Page 3 - Tropic Star Newsletter 2018.indd

Fishing Highlights
December 2017 to February 2018
We opened the 2018 season at Tropic Star Lodge with our annual Billfish tournament. The turnout was exceptional and the competi- tion was fierce. We were very proud that two out of the top three boats were part of our Lodge’s fleet. The results came down to mere minutes as the winner was based on which boat released the fish first. The winners walked away with the top prize of the invitation to fish the Offshore World Championships.
Within the first few weeks of the lodge opening, the rain- bow fleet had already released seven Grand Slams with the offshore
numbers and guests had a hoot taking on the colossal Dorado that we are famous for. Back at the lodge in the afternoon guests com- pared stories over scrumptious dorado fingers and Pina coladas. Our New Years eve bash was great fun. A whole grouper and roast pork were the center of the buffet for good luck. At 10pm we rung in the new year with Champagne and fireworks.
We began to see the bigger Tuna show up after the New Year. The big ones around 200 lb gave the anglers some sore mus- cles to nurse back at the Lodge. In January, the Black Marlin be- came more frequent. Mid-January is when the Black Marlin bite
really turned on and went onto explode the first week of February with one of those fishing runs that Tropic Star is famous for. It didn’t matter if it was the Lodge’s boats or the private sport-fishers fishing the area. Boats raised and released Black Marlin left and right, with quite a few over 500lb.
Guests Greg Yaffa and com- pany joined us for an unforgettable boys’ trip at Tropic Star Lodge. Each of the six newbies in the group caught at least one Marlin, with most catching two to three a piece! They guys also released a few big Sails, boated a giant Tuna of 190 lb and lost a bigger one right at the boat. Their fleet caught a gazillion Dorado with one tipping the scales at over 50 lb.
billfish bite going bonkers! The Blue 12-20 miles offshore around the drop-off and some days a little fur- ther out. Black Marlin were released on the shallower side of the shelf and Sailfish popped up in groups in between the Blue and Black Marlin action. The captains and mates were hard at work but loving every mo- ment since flags were flying high. Anglers’ were thrilled as they joined in on all the billfish in action.
December is a festive time at Tropic Star. We have Christmas trees decked around property and the celebratory mood was conta- gious. We enjoyed a great Christ- mas eve with Santa filling every- ones stocking. Even the fish mounts around property were sporting their Christmas hats. Around New Years Day the Dorado arrived in crazy
Marlin hotspots were between
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