Although the Reel Steel team has fished plenty of Bermuda events, this was the first time it won the Triple Crown. The team of Capt. Jason Parker, mate Drake Cropper, boat owner Mike Verzaleno, anglers John Cantiverii, Charles Coates, and Kayla and Marc Verzaleno tallied 6,600 points in the series for their 12 blue marlin and three white marlin releases during the course of the three tournament legs.
Team Flyer amassed 6,000 series points for releasing 12 blues—eight of which were caught by angler Mark Woodbury; the third-place series team, the 75-foot Spencer Big Deal, scored 3,700 points.
One white marlin separated first and second place in Leg One—the Bermuda Billfish Blast—with the 66-foot Hines Farley Reel Steel declared the winner for releasing two blues and two whites. Waste Knot, a 67-foot Jarrett Bay, finished second on time, and Auspicious, a Viking 80, finished third, with each team releasing two blues and one white marlin. Reel Steel‘s Marc Verzaleno was named High-Point Junior Angler and was awarded High-Point Angler in the tournament for catching all of the team’s scored fish.
Sea Angel weighed the only big fish for the Blast—a 509-pound blue marlin caught by Austin Angel—after a fight time of one hour and 23 minutes.
In Leg Two—the Bermuda Big Game Classic—the 86-foot Merritt Flyer beat out Reel Steel by one blue marlin for a first-place finish, and Waste Knot once again placed in the top three. Flyer‘s Woodbury caught all but one of his team’s blue marlin and was named High-Point Angler of the event.
Eight blues were weighed in the Classic, including a 697-pounder landed by Jason Friedman aboard Overproof, beating out American Beauty’s previous-day 616-pound contender.
After a short break, the teams battled it out in the Bermuda Sea Horse Anglers Club Tournament for the last leg of the series. Reel Steel won the event with a total of 3,200 points, while Pescador, an 80-foot Bayliss captained by Jeremy Fowler, placed second with 2,900 points, and Flyer finished third with 2,500 points.
Check out our gallery of the boats of the 2019 Bermuda Triple Crown
Fishing aboard Blank Check, Steven Walker weighed the only qualifying blue marlin in the Sea Horse—a 666-pounder—winning his team the Largest Blue Marlin Jackpot as well as all three daily Largest Blue Marlin jackpots. Meanwhile, Reel Steel‘s superstar angler, Marc Verzaleno, once again proved his position on deck by winning the High-Point Junior and High-Point Angler awards with his 2,700 points.
