Cabo Marlin fishing May Tournament update

Finnseeker · 04-15-2008, 08:34 AM

2008 World Championship Billfish Release Tournament – Update April 8, 2008

With just a little over a month to go the interest in the record setting WCBRT event in Cabo San Lucas Mexico has been outstanding! Cabo is considered the Striped Marlin Capital of the World by knowledgeable blue water anglers worldwide. The phenomenal catch rates in the most recent WCBRT events have further peaked the interest from anglers’ world wide to come to Cabo and participate in the WCBRT this May 2008. This tournament was designed by fisherman to be a tournament "For Fishermen by Fishermen".

The WCBRT on May 17 – 21, 2008 is a three-day fishing tournament with an additional one-day Observer fishing tournament on May 21st. This is a 100% catch-and-release, 100% circle hook with live and dead bait tournament. The WCBT is a 2009 IGFA Qualifying event with, so far to date, eleven International countries participating. This challenging and prestigious event, allows teams to compete against many of the top anglers from all over the world.

With the WCBRT dates quickly approaching, the following update will assist you in your tournament preparations. If you need additional information, please do not hesitate to get in contact with the WCBRT office at www.wcbrt.com or at the emails or phone numbers listed in this update sheet.

New Advisor/Committee Members
The WCBRT is pleased to announce the appointment of Captain Steve Lassley of Team Bad Company and Tracy Ehrenberg of Cabo San Lucas Pisces Sportfishing to the WCBRT Committee and Advisory Board. With Capt. Lassley’s many years of professional tournament experience, knowledge both inside and outside the sport fishing industry and Tracy’s years of local knowledge, charters and support with various government organizations, both of these individuals bring valuable experience and expertise to WCBRT events. Steve and Tracy join fellow Committee and Advisory Board members, Ned Wallace of Tiger Spirit, Rick Twamley of Bull Rider and Tom Lansing of Extraction. We thank all of our Committee and Advisors for their valuable support and participation in the WCBRT!

Observers
The observer count is growing, with the last class of thirty-three IGFA observers completing the course that will effectively allow us to have observers on all tournament boats for the WCBRT event. Observer’s rooms and hotels are booked and paid for by the tournament. Box lunches will be supplied each day for each observer. These lunches may be pre-ordered during angler registration on Saturday, May 17th, 2008. The lunches will be ready for pickup each day at the No Worries Bar and Grill Restaurant at 5:30 A.M. Coffee and sweets will be served every morning at this location and all teams are required to pick up their designated observers each day from the No Worries Bar prior to leaving the marina to fish each day.

Observers will be randomly assigned by the WCBRT Committee to different tournament boats each day and NO observer will be guaranteed any particular boat during the WCBRT event.

Airport Transportation
For round-trip transportation to and from the airport to Cabo, the WCBRT is pleased to offer Trans Cabo as the WCBRT transportation partner. If you have not yet secured your transportation reservations, now is the time to do so. Trans Cabo will have transportation waiting for you at San Jose Del Cabo airport with Championship exclusive rates of $ 30.00 USD round trip transfer. If you take a taxi on your own, it will cost you more than $ 80.00 U.S. It is extremely important that you make prior arrangements with Trans Cabo to pick you up at the airport. Due to new Federal regulations, Trans Cabo will only be able to transport those who are pre-registered. They must have the exact number of persons and their names at time of pickup at the airport. Trans Cabo is the premier destination transportation service in the Baja. These transportation professionals will welcome you to Cabo and can meet all your personal transportation needs. For reservations please contact Trans Cabo at 1-866-403-5987 or visit their website at http://transcabo.com/tsys/indexgr.php?gr=rolex

Registration
Saturday, May 17, 2008 from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM, adjacent to the Tesoro Hotel, below the lighthouse at No Worries Bar and Grill Restaurant.

WCBRT Mandatory Captains Meeting & Rules for ALL WCBRT Teams / Team Members.
Saturday 5:00 PM at No Worries Bar and Grill Restaurant.

If you require tackle, fishing licenses or need a boat charter please contact the following -
Minerva’s Baja Tackle: 011 52 624 1431282 / Email: Minerva@minervas.com
Pisces Sportfishing: 011 52 624 1431288 / Email: pisces@piscessportfishing.com

Please keep our great sponsors and partners in mind when you’re making your next purchases: Minerva’s Baja Tackle, Melton’s International Tackle, King Sailfish Mounts, Pisces Sportfishing, Tesoro Hotel, No Worries Bar and Grill, Eagle Claw, Berkley, Pacific Coast Sportfishing, Roffs, Marlin World, Pelagic, QuickRig, The Billfish Foundation, IGFA, Ashwill Associates Commercial Real Estate, Finnseeker Sportfishing, Marlinnut, Los Ninos del Capitain Children’s Charity and Cabo Villas Beach Resorts.

Schedule of Events

Tournament Check-In and Final Registration:

May 17th, 2008
Team Registration 2:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. at No Worry’s Bar.
Observers Briefing 4:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. at No Worry’s Bar.
Mandatory Captains Meeting 5:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M. at No Worry’s Bar.
Cocktails/Snacks will be served 5:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M. at No Worry’s Bar.

Fishing Days:
May 18th
Coffee & Sweets/Muffins served 5:30 A.M. – 6:00 A.M. at No Worry's Bar.
Teams Pick up Observers 6:00 A.M. at No Worries Bar.
7:00 A.M. - Bimini Start 5:00 P.M. - Lines Out.
Cocktails / Food & Tecate Beer Girls 6:30 P.M. – 7:30 P.M. at No Worry's Bar.
May 19th
Coffee & Sweets/Muffins served 5:30 A.M. – 6:00 A.M. at No Worry's Bar.
Teams Pick up Observers 6:00 A.M. at No Worry’s Bar.
7:00 A.M. - Bimini Start 5:00 P.M. - Lines Out.
Cocktails/Food & Tecate Beer Girls 6:30 P.M. – 7:30 P.M. at No Worry's Bar.

May 20th
Coffee & Sweets/Muffins served 5:30 A.M. – 6:00 A.M. at No Worry's Bar.
Teams Pick up Observers 6:00 A.M. at No Worries Bar.
7:00 A.M. - Bimini Start 5:00 P.M. - Lines Out.
Cocktails/Food & Tecate Beer Girls 6:30 P.M. –7:30 P.M. at No Worry's Bar.

May 21st
Observer Tournament:
Coffee & Sweets/Muffins served 5:30 A.M. – 6:00 A.M. at No Worry's Bar.
Teams Pick up Observers 6:00 A.M. at No Worry’s Bar.
7:00 A.M. – Bimini Start 3:00 P.M. – Lines Out.
Awards Banquet:
Awards Dinner Banquet 7:30 P.M. – 8:30 P.M. at No Worry's Bar.

Mandatory Digital / Video Cameras

Teams must provide their own digital or video camera’s to film and record, validate all billfish releases during the WCBRT event in addition to WCBRT Observer observations.

Observer Tournament

We wish to thank all those teams who have already offered to donate their time and boats to take the Observers out for the special Observer Tournament fishing day. Your generosities, have helped the WCBRT attract the large field of observers to participate and observe this year. Should anyone else wish to participate and take a team of observers out for a day of competition as a thank you for their volunteer support of the WCBRT, we would really appreciate a few more teams / boats to help out in order to lessen the number of observers fishing on each participating boat.

See you in Cabo!

The Committee
WCBRT BILLFISH CONSERVATION GOALS
• Raise awareness of the need for billfish conservation.
• Support responsible billfish conservation management and science programs by donating proceeds to The Billfish Foundation.
• Release all hooked fish with as little injury as feasible.
• Advance the use of conservation-friendly equipment and fishing methods.
• Promote good sportsmanship by setting positive examples for young anglers.
• Provide youth angling and educational opportunities related to billfishing.
• Associate with responsible sport fishing entities, event services & related industry businesses.
• Demonstrate that billfish conservation pays.
• Support the local economy and specifically Los Ninos del Capitain Children’s Charity.
• The WCBRT is a 100% non-profit event

First Light · 04-15-2008, 12:11 PM

Nice update. I'll be there!

Finnseeker · 04-15-2008, 12:20 PM

Quote:

First Light - 4/15/2008 9:11 AM

Nice update. I'll be there!

BILLFISH: The Striped Marlin are re-appearing in large numbers now as the water has warmed up to their preferred 74 degree range, but they are not biting all that well. That is not to say there are no fish being caught; it just means that as far as the percentage of fish caught to fish seen, well, that is a low number. The positive side of this is that there are large numbers of fish being seen on the surface, small groups of three or four and larger groups that number up to fifteen fish. Most boats have been releasing two or three Marlin per trip, but throwing bait to forty or so fish in order to get those numbers. The area around the 95 spot has been holding large numbers of Striped Marlin, as has the area around the 1150.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: We had a wide-open bite on the football size fish this week as a large school moved to within 4 miles of the bay early in the week. Boats were getting 20-30 fish each before tiring and going on to fish for Marlin. These fish were averaging 8-10 pounds each with a few in the 20-pound class. They were biting anything you put in the water, but the larger fish were eating live bait dropped in front of the moving schools. Any boats that went out at 150 degrees ran into these fish on Monday and Tuesday, as the week went on the fish moved to the west. There were other scattered schools found, but with the bite so good close to home not many boats went much farther to look for larger ones.
DORADO: There continued to be a few fish caught this week and as the water warms up more we should expect to be seeing more Dorado. I had a report of a boat up at Los Barillas catching 27 Dorado after finding a dead seal and that is the type of thing that may begin to happen here. Not that we kill seals, but this time of year we begin to find kelp fronds and trash in the water that hold large numbers of Dorado.
WAHOO: What Hoo once again.
INSHORE: The numbers of small Yellowtail being caught has lowered this week, weather because they have moved on to water more in keeping with their preferred temperature or because they became fished out, I don’t know. But instead of filling coolers with these small 5-8 pound fish, boats are getting just three or four per trip. What has a lot of anglers excited is the number of Roosterfish that have been showing up just outside of the arch. There have been mornings when 20 fish have been caught and released by one boat, but the fish have been small with an average size of 5 pounds. Little guys, but when you use light tackle they are a blast to catch! The Sierra bite has fallen off a bit as well and with the smooth water conditions and the Yellowfin Tuna being close, a lot of the Panga fishermen have been going out for the Tuna.