Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:

MONTEGO BAY Yacht Club's reigning canoe champions, Donovan and Dwight Hyman, were toppled from their throne on Wednesday when fisherman Radcliffe Gayle stole the show with a close to 100-pound haul.

After a slow day at sea, the Hyman's canoe, Sea Lion, was one of only five to return with enough catch to be in contention for the prize.

With no canoe catching marlin, the judges were forced to use the non-bill fish ruling to determine the winners.

Bad day for marlin

"Nobody caught a marlin, so we weighed non-bill fish to establish the winner," explained member of the Montego Bay Yacht Club planning committee, Kathy Charley. "It was a bad day for marlin, but a good day for non-bill fish."

First-place winner Gayle topped his fellow boatmen with a catch of 98.5 pounds, 58.5 more than his nearest competitor. Second-place went to the Hyman brothers and third to Linvol Clarke.

Pleased with his performance, Gayle, who has automatically qualified for the Port Antonio Marlin Tournament later this year, said his victory was long in coming.

Good feeling

"Fishing is my living and I approach it seriously," Gayle said. "The last two tournaments I attended were the Montego Bay and Port Antonio fishing tournaments. I placed second in both of them, and I have always looked forward to coming first.

"It is really a good feeling winning this tournament and I look forward to going to Port Antonio because it is so much fun going to Port Antonio on the sea and fishing in Portland."

Gayle walked away with a cash prize of $25,000 courtesy of Sanotogen Tonic Wine, entry into the Port Antonio Marlin Tourna-ment and fishing gear from Sea Supply.

The second and third- place winners received gift baskets from Sanotogen Tonic Wine and fishing gear from Sea Supplies.