Final day of Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament blown out; Sadie Beth wins

GEORGETOWN — The presence of a tropical system in the Atlantic Ocean shortened the Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament to a two-day event with Saturday’s final day canceled because of small craft warnings.

South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series contestants are allowed to fish two out of three days, and because of the tropical threat, virtually all of the participants did their fishing on Thursday and Friday.

Sadie Beth out of Charleston, owned by Gage Blue and captained by Howard Moseley, was the winner with 1,600 total points. Sadie Beth released five sailfish (1,000 points) and two white marlin (600).

Another Charleston boat, Benchmark, which is owned by Stephen Davis and captained by Bobby Garmany, finished second with 1,500 points for releasing two blue marlin (1,200) and one white marlin (300).

Daymaker out of Georgetown Landing Marina, owned by Mark Davis and captained by Jay Weaver, was third with 1,200 points for a blue marlin (600) and two white marlin (300).

The non-billfish category winners were: dolphin — Bob Faith, Caramba, 44.8 pounds; wahoo — Rhett Spencer, Big Kahuna, 61.0 pounds; and tuna — Kenneth Tucker, Christy II, 17.6-pound blackfin.

The participants released 41 billfish (15 blue marlin, 16 white marlin and 10 sailfish) during the tournament and brought in one blue marlin which was over the federal minimum size limit but one inch short of the Governor’s Cup 105-inch minimum.