08-06-2013, 05:10 AM
The thirteenth annual Bisbee Offshore tournament - July 23 to 27 - is in the books with near perfect weather and what was described by Tournament Director Wayne Bisbee as a "killer week of fishing." The international field of 70 teams - one from Sidney, Australia - was composed of 391 anglers aboard everything from small outboard-powered pangas to 80-foot custom sportfishers, all hoping to capture a piece of the $638,000 jackpot, the largest in the history of the East Cape Offshore.
A twist for the 2013 event was the Titan, a 57-foot Beneteau sailboat, entered across the board in all optional jackpots challenging the fuel-powered with wind power - a first in the ECO's history.
Qualifiers in the hunt were blue and black marlin weighing at least 300 pounds or tuna and dorado exceeding the 40- and 30-pound minimum weights, respectively, or even successfully released smaller billfish.
The first day belonged to the dorado as the tuna and billfish division failed to qualify. There were 58 billfish released that first day.
Three qualifying dorado were brought to the scale. Oso Loco's angler Jesus Corona's 44.6-pounder received $24,225.
The "dailys" for tuna and billfish rolled over to the second day, increasing the possible winnings to $49,300 for yellowfin tuna and $277,950 for billfish.
On the second day, billfish numbers climbed to 73, but dorado numbers remained static at five.
Yellowfin numbers increased to one, when La Hielera arrived at the weigh-station mid-afternoon with a 192-pound beast landed by Chucky Van Wormer, past winner and partner in Van Wormer Properties.
Taking nearly four hours to land on 50-pound-test line and 100-pound leader, the huge yellowfin had inhaled a live caballito and earned Van Wormer top tuna honors, along with the first two days' jackpot money for the largest total payout of the event, $63,150.
Five qualifying dorado also arrived the second day with Ray Donovan aboard 19's Toy receiving $24,225 for his dorado, the top second day catch in the gamefish division weighing 46.6 pounds.
The final day was filled with tension. Not only had the "dailys" in the billfish division climbed to $461,000 for a team entered in all the optional cash categories, but the question remained: would there be a second year without a qualifying billfish.
The dorado division had produced 25 confirmed catches, 2-1/2 times the previous two-day total. Jerald Roberts, on Hot Rod, scored the largest dorado, a big bull at 47.8 pounds. By taking the overall dorado title and adding the last day's jackpot, the team won $38,925.
The confirmed yellowfin tuna total catch was 11. High Life topped the daily tuna category with a 146-pound yellowfin caught by angler Mike Reiner, earning $24,225.
At 4 p.m., the "lines out" deadline passed and there still had not been a qualifying billfish brought to the scale.
Then at 5:50, the Eclipse 91, a 29-foot Phoenix in the Hotel Buena Vista Resort charter fleet, arrived with a large tail clearly visible in the cockpit. As the fish was hoisted for weighing, participants and bystanders anxiously watched as the weight settled at 337 pounds on the IWS certified scale.
The team from Oregon, "The Hayseeds," gave their Captain, Alejandro Cota, all the credit.
"He never stopped trying, for the entire three days," praised Team Captain Grant James. "The fish ate a live skipjack on a Mustad circle hook and Rodney fought it for 1-1/2 hours on the Penn outfit, with an International Reel mounted on a Tuna Stick provided by Mark Davis with 80-pound Tuf-Line."
"I took my time and hoped I wouldn't lose it," angler Rodney Normand added. This 337-pound winning blue was his first and the only qualifying marlin during the 3-day tournament! The group took all Top Billfish Team Awards with Rodney's catch receiving $44,100.
The awards banquet was held on the beach overlooking the Sea of Cortez in front of the Buena Vista Beach Resort, the host hotel for the 13th year.
In the David Wirth Release Division: Fishing for Business scored 1,900 points by releasing nine striped marlin and one blue. Crank It Up was second with three stripers, two blues, one sailfish and the only black marlin released for the week. One and Only took third-place release team with five striped marlin and three blue marlin. All received beautiful prints from Wirth.
The Costa Top Junior Angler Team title was awarded to13-year-old Spencer Dow, who released three striped marlin; his 15-year-old brother Riley released a striper and weighed in a dorado. Fishing with their grandparents, each received Costa polarized sunglasses.
"Our boat crews work equally hard for the casual once-a-year fisherman on vacation or a big time bluewater tournament angler and we proved it again just as in 2007 when Tres Hermanos won the event," said Axel Valdez of the host Hotel Buena Visa Beach Resort. "Each year our boats are booked way in advance, so if you would like to fish with our winning teams, please contact us soon."
Valdez added, "We also appreciate our tournament sponsors who outfit our fleet with state-of-the-art equipment allowing our boats to be winners." Sponsors were -
"¢ Jeff Pierce - Mustad Hooks USA
"¢ Mark Davis - Host of Big Water Adventures<br />
"¢ Penn Reels and Rods<br />
"¢ Berkley Saltwater Line<br />
"¢ Tuf Braided Lines<br />
"¢ Pelagic Gear
With an eye to the 2014 event, Tournament Director Bisbee proudly noted, "All-in-all we had a killer week of fishing. We just didn't weigh THE fish. However, there were a remarkable 214 billfish released, 36 dorado boated and 12 big tuna! Now that our presenting sponsor Cabo Riviera has expanded their marina, the word is out about the East Cape Offshore. Don't be surprised if this event joins the ranks of the select few million-dollar tournaments in the next year or two."
Winning Marlin Team http://bajafly.com/eclispe.jpg Winning Money team http://bajafly.com/chuckyvanwormer.jpg
A twist for the 2013 event was the Titan, a 57-foot Beneteau sailboat, entered across the board in all optional jackpots challenging the fuel-powered with wind power - a first in the ECO's history.
Qualifiers in the hunt were blue and black marlin weighing at least 300 pounds or tuna and dorado exceeding the 40- and 30-pound minimum weights, respectively, or even successfully released smaller billfish.
The first day belonged to the dorado as the tuna and billfish division failed to qualify. There were 58 billfish released that first day.
Three qualifying dorado were brought to the scale. Oso Loco's angler Jesus Corona's 44.6-pounder received $24,225.
The "dailys" for tuna and billfish rolled over to the second day, increasing the possible winnings to $49,300 for yellowfin tuna and $277,950 for billfish.
On the second day, billfish numbers climbed to 73, but dorado numbers remained static at five.
Yellowfin numbers increased to one, when La Hielera arrived at the weigh-station mid-afternoon with a 192-pound beast landed by Chucky Van Wormer, past winner and partner in Van Wormer Properties.
Taking nearly four hours to land on 50-pound-test line and 100-pound leader, the huge yellowfin had inhaled a live caballito and earned Van Wormer top tuna honors, along with the first two days' jackpot money for the largest total payout of the event, $63,150.
Five qualifying dorado also arrived the second day with Ray Donovan aboard 19's Toy receiving $24,225 for his dorado, the top second day catch in the gamefish division weighing 46.6 pounds.
The final day was filled with tension. Not only had the "dailys" in the billfish division climbed to $461,000 for a team entered in all the optional cash categories, but the question remained: would there be a second year without a qualifying billfish.
The dorado division had produced 25 confirmed catches, 2-1/2 times the previous two-day total. Jerald Roberts, on Hot Rod, scored the largest dorado, a big bull at 47.8 pounds. By taking the overall dorado title and adding the last day's jackpot, the team won $38,925.
The confirmed yellowfin tuna total catch was 11. High Life topped the daily tuna category with a 146-pound yellowfin caught by angler Mike Reiner, earning $24,225.
At 4 p.m., the "lines out" deadline passed and there still had not been a qualifying billfish brought to the scale.
Then at 5:50, the Eclipse 91, a 29-foot Phoenix in the Hotel Buena Vista Resort charter fleet, arrived with a large tail clearly visible in the cockpit. As the fish was hoisted for weighing, participants and bystanders anxiously watched as the weight settled at 337 pounds on the IWS certified scale.
The team from Oregon, "The Hayseeds," gave their Captain, Alejandro Cota, all the credit.
"He never stopped trying, for the entire three days," praised Team Captain Grant James. "The fish ate a live skipjack on a Mustad circle hook and Rodney fought it for 1-1/2 hours on the Penn outfit, with an International Reel mounted on a Tuna Stick provided by Mark Davis with 80-pound Tuf-Line."
"I took my time and hoped I wouldn't lose it," angler Rodney Normand added. This 337-pound winning blue was his first and the only qualifying marlin during the 3-day tournament! The group took all Top Billfish Team Awards with Rodney's catch receiving $44,100.
The awards banquet was held on the beach overlooking the Sea of Cortez in front of the Buena Vista Beach Resort, the host hotel for the 13th year.
In the David Wirth Release Division: Fishing for Business scored 1,900 points by releasing nine striped marlin and one blue. Crank It Up was second with three stripers, two blues, one sailfish and the only black marlin released for the week. One and Only took third-place release team with five striped marlin and three blue marlin. All received beautiful prints from Wirth.
The Costa Top Junior Angler Team title was awarded to13-year-old Spencer Dow, who released three striped marlin; his 15-year-old brother Riley released a striper and weighed in a dorado. Fishing with their grandparents, each received Costa polarized sunglasses.
"Our boat crews work equally hard for the casual once-a-year fisherman on vacation or a big time bluewater tournament angler and we proved it again just as in 2007 when Tres Hermanos won the event," said Axel Valdez of the host Hotel Buena Visa Beach Resort. "Each year our boats are booked way in advance, so if you would like to fish with our winning teams, please contact us soon."
Valdez added, "We also appreciate our tournament sponsors who outfit our fleet with state-of-the-art equipment allowing our boats to be winners." Sponsors were -
"¢ Jeff Pierce - Mustad Hooks USA
"¢ Mark Davis - Host of Big Water Adventures<br />
"¢ Penn Reels and Rods<br />
"¢ Berkley Saltwater Line<br />
"¢ Tuf Braided Lines<br />
"¢ Pelagic Gear
With an eye to the 2014 event, Tournament Director Bisbee proudly noted, "All-in-all we had a killer week of fishing. We just didn't weigh THE fish. However, there were a remarkable 214 billfish released, 36 dorado boated and 12 big tuna! Now that our presenting sponsor Cabo Riviera has expanded their marina, the word is out about the East Cape Offshore. Don't be surprised if this event joins the ranks of the select few million-dollar tournaments in the next year or two."
Winning Marlin Team http://bajafly.com/eclispe.jpg Winning Money team http://bajafly.com/chuckyvanwormer.jpg