A message from the BGFA
What's new this year, and what you can expect?
Welcome to this year's International Tournament. It has been a while since we have all fished together competitively and we are grateful and thankful that you and your team are here. If this is your first time in Barbados, welcome and thank you for coming! if you are a regular welcome back!
Some big changes since we last met: COVID 19 being the biggest, has caused many issues with events around the world. Our tournament has been impacted like everything else. Supply issues and delays have caused problems getting equipment serviced and prizes to the island on time. Understandably sponsors have had to cut back their usual commitments and participants have chosen to not yet travel. For these reasons and more we are just happy to have a tournament!
FADS: The government of Barbados has embarked on a FAD program to boost the local fishing sector. These fads have proven vital for catching bait and other pelagics. With the bait comes the Billfish and we are happy to say that Blue Marlin, Sailfish and White Marlin have all been caught and released around them. The FAD coordinates are in the booklet which is available on our website bgfa.profishingtournaments.com (Where you registered)
New Location!
This year we have decided to change our tournament location from Port St Charles to the new and improved Speightstown Jetty. The jetty has undergone extensive repairs and upgrades and we are confident that we can call the jetty and the surrounding areas “Home” for the week. Free berthing from April 5-10th is available at the Jetty. Other options are to anchor in the bay opposite the Jetty (very nice anchorage with access to bars and restaurants etc) or arrange your own private berthing at Port St Charles, Shallow draft or Bridgetown. Tournament control will be at the Jetty so each day you must come there to verify your releases and weigh your fish.
The Jetty is part of the Historic Speightstown and the area has many restaurants & bars as well; grocery store, bakery, gas station, fast food options, pharmacy, post office, accommodation options etc. At present the jetty only has fresh water. Unfortunately no shore power is available.
Our ideal situation would be to have international boats occupy the spaces at the jetty first. Then any left over space, local boats will come and fill in. We estimate the jetty can hold comfortably and safely 20 boats. We have put down limited moorings at the jetty to allow you to come in stern to dock. While this is not ideal for some and we understand not everyone is confident in mooring their boats this way we are happy to allow boats to anchor / stay wherever they want.
We want to make one thing clear. This year's tournament is about fishing. There are no social activities planned. We will have a captain’s briefing meeting and prize giving in the open air space at the jetty. The FADs have been hot, a lot of blue marlin are around them and we anticipate that the fishing will be great. Our website keeps track of scores real time and is updated every minute. You can follow along on your phone while fishing!
Thanks again for joining us this year, things may look a bit different but the concept is still the same. Let's just go fishing!
Tight lines
BGFA COM
