The Bimini Sands Lionfish Bash was set up as a fun, family spearfishing tournament that was aimed at helping Bimini's marine ecosystem by removing as many invasive Lionfish as possible. Not only that, but it was a charity event as well, with all profits from the tournament and related activities going to the Jackson Memorial Paramedical Trust in honor of our friend Woody Beckham.
With 13 boats entered in the Lionfish Bash tournament, we were able to remove a total of 318 lionfish from Bimini's waters in one day!
There were prizes going to the teams with the most lionfish caught, as well as the contestants who snatched up the biggest lionfish, the smallest lionfish, and the biggest lionfish for a Jr. angler.
Our Jr. angler winner was Kaylee Fantis, from the boat Extra Expense, who caught a lionfish weighing 12.65 oz.
The winner of the prize for Smallest Lionfish Caught was Charles Slick, from the boat Bloody Bill, who was able to grab a lionfish weighing just 0.05 oz.
The angler who brought back the Biggest Lionfish Caught was Jim Barley, from South Bimini's SharkLab, who hauled in a huge 31.30 oz lionfish.
Prizes were then awarded for the Most Lionfish Caught, and the second-most Lionfish Caught.
Our 2nd Place prize went to the Mills Family on the boat Extra Expense, who brought back an incredible 110 lionfish!
And the Grand Prize winners of the first annual Bimini Sands Lionfish Bash was the team from the SharkLab, who brought back a whopping 153 lionfish!!!
We finished the tournament with a fantastic awards dinner down at the Bimini Twist restaurant, where the honoree of the Lionfish Bash, Woody Beckham, thanked all of the incredible donors and sponsors who helped make this event such a wonderful success. In addition to slaying over 300 of the harmfully invasive lionfish, we were also able to raise over $15,000 for the Woody Foundation and their charity of choice, the Jackson Memorial Paramedical Trust.
A HUGE thank you goes out to all of the wonderful individuals and companies who sponsored this event and made it the enormous success that it was. Please support these generous people to thank them for their generosity:
Sir Galloway Cleaners
Bonefish Ebbie David
Bimini Undersea
Bimini Healing Arts
Divers Direct
Hammerhead Spearguns
A-Plus Marine Supply
Natalie's Bread - Bimini Craft Centre
Adventure Sports Miami
McNett Sea Drops
Neckz
Titanic Restaurant & Brewery
The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism
And the Bimini Sands Resort & Marina
All in all, the Bimini Sands Lionfish Bash was a wonderfully fun and positive event, and we can't wait to do it again next year!!
