Sept. 15, 2008: The third and final day of the Presidential Caribbean Cup got off to a terrific start. The radio was humming with captains calling in releases from 9 to Noon. Forty four billfish were called in during the morning bite. Big Oh and anglers Grey Ingram, Carlos Mundo, Kevin Paul and Timothy Lenahan, continued their winning ways but the story of the day is the incredible comeback by A-Fin-Ity fishing aboard the Vintage with Capt. Hans Kraas. The Vintage with anglers Davis Clapp, Henry Riggs-Miller, Juanga Lopez and Dewey Sanchez released fourteen billfish by 1pm to challenge the Big Oh’s lead. The Iliza team charged up the leaderboard during the morning bite and closed in on the top three boats.
The afternoon action slowed down shortly after 1pm. Third place was up for grabs between three teams – Iliza, Prime Time & Decisive were within one hundred points of each other. The second/third places went back and forth between them. Tijereta Capt. Bubba Carter called in a blue marlin release for Sparky late in the day. This moved Team Decisive and fellow anglers Jimmy Taylor, Eric Dallin and Winnie Pooh into third place. Eric Dallin frosted the cake with a white marlin at 4:50pm giving them 6400 points.
Then Vintage broke loose! By 4:15pm Vintage and Team A-Fin-Ity had released twenty billfish today to tie Big Oh for the lead. Capt. Ronnie Fields called in a white marlin at 4:40pm for Grey Ingram. That sealed the deal for Big Oh giving them a record breaking 9900 points to win the tournament. A-Fin-Ity, the 2007 PCCA Grand Champion Team, ended the day with a total of 9600 points. Congratulations to the winners for an outstanding angling achievement.
Tournament: 154 White Marlin/15 Blue Marlin/6 Sails
CONTENDER TEAM DIVISION
1ST PLACE TEAM: Big Oh 9900 points
2ND PLACE TEAM: A-Fin-Ity 9600 points
3RD PLACE TEAM Decisive 6400 points
BAPTIST HEALTH INTERNATIONAL ANGLER DIVISION
1ST PLACE ANGLER: Grey Ingram 3500 pts
2nd PLACE ANGLE: Kevin Paul 3100 pts
3RD PLACE ANGLER: Henry Riggs-Miller 2700 pts
TOP ANGLER DAY ONE: Gray Ingram 1700 Big Oh
TOP ANGLER DAY TWO: Winnie Pooh 1400 pts Tijereta
TOP ANGLER DAY THREE: Davis Clapp 1800 pts
TOP BOAT: Big Oh 9900 points
2ND BOAT: Vintage 9600 points
3rd BOAT: Tijereta 6400 points
The Big Oh picked up where they left off yesterday. By 3pm they had 5800 points for the tournament. Prime Time chipped away at their lead by adding a few whites and a blue today. The Sea Angel doubled up on blue marlin today to inch them up the scoreboard. This put them in contention behind A-Fin-Ity (Vintage) and Decisive (Tijereta). The Rude Awakening reports that their angler, Austin, fought two blue marlin for a total of four hours today! One was released and one broke off after a two hour fight! Congrats to him for his perseverance
As the afternoon progressed three teams were in hot pursuit of second and third place. Prime Time, A-Fin-Ity, fishing aboard Vintage and Decisive fishing aboard Tijereta were running head to head in the standings. Shortly after 5pm Vintage called in a white marlin for Henry Riggs-Miller which slid them into third place. The final five minutes decided the outcome of the second and third place positions. Team A-Fin-Ity fishing aboard the Vintage pulled it off with a last minute white marlin. Team Decisive did the same with a last minute hook up aboard Tijereta to move into third place. Prime Time ended the day in fourth place 100 points behind with a total 3500 for the tournament.
The tournament leader, Big Oh and anglers Gray Ingram, Carlos Mudo, Timmothy and Kevin Paul are having a phenomenal tournament having released twenty billfish – 2 blue marlin and 18 white marlin.
72 WHITE MARLIN – 9 BLUE MARLIN – 6 SAILFISH
TODAY: 38 Whites 5 Blues 1 Sail
TEAM DIVISION
1ST PLACE TEAM: Big Oh 6400 pts
2ND PLACE TEAM: A-Fin-Ity 3600 pts
3RD PLACE TEAM: Decisive 3600 pts
BAPTIST HEALTH INTERNATIONAL ANGLER DIVISION
1ST PLACE ANGLER: Gray Ingram 2600 pts
2nd PLACE ANGLER: Winnie Pooh 2000 pts
3RD PLACE ANGLER: Kevin Paul 1700 pts
TOP DAILY ANGLER DAY 2: Winnie Pooh (Tijereta) 1400 pts
KING SAILFISH MOUNTS BOAT DIVISION
TOP BOAT: Big Oh 6400 pts
2ND BOAT: Vintage 3600 pts
3RD BOAT: Tijerta 3600 pts
TOP BOAT DAY TWO: Big Oh 3000 pts
Day One of the tournament began as a typical Venezuelan morning with blue skies and a few clouds. Excitement generated up and down the dock as crews prepared for battle. Getting fuel was the biggest challenge for most of the boats so the fishing hours were adjusted to have lines in the water at 10:30am.
The morning action kicked off at 10:44am when Eric Dallin fishing aboard the Tijereta released a sailfish. An hour went by before another fish was called in. Henry Riggs- Miller broke the radio silence when he released a white marlin for team A-Fin-Ity aboard Vintage. The Big Oh made their move at 12:55pm when Carlos Mudos released a white marlin. Shortly after, Gray Ingram released a blue marlin to jump Big Oh to the top of the fleet. Team Decisive, fishing aboard the Tijereta, released a double header white marlin which moved them into contention.
The Big Oh team continued to raise their score as the afternoon wore on. A-Fin-Ity was not to be left in the dust. Their anglers released a sail and three whites to move into the standings. It wasn’t long before the Alina team fishing with Eric Mansur on the Iliza started to make their move. Rafael Rojas, our two time individual angler winner, put two whites on the scoreboard. His teammate, Jose Guanipa added a sail and a white marlin to boost them in the rankings.
At 4:16pm the Big Oh called in another blue marlin. This time it was angler Kevin Paul that wound it in. This secured them the first place for Day One.
Prime Time made a late day move to tie for second place with A-Fin-Ity. The Prime Time anglers released 4 white marlin in two hours, added a double white marlin and a single late in the day and secured the second place!
43 billfish released
5 Sails/34 Whites/ 4 Blues
ALL ON CIRCLE HOOKS!
FIRST FISH: Eric Dallin, 10:44 Tijereta – Sailfish
1ST PLACE TEAM: BIG OH 3400 pts
2ND PLACE TEAM: PRIME TIME 2400 pts
3RD PLACE TEAM: A-FIN-ITY 2100 pts
1ST PLACE ANGLER: Gray Ingram 1700 pts
2ND PLACE ANGLER: Ramon Gonzalez 900 pts
3RD PLACE ANGLER: Henry Riggs-Miller 900 pts
TOP BOAT: BIG OH 3400 pts
2ND BOAT: PRIME TIME 2400 pts
3RD BOAT: VINTAGE 2100 pts
