Writer John Hemingway Joins “Makin It Happen” Team
Papa Hemingway and Grandson
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Alice Town, Bimini, BAHAMAS - The Bimini Big
Game Club Resort & Marina today announced that there will be a Hemingway
fishing in their Wahoo Smackdown II Tournament scheduled for February 21-23.
John Hemingway, grandson of the world-renown author Ernest
Hemingway, next month will be trolling the same Gulf Stream waters as his
famous grandfather, whose fishing exploits aboard his beloved “Pilar” helped
put this tiny Bahamas out island on the global map in the 1930s.
Ernest Hemingway was an early apostle to the Bimini
experience in the 1930s, where he drank, brawled and wrote his way through
several fishing seasons, traveling back and forth between home in Key West and
his beloved “Island in the Stream”. His
creative workshop was the Compleat Angler and his characterizations came from a
world populated by giant blue marlin, bluefin tuna and schools of sharks almost
too large to count. With his literary
acclaim and sporting prowess, Hemingway, together with countless other kindred
spirits, established Bimini as the Big Game Fishing Capital of the World—home
today to some 50 world record catches and counting.
John Hemingway and Big Game Club General Manager Michael Weber
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On assignment for Sport Fishing Magazine, the 52-year-old
writer from Montreal will be fishing with Captain Alexander Jiminez of Miami
and aboard the 33’ Contender “Makin It Happen”. As a follow to the tournament,
he will essay the history of big game fishing in Bimini.
John Hemingway is an American author from Miami, whose
critically acclaimed memoir
Strange Tribe
examines the similarities and the complex relationship between his father Dr.
Gregory Hemingway and his grandfather, Nobel Laureate Ernest Hemingway.
John Hemingway Bonefishing in Bimini
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John has visited Bimini, the setting for his grandfather’s
posthumous novel “Islands in the Stream”, countless times. His parents first
took him to the island when he was a newborn and his childhood was spent
fishing in the Gulf Stream with his father for Marlin and Wahoo and “everything
else that you could and can still catch in those waters.”
As a young man he moved to Milan, Italy in 1983, where he
taught English and worked as a translator while pursuing creative writing. His
articles and short stories have appeared in American, Italian and Spanish
newspapers and reviews. His short story
Uncle Gus was the featured piece for the
re-launch of the Saturday Evening Post.
After leaving Italy in 2006 and spending a year in Spain,
John now lives with his two children in Montreal, Canada.
“This is a real coup for us,” said Tournament Director
Captain Paul Cameron. “Imagine being able
to brag that you actually fished with a Hemingway, and in Bimini, of all
places.
Cameron said “Makin It Happen”, which has taken advantage of
the Big Game Club’s seasonal marina rates, is looking for some heavy
competition in February.
“This past November we had some 60 anglers competing for
more than $30,000 in cash and prizes,” he said.
“Lots of action during the tournament with nearly a ton and a half of
fish landed.”
The entry fee for the Wahoo Smackdown II (which includes four anglers per boat) is an
affordable $1,250. First place prize is
$5,000, followed by $1,500 for second and $1,000 for third.
Playboy Playmate Shawn Dillon, Miss February 2013, will also
be on hand on Saturday, February 23rd, helping with the final
weigh-ins, presenting trophies and posing for pictures and signing autographs
for participating teams.
For information regarding the next Wahoo tournament and to
register online, please go to http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/big-game-tournament.htm
or call (800) 867-4767.
About The Bimini Big Game Club Resort & Marina
The Bimini Big Game Club, a legendary outpost for fishermen
and host to numerous major sportfishing tournaments for more than half a century,
officially re-opened in 2010 following completion of a $3,500,000 renovation
that included all guest rooms and the new Bimini Big Game Bar & Grill. More
recently owners have added the Gulfstream Conference Center and Hemingway’s Rum
Bar & Social Lounge, a fully outfitted watersports facility and a floating
dock to accommodate seaplane service directly to and from the resort. For
information on the Big Game Club Resort and Marina go to www.biggameclubbimini.com
About Wahoo (Scombridau Family; also called ONO fish,
Pacific kingfish)
The wahoo can be found worldwide in tropical and warm
temperate seas. Pelagic and seasonally
migratory, the wahoo tends to be a loner or travel in small groups of 2 to 6
fish. There are indications of seasonal
concentrations off the Pacific coasts of Panama, Costa Rica and Baja California
in the summer, off Grand Cayman (Atlantic) in the winter and spring, and off
the western Bahamas and Bermuda in the spring and fall. It is found around wrecks and reefs where
smaller fish that it feeds upon are abundant, but it also may be found far out
at sea. The wahoo is reputed to be one
of the fastest fish in the sea, attaining speeds of 50 mph (80 km) and
more. The first scorching run may peel
off several hundred yards of line in seconds.
Occasionally this fish jumps on the strike and often shakes its head
violently when hooked in an effort to free itself. Fishing methods include trolling with whole,
rigged baits as well as with trip baits or artificial lures. Live bait fishing and kite fishing are
productive. The wahoo’s flesh is finely
grained and sweet and is considered excellent eating. The current all tackle
world record for wahoo is 184 lbs.