The 21st Eastcape Billfish Tournament was again held at Hotel Palmas de Cortez, Los Barriles, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The tournament dates were June 5-9, and 26 Tournament Association anglers participated in the three day competition. This year’s billfish count was similar to the fish count of our 2007 tournament, with 27 marlin and 1 sail fish caught and released. In addition, 24 Dorado were boated and served up in the hotel restaurant for all of our anglers to enjoy. Again this year, there seemed to be a lot of bait (mostly squid) available, so the billfish count was lower than has been our experience in past years. Our anglers reported seeing fish, but getting the “bite” was somewhat difficult. Two days prior to the tournament, strong winds came up and affected our catch the first day. However, the seas calmed down and the second and third day’s catch was much improved.
Eastcape Billfish Tournament – 2008On day one, Rich Bothmer, Greg Ogle, Paul Steigerwald, and Joan Vernon all caught one Marlin each, and earned each of them the maximum points. However, Rick surged out in front with an additional Dorado, and claimed top angler for the day.
Day two, eleven Marlin were caught, and Greg Ogle easily went ahead with 500 points for two Marlin caught in the minimum time. However, due to the time of the releases, Brian Hill also caught two Marlin and claimed the second daily prize.
On day three, the fish count went up went up again with eleven Marlin and one Sailfish caught. Paul Steigerwald claimed the daily prize with two Marlin and one Dorado caught, for a total point count of 510.
This made Paul the TOP angler of the tournament with 770 point (three Marlin and two Dorado), followed closely by Greg Ogle with 760 points (three Marlin and one Dorado), revealing how important it is to “bag” that additional game fish!
For the THIRD year in a row, the Challenge Division out fished the Champions, and received Iland Lure as prizes.
The Eastcape Billfish IGFA Offshore World Championship Tournament Team will be represented by Paul Steigerwald, Captain, Greg Ogle, Brian Hill and Rick Bothmer, with Darrell Ticehurst, 1st alternate, Danny Brooks, 2nd alternate, and Bill Evans, 3rd alternate.
We want to recognize our three new TAA anglers who signed up for the tournament this year. They are: Harry Kersten, Greg Ogle and Jack Richardson (who took Dale Miles’ place at the last minute). We welcome them into our TAA family!!!
Last-but-not-least, we want to sincerely thank our sponsors for providing us with another GREAT tournament. This year, we were especially blessed with a new sponsor, Grey Taxidermy. They provided trophies for all of our winning individual and team anglers. We thank them so much for their generosity! Also, again this year, we thank Penn Fishing Tackle, Costa del Mar, Iland lures and Bass Pro Shops for their sponsorship! Without all of these sponsors, our Eastcape Billfish Tournament would not be the high quality fishing tournament that it is. Please visit us at our website: www.FishTaa
Jim Severson turns over the helm of this tournament to Bill Evans for our 2009 tournament. Please extend your help to him and let’s make next year’s tournament even BETTER. The dates for next year’s tournament are June 22 through 26, with fishing dates the 23rd through the 25th.
Overall Champion – Paul Steigerwald – 770 points
Champion Division
1st Place – Brian Hill – 510 points
2nd Place – Joan Vernon – 460 points
3rd Place – Mike McElroy – 270 points
Challenge Division
1st Place – Paul Steigerwald – 770 points
2nd Place – Greg Ogle – 760
3rd Place – Rick Bothmer – 510 points
Team Event
1st Place Team – Paul Steigerwald and John Zehnder – 995 points
2nd Place Team – Joan Vernon and Bill Evans – 930 points
3rd Place Team – Greg Ogle and Keith Leimbach – 770 points
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