Junior anglers catch fish, fun and prizes at club’s annual kid’s fishing tournament

CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Mere minutes before the Noon line’s out time in the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s Annual Kid’s Fishing Tournament, held on Saturday, October 5, 13-year-old Earl Questel came running to the weigh-station set up at IGY’s American Yacht Harbor Marina, in Red Hook. Wow, Questel caught a whopper!

Professionals from the Department of Planning & Natural Resources (DPNR) Fish & Wildlife Division weighed in the Tarpon at 3690-grams (8.1 pounds). “It was there swimming in a school by the dock,” says Questel, who earned first place in the tournament for the biggest fish by weight. “It came to my bait, and I caught it.”

Questel was one of 165 anglers ages 14 years and younger who competed in this annual event hosted by the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club. The tournament was free to junior anglers and promoted the sport and life skills of recreational fishing and catch-and-release conservation.