The 25th annual World Cup Blue Marlin Championship (World Cup) was won with an 865 pound blue marlin taken at Bermuda on July 4, 2009. The huge marlin was landed by 17 year old Stefan Olson, a Bermuda native. He was fishing aboard the WOUND UP with Captain James Robinson. It was the 6th time in the 25 year history of the World Cup that the winning marlin was landed in Bermuda. That ties Kona, Hawaii as the winning est location for the international tournament.
The World Cup is unique in that it is the only tournament where anglers can fish anywhere in the world for eight hours in their time zone. The angler with the largest blue marlin over 500 pounds is the champion. There is no second place. The payout for the 865 pound blue was over $340,000.
On July 4 there were 142 teams fishing 17 countries and territories around the globe Teams register on the World Cup web site with a credit card and report their catches by phone to World Cup headquarters in Ft Lauderdale, Florida. Fishing actually starts during the afternoon of July 3rd by Florida time since locations such as Australia, Fiji and Vanuatu in the Pacific are a day ahead of the US east coast. The last teams to fish are in Kona, Hawaii where the 4:30 PM lines out time, is 10:30 PM in Florida.
The first qualifying marlin was landed aboard the HAWK EYE by angler Peter Tallbert fishing in Madeira, an island off Portugal. His fish weighed 595 pounds. Nobody could top that leading fish until Olson boosted the mark with his 865 pound blue.
A fleet of 49 boats started fishing in Kona as the Bermuda boats were winding up for the day. They knew in order to win the World Cup they needed a fish larger than 865. Only one team, fishing on PACIFIC BLUE, would come close. Angler Che Garcia with Captain Bill Casey put a very large marlin in the boat late in the day and headed for the scales. It would top out at 827 pounds missing the leading fish by just 38 pounds. Only then, past midnight in Bermuda, could the celebration officially begin.
Tournament Director Mike Leech said fishing this year was slower than normal with very few qualifying fish being reported. The usual marlin hot spots such as Vanuatu, Fiji, Portugal, Angola, Canary Islands, Azores, Cape Verde Islands, Cameroon, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, and the Gulf Of Mexico were mostly silent. Their was an early flurry of action in Madeira, but not the usual big marlin. For many hours it looked like the 595 pound first marlin reported might win the event.
The 2010 World Cup will once again take place on July 4, a Sunday. It will pit country against country in a competition to see who will be the World Cup Blue Marlin Champion. | 
