program and many of the kids are going on to advance dive training.  ON THE EDGE (our tournament magazine) is holding its own and is actually showing a small profit from ad sales.  Nice, we are at the point of receiving free tournament promotion with a zero drain on the Scouts income!  Considering the state of the economy, we are doing very well! 

What’s coming in 2010?

• First project up is the 4^th edition of ON THE EDGE.  We are upping the printing by 5,000 copies and increasing the distribution outlets to 100.  Our writers are busy putting the finishing touches on their articles and soon we will be wrapping up this year’s ad sales (please keep’em coming until the Jan. 15^th cutoff!).  The magazine will first be viewed by those who attend the 2010 Big Game Room.  To  view the 2009 version go online to www.abmt.vi/pages/otedirective.htm

• We’ll start the MVP kids off with a new sailing program in mid-January.  Those who graduated the PADI certification course will now learn to sail a J-24.  At the same time, we’ll also begin a dive course for those who have turned 14 years old.

• Then we move on to the Big Game Room at the Miami Intl. Boat Show.  Again, the date is Feb. 11-15^th.  If you haven’t yet seen it - you are missing out on a lot of fun and it is probably the best networking opportunity in the sport.  Thousands of fishermen come through and anything that is new is seen there.  Speaking of new… The new Flats Room is expected to become a big hit!  We encourage those doing business in that segment of the industry to contact Joanne Zito jzito@nmma.org or 954-441-3229 for info.  The folks at Hell’s Bay are also helping to help pull this project together.

• Bermuda Triangle Series: Bahamas Open – TBA soon. Bermuda Open - June 28, 29, 30.  US Virgin Islands Open - Aug. 21, 22, 23, 25.   For our Bermuda friends we are also holding a 2 day “Heavy Hitters” winner takes the pot slug fest on June 29 and 30.  See info under our “Bermuda: button at www.abmt.vi/pages/bermuda.htm.  The last leg of the BTS is always held inside or the ABMT “Boy Scout” Tournament (Aug. 21-25).

• Spanish Main Series:  First leg: Cap Cana, DR (June 2, 3, 4, 6).  Held inside of with Rick Alvarez’s DR event.  Second leg: Virgin Islands Open - Aug. 21-25.  Third leg:  BVI Open – Anegada/Virgin Gorda date TBA soon.

• 38^th Annual - ABMT “Boy Scout” Tournament – USVI Open – Fishing days: Aug. 21, 22, 23, 25.