ILLTA CELEBRATES 70 YEARS OF SPORTFISHING

The 70th anniversary of the International Light Tackle Tournament Association’s annual tournament was held in Los Barriles, Baja Sur June 7-12, 2010, with the Hotel Palmas de Cortez serving as the tournament headquarters throughout the event. Anglers from around the world descended upon this picturesque corner of Mexico just north of Cabo San Lucas known as East Cape for this year’s event in hopes of some spectacular fishing as well as the international camaraderie for which the ILTTA is famous. They would not leave disappointed.

While Baja is known for flat-calm seas and hot, sunny daytime temperatures, the weather took an uncharacteristic turn during the event, with teams being greeted by overcast, breezy conditions. That didn’t deter angler Sam White, fishing for The Billfish Foundation (USA) team, from releasing the first fish of the tournament, a striped marlin, just 30 minutes after the call for “lines in” on Day One. By the mid-tournament break for the mandatory Lay Day, the standings were also very tight: no angler had reached three billfish releases yet, so it would come down to the final day to determine the winners.

During the mid-week break, several teams took the opportunity to sample the area’s rich inshore fishery for roosterfish, while others trekked south to the shops and restaurants of Cabo San Lucas for their day off.

Day Four of the tournament ended up being a decisive one for many teams. The Asociacion Nacional de Pesca Deportiva de Guatemala II, leading with five releases and 500 points going into the final day, added one additional release to seal their victory with six striped marlin releases and 600 points. The Billfish Foundation team moved into second place with an additional two marlin released on the final day to finish with 500 points, while the Club Amateur de Pesca III (Costa Rica) managed three releases on the last day alone to vault into third place.

In the angler standings, Javier Padilla, representing the Sailfish and Tarpon Club of Mexico, let go two striped marlin on the final day along with one from Day Three to finish in the lead with 300 points. However, he was just three minutes ahead in time of release over John Carbone Jr, representing the Ocean City Light Tackle Club, who also tallied 300 points in the tournament—Carbone would have to settle for second place. Juan Eduardo Angarita, fishing for the Playa Grande Yachting Club (Venezuela) was the third angler to reach the 300-point mark, finishing third.

Once again, the tradition of presenting the “Big Belt” was carried on during the awards, with the Asociacion Nacional de Pesca Deportiva de Guatemala II being awarded the belt for the following year. Coincidentally, the 71st Annual ILTTA tournament is scheduled for Nov. 28-Dec. 3 in Guatemala. For more information, please visit www.iltta.org or email iltta@aol.com.