Bermuda Triple Crown Billfish Championship

Each July, the island hooks big-time anglers with the Bermuda Triple Crown Billfish Championship. It's a series of three fishing competitions happening in concert with the higher-stakes Blue Marlin World Cup. (The World Cup has been won in Bermuda several times.) The Triple Crown celebrates the top-performing boats, crews and anglers of the Bermuda billfish season. The championship encompasses nine days of fishing during three major Bermuda-based billfish tournaments with the points earned at each event following the boat, crew and anglers.

The three contests – the Bermuda Billfish Blast, the Bermuda Big Game Classic and the Seahorse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament – boast hefty cash purses, increasing the appeal and the stakes. Parties and other events take place during the contest, too. See tournament rules. 

Bermuda Billfish Release Cup

The Bermuda Billfish Release Cup tournament starts the Bermuda billfish season with a fun, family-oriented, all-release billfish tournament that also features a separate game-fish tournament division. Teams can enter the billfish division, game-fish division or both, and compete for cash and prizes and a chance to go to the Offshore World Championship.

The Bermuda Billfish Blast is the first leg of the Bermuda Triple Crown Billfish Championship. This tournament is designed to provide a fun Bermuda competition that works in concert with the Blue Marlin World Cup. The World Cup has been won in Bermuda six times by anglers who landed a 1,195-pound and 1,189-pound marlin, the two largest fish ever caught in the tournament's history. Boats fishing the Blast compete for cash and prizes while earning valuable points toward the championship. Throw in a World Cup entry and you will have a real shot at big money. 

The Bermuda Big Game Classic is the centerpiece of the Bermuda Triple Crown Billfish Championship. Teams fishing in the Classic earn points in the Triple Crown and compete for the largest purse in the championship. You'll also find nightly parties, discounted fuel and a lively crowd. 

The final part of the Triple Crown, the Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament has a hefty purse. After the points are tallied, the top-scoring boat crew and anglers score an awards package, including coveted Bermuda Triple Crown Championship rings.

Why is Bermuda the perfect place for the Bermuda Triple Crown Billfish Championship? Because its waters teem with three species of great size, power and mystique: marlin, tuna and wahoo. Anglers who come to the island will find all of them just a short run offshore.

The island is perhaps best known for blue marlin – a powerful billfish that can grow to huge proportions. In May 2012, Rich Davies landed a 1,289-pounder while fishing the southeast side of Argus Bank. And in 1995, a 1,352-pounder was caught. Marlin have been reeled in every month of the year in Bermuda, but the fishing is generally best during summer, when the water warms up to at least 80 degrees.

Yellowfin tuna are also plentiful here, though they rarely get bigger than 200 pounds.

Another top Bermuda catch: wahoo. Strong and fast thanks to their torpedo-shaped bodies, these fish are tough to hook. But you’ll be rewarded for catching up with them, since they're among the tastiest seafood on the island. Get a few fillets for the grill and don’t miss Bermuda’s popular wahoo nuggets, which are served at several island restaurants, including the aptly named Wahoo's Bistro & Patio.