Sweet victory for Sweet Candy II in SFA’s 21st Mahi derby

It was a lucky maiden voyage for the crew of Sweet Candy II as they won the grand prize of $3,000 with their 16.5-lb mahi in the Saipan Fishermen’s Association’s 21st Annual Mahi Fishing Derby last Saturday.

Captain George Moses Sr. and the crew of Sweet Candy II, which is the newer version of their old boat Sweet Candy—including his son Moses Jr. and Tom Tucker—caught the winning mahi on their way back to Saipan on their way back from fishing off the waters of Goat Island.

The veteran fisherman who’s been fishing more than 30 years, said of their catch and eventual win was a “lucky” one because, “there’s a lot of good fishermen.” The fight for the winning mahi lasted for about 10 minutes.

He told his friend Tucker, who flew in from North Carolina just for this derby, that he would catch a marlin for him—which he did—and with the win, Moses said they were “overjoyed.”

The second and third place entries had mahi of the same weight, but second place went to the fish that was brought in first.

Marcelino T., captained by Marcelino Tresenio, landed a 15.9-lb mahi for $2,000, while third place went to Leanna Vae, captained by Elvin Masga, with another 15.9-lb mahi for $1,000. The side bet winner was Team Kanto with their 19.1-lb haul.

The derby saw 33 boats race off from the Smiling Cove Marina to try and catch the biggest mahi from 6am to 5pm.

The derby’s solicitation chair Curtis Dancoe said, “We want to thank everybody for coming out… we had 33 boats that participated and also had a couple boats from Tinian that came out. It was a beautiful day and had a successful event—not as much fish as we’d expected it to be, but all in all, it was a safe event and we were happy to end this event with a positive note.”

The weather and water, he said, “was beautiful. I had a chance to go out and it was just gorgeous. Just beautiful conditions and optimal and everybody had a great time. A lot of the boaters enjoyed themselves and we’re just happy to have everybody back safe.”

With their 21st year of the derby, he said, “we pretty much have a very close fishing community. It’s pretty automatic when it’s time for fishing with everybody coming out... A lot of camaraderie in these events that we hold. It’s always increasing every year so we’re appreciative.”

The main sponsor for this derby was Budweiser, and Dancoeextended their thanks, saying, “We really appreciate the generosity that they provide to our fishermen and fisherwomen.”

Future SFA events include the 41st Annual SFA International Fishing Tournament on July 12-13. For Fishermen’s Week at the end of May to the first week of June includes the Fishermen’s Swap Meet. Then in September is the Elijah Craig Billfish Classic.