No Le Hace Wins Chub Cay Invitational After Late-Window Bite Surge

The winner did not come from the prettiest day on the water. It came from the crew that stayed patient through rough early conditions and kept fishing into the late window, when Chub Cay finally opened up and the leaderboard started moving.

The 6th Annual Chub Cay Invitational, held April 9-11, 2026, drew members only from Chub Cay Resort and Marina, the private Bahamian island community at the southern tip of the Berry Islands with its own deepwater marina and serious offshore access. A stubborn low-pressure system made the start ugly, with heavy winds and rough seas matching the National Weather Service forecast for northeast to east winds of 20 to 25 knots and seas of 7 to 10 feet in northeast swell. But once the front eased and the bite improved, the event turned into a late-stage shootout instead of a grind.

No Le Hace, a 57 Spencer captained by Freddy Vicens, won overall on the strength of Denise McMahan’s four releases. She put up three sailfish and one blue marlin, which was enough to outpace the field under a points system that rewarded 500 points for a blue marlin, 200 for a white marlin and 100 for a sailfish. McMahan also took Top Lady Angler honors. In a format like this, consistency mattered more than one flashy fish, and No Le Hace proved it by stacking points while other teams were still waiting for the window to open.

Invicta, a 44 Contender run by Michael Buxton, finished second after a blue marlin on Day One and an early white marlin on Day Two. Sempre Dura, a 68 Ricky Scarborough owned by Chris Stavola, finished third with a sailfish in the morning and a blue marlin in the afternoon. The order on the board changed quickly once the fish started cooperating, and the boats that held their nerve were the ones that cashed in.

The biggest single fish of the tournament came from a different lane entirely. Rob McCall’s yellowfin tuna aboard Waterline set a new Chub Cay tournament record for the largest gamefish ever recorded, a 140-pound fish that took 5 hours and 20 minutes to land on 40-pound tackle. The tuna was boated at 5:04, won heaviest meatfish, and reportedly came with a 38-pound dolphin to give Waterline a full sweep of the gamefish categories. The rig was equally old-school and precise: a Talica 25, 40-pound main line, 60-pound leader and a 7/0 circle hook on a ballyhoo off the right long outrigger line.

That is the part anglers will remember. When weather softens, the smartest crews do not rush for the dock. They stay set up, keep the baits clean, and wait for the bite that shows up after less disciplined boats have already left. At Chub Cay, that patience paid off in points, and one tuna made the whole tournament look bigger than a billfish shootout.