Bluefin tuna tourney brings in big fish

Isaac Molt on his boat Redemption was still the leader of the weeklong Casco Bay Bluefin Bonanza tuna fishing tournament based in South Portland by Wednesday afternoon.

Molt brought in a 635-pound bluefin on Monday evening. There was no fishing Tuesday, but it resumed Wednesday and weigh-ins will end at 11 p.m. Thursday at Port Harbor Marine before the winner is announced.

Last year’s winning fish at 756 pounds was brought in by Joey Pinkham on his boat My Three Blondes.

The winner can come down to the wire. In 2020, the top five positions changed four times in the last two hours, organizer Bob Humphrey said Wednesday.

Humphrey has been running the tournament with his wife Jane since 2019 to raise scholarship money for students enrolled in trades at any of Maine’s seven community college campuses. They offered seven scholarships the first year, and that grew to 14 in 2023.

The tournament’s educational scope has expanded as well. It now offers internships and cooperates with University of Maine System researchers. The scientists save the stomachs and brains of the fish for research purposes.

The whole fish is weighed before any parts are removed, Bob Humphrey said.

“We are trying to build a better, stronger community,” said Humphrey, who is an outdoor writer, photographer, certified wildlife biologist, Registered Maine guide and a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captain.

Among the fish brought in this year were 591 pounds by Max Bogdonovich and crew on the Bogesa; 575 pounds by Rusty Parmenter on the Patricia Ann; 576.5 by Erik and Kurt Christensen on the Molly Jane; 565 pounds on the Janessa Lynn, no captain listed; 523.5 pounds by Linda Greenlaw on the Select; and 437.5 pounds by Shawn Moore and crew on the Katelynn A. There were several more in the 400-, 300- and 200-pound ranges as well.

There are no large commercial boats participating in the tournament, only local rod and reel fishermen participating in a sustainable fishery, he said. This year, Bluefin Bonanza teamed up with Bluefin Benefit Battle and 82nd annual Bailey Island Fishing Tournament to offer a grand slam to fishermen who successfully participated in all three benefits.

The catch by the approximately 60 boats taking part in Bonanza is a mix of tuna sizes and not as many as in other years. There were a lot of big ones last year, Humphrey said.

Fish buyers purchase the tuna. The higher quality fish are shipped to Japan, while the smaller ones tend to be sold in the domestic market, he said.

Humphrey hoped Thursday’s weather would be a little kinder to the participating fishermen.

“All of the boats are saying it’s not nice conditions out there. Even the big boats say so,” he said.