2007 RESULTS

The 2007 Downeast Maine Shark Tournament saw 36 teams of shark fishing fanatics tackle five to seven foot seas in the Gulf of Maine on August 24th and 25th, in search of monster sharks. Several smaller boats that had planned to fish the event depending on the weather opted to say inshore when the marine forecast was clearly not ideal by the time the Captain’s dinner rolled around. I can relate to these land lubbers, as
I decided living to see next years event should trump my desire to fish
in this year’s event so my 22 foot Trophy never left the dock on
either of the fishing days.

However, I cannot express enough gratitude to those hard core anglers
with bigger boats and bigger kahunas than me that did get out there and
apply the chum. Although most of the chum slicks were sweetened with
vomit on both days, these guys fished it hard and eight large male blue
sharks and one large male mako shark were brought to the weigh-in at
Camp Ellis Pier in Saco during the two day event. We also had an
excellent team of researchers from the Marine Science Center at the
University of New England utilizing these sharks after they were weighed in.

Lead by Dr. James Sulikowski, the research team not only collected

blood and tissue from these sharks for further study, but also provided a

learning environment for the hundreds of people who came by Camp Ellis to see the sharks weighed in. The research team graciously explained a lot of shark anatomy and physiology to the visitors, and encouraged people especially children to ask any questions that they might have about sharks.

This was also the first year we were targeted by animal rights
activists (it was just a matter of time). The protests came in the form
of large, one page ads in local newspapers and an airplane flying over
the weigh-ins at Camp Ellis towing a banner that read: END THE CRUEL
SHARK TOURNAMENT NOW !! The protests were funded by the Humane

Society of the United States, in cooperation with the Maine Animal Coalition. You can read my review of the issue of shark overfishing and depletion of some shark species and what seems to be behind it if you check out the ‘Overfishing Sharks’ button on our homepage.

FINAL RESULTS

The first place team this year was "Team Unreel" , captained by Phil Breton and the boys from Wells, Maine. They weighed in a 291 lb blue shark on the first day   (fork length 8' 8.5") and a 359 lb blue shark on the second day (fork length 9'4"), with Phil doing the rod handling on both sharks. This netted them a total of 650 points (blue sharks count 1 point per lb), making them the winner of this year's Downeast Maine Shark
Tournament. They took home two high-end shark fishing outfits (Penn
International 50 VSW reels on Penn International 50-80 lb class rods
with all Aftco rollers, valued at $900 each) and a check for $2,466.00
at the awards ceremony   we had at Mulligans Restaurant and Pub in Biddeford. They also received a very nice customized trophy signifying them as the winner of this years event.

Second place was Jean Baulu and Dick Robichaud’s from team Prime 8

with a 268 lb mako shark   that Dustin Dieghel hooked into on day
two. This mako had a fork length of 7'8", and netted the team 402 total
points (non blue sharks were worth 1.5 pts per lb). These guys are
fantastic fishermen with a great sense of humor. Dick is out of
Westbrook, and Jean seems to be from everywhere, including Barbados.

Third place was Team Relentless, captained by local boy Brad McDonald, with a 397 lb blue shark , thus giving them 397 points total. Mark Labbe was on the rod for Brad’s team and landed this shark. We submitted this fish as a potential new rod and reel record blue shark for the state of Maine (previous record was 391 lbs). In September, Mark was in fact declared the new Maine state rod and reel record holder for blue shark by the Maine State Saltwater Records Committee. For this, THEY RECEIVED A CHECK FOR $10,000 FROM THE DOWNEAST MAINE SHARK TOURNAMENT! As most of you know, a couple weeks later a 450 lb blue shark was landed in the Casco Bay Classic Shark Tournament, so Mark did not reign for long as the new Maine State record holder. This 450 lb blue shark also passed state muster and eventually became the new Maine state record for blue shark caught on rod and reel, replacing Mark’s shark. What a year for big blue sharks!!

Fourth place was Team Isurus , captained by Trevor Walls out of Yarmouth, Maine. Bruce Sawyer was the Team Isurus man on the rod, landing a big blue on day 1 that weighed in at 383 lbs . This shark had a fork length of 9', 1.5" and gave them 383 points.

Fifth place was Team Bonnie Lynne, Captained by Larry Collins 

out of Merrimac, Massachusetts. Larry's crew weighed in a 346 lb blue shark on day 1. This blue had a fork length of 9', 3", and netted them a total of 346 points. Ernest Johnson did the muscle work on this fish.

Sixth place was Team Seagar, captained by Dan Durgin and the boys out of Charlton, Massachusetts. Dan hooked up with a 342 lb blue shark on day 2, which had a fork length of 8', 11"), thus giving them342 points at the weigh in.

Seventh place was Team K+C, captained by Scotty Smith out of Scarborough. Maine. Ron Flint from Scotty's crew landed a 336 lb blue shark  on day 1, which had a fork length of 9'0", giving them 336 points.

Last but not least was Team St. Patrick , led by captain John Murphy Jr. and the boys out of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. John landed and weighed in a nice 332lb blue shark  with a fork length 9', 3" on day 2. This gave

them 332 total points, and eighth place overall in a 36 boat tournament; not bad!

I want to personally thank all of you guys for getting out there in bad
weather and fishing the event this year. As I get to know more and more
of you personally, it is clear that the people fishing this event are
all competitive, talented, and seasoned saltwater fishermen who know how to catch fish. We had a lot of people come to the weigh-in at Camp Ellis this year to see some sharks, and thanks to you guys, they got to see sharks. A special thanks to Dr. James Sulikowski, as these visitors
learned a lot about shark anatomy and physiology thanks to him and his
students. I hope to see everyone of you next year!

YOUTH DIVISION

This year, the Downeast Maine Shark Tournament offered a ‘youth’
category, to allow fishermen to get their sons and daughters involved in
the sport of big game fishing. This was open to any individual who was
17 years of age or younger and fishing on a boat that was registered in
the tournament. The tournament offered $250.00 in cash and a plaque to
individuals in this division who landed and weighed in the heaviest
eligible shark overall (blue shark minimum length of 8.5 feet applied in
the youth division), as well as to the youth who caught and released the
most sharks overall during the tournament.

Unfortunately only a handful of kids registered for the Youth Division
this year. Scott Peacock  from Team Ruth-Less out of Monmouth, Maine

was the only individual who registered in the youth division and submitted the catch and release forms to the tournament after the event. Scott received a check for $250.00 and a nice customized plaque for landing and releasing 3 blue sharks unassisted. Scott fished with his dad Ian, the captain of Team Ruthless. Way to go Scott!! I plan to push this division again this year, and hope to see more kids get involved in the sport of big game fishing.