Led by Capt. Alex Mansur, the team fishing aboardTaraled this year’s Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup from start to finish. Along the way, the anglers released four blue marlin, two white marlin and five sailfish to walk away with first-place honors in this year’s ninth-annual event. This year was also a record-breaker, with the 16-boat fleet releasing a total of 109 billfish this year. This tops the previous event record, which was set in 2014. The fishing action continues to shine off this southern Caribbean nation.
In image: Winning team Tara
In second place was Eric Mansur’sAlinateam with 2,000 points. Mansur’s son Christian was the second-place angler in the Eagle Claw Grand Champion Angler Division with two white marlin releases. The team aboardWatasheeplaced third overall in the team division with 2,000 points.
In image: Second place team Alina
The winner of the Eagle Claw Grand Champion Angler was Garrick Robles. Fishing aboardTara, Robles scored 1,700 points. Rudolpho Ras was the third-place angler with 1,200 points, fishing onOla. For the tournament there were 109 billfish releases: 13 blue marlin, 22 white marlin and 74 sailfish, all on 30-pound test line and non-offset circle hooks. As previously mentioned, this marks an all-time tournament record for the Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup.
This event has become one of the most prestigious billfishing events in the Caribbean, thanks to the tremendous support from the people of Aruba and the tournament sponsors which included Budget Marine, Rule pumps, and the Aruba Tourist Board. The event offered its participating teams a full three days of fishing followed by afternoon cocktail parties. As with all Presidential Challenge events, the Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup provides financial support to the many conservation projects currently underway by The Billfish Foundation.
2018 Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup Final Results
1ST PLACE TEAM:TARA– 2900 PTS
2ND PLACE TEAM:ALINA –2000 PTS
3RD PLACE TEAM:WATASHEE –2000 PTS
1ST PLACE ANGLER: GARRICK ROBLES – 1700 PTS
2ND PLACE ANGLER: CHRISTIAN MANSUR – 1200 PTS
3RD PLACE ANGLER: RUDOLPHO RAS – 1200 PTS
