"We had a good morning, catching four wahoo in rapid fire by 9 a.m., all while high-speed trolling," Walt Basnight told All At Sea after last year's Wahoo Windup. His crew aboard the Calypso 40 Gypsy King had already lost sunglasses, a raincoat and the GPS. They worked the edge of the South Drop on the batteries of three cell phones, and his third fish of the day, a 44.4-pounder, won Top Angler.
The other number from that Sunday says more about how the tournament now works. The Best Boat award, decided by the most wahoo by count, went to Miss Lucy for ten fish. Since July 25, 2025, ten wahoo per vessel per day has been the federal recreational limit in federal waters around St. Thomas and St. John. The Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club brings the Windup back to IGY's American Yacht Harbor on Sunday, Nov. 15.
Ten Fish Is Now the Ceiling
NOAA Fisheries' Amendment 3 covers dolphinfish and wahoo in U.S. Caribbean federal waters. For wahoo it sets a 32-inch fork-length minimum. Around St. Croix and St. Thomas/St. John, the recreational limit is two wahoo per person or ten per vessel per day, whichever is less. The agency's summary of the rule says the size limit gives undersized fish time to mature and reproduce, and it describes the bag limits as a precaution against overfishing.
The limit took effect in late July 2025, and the Windup ran that November, so the 2025 edition was the first held under it. The two-per-person cap means a boat needs at least five anglers aboard to reach the ten-fish vessel number. Miss Lucy's winning crew had seven people in its photo, and the boat finished with exactly ten wahoo.
For a prize decided by count, that limit sets a top number. A boat fishing federal waters can keep no more than ten wahoo in a day, and in 2025 the winning boat kept ten.
Two Years on the Scale
The last two Windups, one held before the federal limit and one after, are below.
| 2024 Windup | 2025 Windup | |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 | Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025 |
| Top angler | Enzo Newhard, 60.71 lb | Walt Basnight, 44.4 lb |
| Second | A.J. Cabrera, 53.5 lb | KJ Terry, Double Header II, 37.8 lb |
| Third | Lauren Gewinner, 37.0 lb | Matthew Laban, Double Header I, 37.6 lb |
| Best boat | Double Header, 5 wahoo, 129.1 lb | Miss Lucy, 10 wahoo, 190.8 lb |
The Virgin Islands Daily News covered 2024. That year's top fish outweighed 2025's by more than 16 pounds. Double Header's five wahoo in 2024 averaged about 25.8 pounds each. Miss Lucy's ten in 2025 averaged about 19.1 pounds. The whole 2025 field, 15 boats from St. Thomas and St. Croix, brought in 46 wahoo weighing 838.1 pounds, which works out to roughly 18.2 pounds a fish.
Best Boat went by count in both years. Five fish won it in 2024. A year later, the first Windup under the federal limit took ten, the most a boat can keep in a day in federal waters.
What the 2026 Scoreboard Pays For
The club's 2026 tournament page lists cash prizes for the first, second and third largest wahoo, a Best Boat prize and additional prizes. According to the announcement in the St. Thomas Source, the three largest-wahoo prizes go by weight, with length breaking any tie. The boat pool is sold at Neptune Fishing Supplies, which also sponsors the tournament.
The same Nov. 5 announcement says historical records place October and November among the peak wahoo months. Recent charter catches out of Red Hook fit that pattern. An Oct. 22, 2026 trip logged one wahoo alongside three blackfin tuna, three mahi-mahi and two barracuda.
In 2025, DPNR's Fish & Wildlife staff ran the official weigh-in. DPNR's fisher resources page states that recreational catch may not be sold, bartered or traded.
The Weekend at American Yacht Harbor
The Windup is the second half of a two-day program at the marina. The first day belongs to kids.
- Friday, Nov. 13, 6:30 p.m. Captains' meeting at the club's Red Hook clubhouse.
- Saturday, Nov. 14. The VIGFC Annual Kids Fishing Tournament at American Yacht Harbor is free, and the club provides a handline, food and drinks. Registration is through the club's tournament page.
- Sunday, Nov. 15, 6 a.m. Lines in for the Wahoo Windup.
- Sunday, 4 p.m. Boats must be back at American Yacht Harbor Marina.
- Sunday, 5 p.m. Awards ceremony at American Yacht Harbor, with food and drinks provided.
The club takes questions at 340.775.9144, 340.201.4999 or [email protected].
Kelvin Bailey Jr., president of the club's board, described last year's turnout to All At Sea: "Despite the forecast, the quantity of boats and the quantity of fish caught brought out great camaraderie and sportsmanship in all participants."
A Club That Started With Marlin
The tournament's marina roots go back decades. According to the club's own history, it bought a parcel overlooking Lagoon Marina, the harbor now called American Yacht Harbor. It built a three-story clubhouse there and occupies the second floor. The same history traces North Drop marlin fishing to early 1960 and four captains: Johnny Harms, Jerry Black, Mike Benitez and Jimmy Loveland.
The blue marlin and wahoo fishing those captains opened up still runs through Red Hook. At Neptune Fishing Supplies, at 6100 Quarters, Suite 7, the shop describes its rigging for wahoo, blue marlin and bottom fishing. The club's recent event archive also lists a Dolphin Derby and a Billfish Shootout alongside the kids' tournament and the Windup. Over the years the calendar has spread from marlin to other fish, and since 2025 the wahoo tournament has run under the federal size and bag limits.
This post reports the federal and territorial fishing rules as published and is general information, not legal advice. Anglers should check the current rules for their own trip with NOAA Fisheries or DPNR.
Our team lives and works on these waters too. If a fall weekend in Red Hook has you thinking about a place closer to the North Drop, Tropical Properties VI can tell you which East End and St. John properties put a marina within easy reach. Browse Properties.
