To see the articles, photographs and videos associated with them in this edition, please CLICK HERE to see the issue ONLINE. The following extracts are a selection from those articles and press releases in the online magazine.
Edition Nº 00 ... JAN / MAR 2009
“MARLIN INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT” by Duarte A. Moreira Rato
24th October – 1st November 2008
“Bazaruto Action”
Twelve years ago, a short time after the end of the Mozambican civil war, South African Ricky Jacobs, decided to start up a small tournament on the Bazaruto Archipelago with the sole purpose of catching the area´s first post war 1000 pound Marlin. As is known, this area was from the late 50´s to the early 70´s, Africa´s “holy Grail” of Giant Black Marlin fishing, and during that era, the small and ill equipped fleet based out of paradise island caught impressive numbers of Giant Black´s, including 21 over the magical grander mark.
The first Grander of the new era was finally caught in November ´98 and weighed an impressive 1298 pounds, becoming the All African record and at the time, the biggest Black ever caught on a lure worldwide. With the increase of tourism and a number of top quality resorts, better infrastructure and easier accessibility, the area’s potential is being rediscovered as a first class big game fishery and Ricky’s invitational tournament has arguably become one of the most prestigious of its kind in the country.
This year’s season had a grand early start with good fish in the 800+ range being encountered on a regular basis from late September. With constant moderate southerly winds and blue water to the reef’s edge, both, conditions and fishing just kept improving into October and there was huge anticipation as the eight invited teams from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa met at Bazaruto Lodge between the 24th October and 1st November to fish the 2008 event. Despite fishing in 30 knots of wind due to a low pressure that moved in, a hot bite was encountered on the first morning with five boats hooking up to good fish within a couple of hours after lines in. With the growing swells the fleet cut the day short and was back to base at noon, with Achelous releasing a 600 pounder on a live bait, Vamizi an 850 on a skip bait and Fourplay a 350 on a lure. The second day was a blowout, but finally the weather decided to co-operate and from the third to the last day the sea was utterly flat. Actually too flat, as with a considerable rise in surface water temperature and a lack of surface bait, the big girls become somehow unresponsive and the main talk amongst all competitors was the ratio of fish raised to actual strikes and hookup’s. Nevertheless, the bite still remained fairly good and some great fishing was enjoyed by all in some wonderful sea conditions and a good number of big fish were encountered. Best of all, and this has become standard on this tournament, ALL the fish were released. At the end of the seven days of fishing, anglers Carl and Mike Jankowitz, fishing aboard Vamizi with Cap. Duarte Rato and mates Alex and Americo, took top honors for the third consecutive year with five Marlin releases. On a time basis, team Fourplay with anglers Dino Ramos, Nuno Sousa, Helio Rito, Eduardo Duarte and Cap. Marcelo Matos from Maputo took second place for the second straight year with 3 marlin releases. Third place and with 3 releases as well went to Zimbabwean team on Topless who also caught (on a live bonito) the biggest fish of the event which was estimated at over 1000 pounds and was released by Roger MacDonald.
“Bazaruto Action”
Twelve years ago, a short time after the end of the Mozambican civil war, South African Ricky Jacobs, decided to start up a small tournament on the Bazaruto Archipelago with the sole purpose of catching the area´s first post war 1000 pound Marlin. As is known, this area was from the late 50´s to the early 70´s, Africa´s “holy Grail” of Giant Black Marlin fishing, and during that era, the small and ill equipped fleet based out of paradise island caught impressive numbers of Giant Black´s, including 21 over the magical grander mark.
The first Grander of the new era was finally caught in November ´98 and weighed an impressive 1298 pounds, becoming the All African record and at the time, the biggest Black ever caught on a lure worldwide. With the increase of tourism and a number of top quality resorts, better infrastructure and easier accessibility, the area’s potential is being rediscovered as a first class big game fishery and Ricky’s invitational tournament has arguably become one of the most prestigious of its kind in the country.
This year’s season had a grand early start with good fish in the 800+ range being encountered on a regular basis from late September. With constant moderate southerly winds and blue water to the reef’s edge, both, conditions and fishing just kept improving into October and there was huge anticipation as the eight invited teams from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa met at Bazaruto Lodge between the 24th October and 1st November to fish the 2008 event. Despite fishing in 30 knots of wind due to a low pressure that moved in, a hot bite was encountered on the first morning with five boats hooking up to good fish within a couple of hours after lines in. With the growing swells the fleet cut the day short and was back to base at noon, with Achelous releasing a 600 pounder on a live bait, Vamizi an 850 on a skip bait and Fourplay a 350 on a lure. The second day was a blowout, but finally the weather decided to co-operate and from the third to the last day the sea was utterly flat. Actually too flat, as with a considerable rise in surface water temperature and a lack of surface bait, the big girls become somehow unresponsive and the main talk amongst all competitors was the ratio of fish raised to actual strikes and hookup’s. Nevertheless, the bite still remained fairly good and some great fishing was enjoyed by all in some wonderful sea conditions and a good number of big fish were encountered. Best of all, and this has become standard on this tournament, ALL the fish were released. At the end of the seven days of fishing, anglers Carl and Mike Jankowitz, fishing aboard Vamizi with Cap. Duarte Rato and mates Alex and Americo, took top honors for the third consecutive year with five Marlin releases. On a time basis, team Fourplay with anglers Dino Ramos, Nuno Sousa, Helio Rito, Eduardo Duarte and Cap. Marcelo Matos from Maputo took second place for the second straight year with 3 marlin releases. Third place and with 3 releases as well went to Zimbabwean team on Topless who also caught (on a live bonito) the biggest fish of the event which was estimated at over 1000 pounds and was released by Roger MacDonald.
“Marlin Fishing in the Fiji Islands” by Capt. Adrian Watt
Bathometric charts of the South Pacific show Fiji as a small collection of volcanic spikes amid a vast ocean floor, some 5,000m below. Much like Hawaii, the islands are near vertical pinacles though Fiji now has no active volcanos, just remnants of lush tropical rainforrest covered volcanic cones on islands such as kadavu. With such deep waters close to shore, blue marlin cruise just yards from barrier reef drop-offs and black marlin patrol the steep reef slopes. Around Kadavu island a general rule of thumb is “if you are a mile out, its a mile down” Visitors to the islands can expect a typical tropical climate with calm, hot humid conditions in the summer time (December - April) and cooler tradewind conditions in
the winter (June - October). Winter tradewinds usually last about a week and can vary from a mild breeze to a good 25kt blow. Peak summer air and water temperatures reach 33 degrees with a winter low of about 20 degrees though the water remains warmer. Kadavu Black Marlin Bite Me fishes ‘Cairns style’ for black marlin. The morning is spent catching fresh bait such as scad and narrow barred mackerel. About lunch time the crew begin trolling a spread of four large skirted lures close in to the barrier reef. AT about 2.00pm a switch is made to trolling two large baits off the riggers. One swimming bait and one skip-bait rigged on 16/0 circle hooks with a short dacron bridle. As you would expect, bye-catch is plentiful with Pacific sailfish to 70kg, Yellowfin tuna and wahoo to 50kg, and Narrow barred mackerel to 30kg. The black marlin season runs from September through to April with the best fishing later in the season. Blue marlin are caught year round with the largest fish seen January - March. Bite Me holds over 30 Fiji National line class Records including the M-60 black marlin record. Officially, a grander has yet to be caught though the all-tackle blue marlin record stands just shy of that at 447kg (983lbs)
Adrian Watt
IGFA Captain
Director, Matava Resort Gamefishing,
Tel: + (679) 3336 222
www.GameFishingFiji.blogspot.com
www.GameFishingFiji.com
www.Matava.com
the winter (June - October). Winter tradewinds usually last about a week and can vary from a mild breeze to a good 25kt blow. Peak summer air and water temperatures reach 33 degrees with a winter low of about 20 degrees though the water remains warmer. Kadavu Black Marlin Bite Me fishes ‘Cairns style’ for black marlin. The morning is spent catching fresh bait such as scad and narrow barred mackerel. About lunch time the crew begin trolling a spread of four large skirted lures close in to the barrier reef. AT about 2.00pm a switch is made to trolling two large baits off the riggers. One swimming bait and one skip-bait rigged on 16/0 circle hooks with a short dacron bridle. As you would expect, bye-catch is plentiful with Pacific sailfish to 70kg, Yellowfin tuna and wahoo to 50kg, and Narrow barred mackerel to 30kg. The black marlin season runs from September through to April with the best fishing later in the season. Blue marlin are caught year round with the largest fish seen January - March. Bite Me holds over 30 Fiji National line class Records including the M-60 black marlin record. Officially, a grander has yet to be caught though the all-tackle blue marlin record stands just shy of that at 447kg (983lbs)
Adrian Watt
IGFA Captain
Director, Matava Resort Gamefishing,
Tel: + (679) 3336 222
www.GameFishingFiji.blogspot.com
www.GameFishingFiji.com
www.Matava.com
“Is Kadavu Island FIJI going to become a known Black Marlin fishery?” by The Mumford Family
Dear Sir, Our Family, Myself, my wife Christine and teens Jesse and Charlotte, recently returned from holidaying at Matava Resort. Kadavu Island. Fiji. We had such a great time we thought your readers might enjoy hearing about such a fantastic family fishing and diving venue. The girls snorkeled, scuba dived with great instructors, hiked the many island paths and sunbaked on secluded island beaches while enjoying the first class food and ambience only such a place can display. The boys meanwhile hatched a plan with IGFA Skipper Adrian Watt of “Bite Me” to have a go at the Fiji Black Marlin record, and over 5 days (week 22nd Sept) of offshore fishing among the scattered islands, channels and offshore coral reefs, they not only came up with the goods but also huge Yellowfin Tuna, Wahoo, Mackerel etc, not to mention the ones that got away! Jesse seconded as photographer and is responsible for what must be some of the all time great (for 13 year old photographer) Black marlin jump shots.
Report:
For the first couple of days pressure systems offshore meant we trolled the channels between the scattered islands on the Eastern side of Kadavu. The huge yellow fin tuna and mackerel (and the nights sashimi) were just the icing on the cake of spectacular scenery from mountainous scenery to secluded coconut palm strewn villages scattered the full length of the island. Returning back to Matava at sunset provided the best sunsets imaginable and after tying up off our own island beach, enjoyed the evenings, no tv, mobile phone or email, bliss, just sharing with the girls the adventures of the day and sitting round the Kava ceremonies of the local islanders.
For the last 3 days we were able to get amongst some of the prettiest reef country we have ever fished, a spectacular fishing ground with reef shelf’s jutting out into the ocean, creating sheltered coves and “roundabouts”. There were some spectacular hookups, the razor gang was alive and well with a massive sailfish after a spectacular aerial hookup being bitten off meters from the rod tip and giant Wahoo boated. Next day brought a Fiji record black marlin on the 130s which was boated for the return to Matava has an IGFA recognized weigh station.
All in all some good sized fish were boated and released with Yellowfin Tuna, Black Marlin, Stripy and Spanish Mackerel, and Wahoo being at the forefront. A special thanks must go to Adrian Watt our skipper, local deckie Joe Tuku and Glen Gardner who came over from Bounty Hunter, a Carribean 35 in Sydney, for a first rate job, Thanks Guys.
We would recommend “Matava” to anyone wanting fishing action in an outstanding location, just getting there is stunning, they really looked after us and the location is unreal! Being a family, Mum, Dad and the Pigeon pair there was lots for everyone to see and do, great food, great people and the fishing was fantastic. We’ll be back!
from the Mumford Family,
Sunshine Coast, Qld.
Report:
For the first couple of days pressure systems offshore meant we trolled the channels between the scattered islands on the Eastern side of Kadavu. The huge yellow fin tuna and mackerel (and the nights sashimi) were just the icing on the cake of spectacular scenery from mountainous scenery to secluded coconut palm strewn villages scattered the full length of the island. Returning back to Matava at sunset provided the best sunsets imaginable and after tying up off our own island beach, enjoyed the evenings, no tv, mobile phone or email, bliss, just sharing with the girls the adventures of the day and sitting round the Kava ceremonies of the local islanders.
For the last 3 days we were able to get amongst some of the prettiest reef country we have ever fished, a spectacular fishing ground with reef shelf’s jutting out into the ocean, creating sheltered coves and “roundabouts”. There were some spectacular hookups, the razor gang was alive and well with a massive sailfish after a spectacular aerial hookup being bitten off meters from the rod tip and giant Wahoo boated. Next day brought a Fiji record black marlin on the 130s which was boated for the return to Matava has an IGFA recognized weigh station.
All in all some good sized fish were boated and released with Yellowfin Tuna, Black Marlin, Stripy and Spanish Mackerel, and Wahoo being at the forefront. A special thanks must go to Adrian Watt our skipper, local deckie Joe Tuku and Glen Gardner who came over from Bounty Hunter, a Carribean 35 in Sydney, for a first rate job, Thanks Guys.
We would recommend “Matava” to anyone wanting fishing action in an outstanding location, just getting there is stunning, they really looked after us and the location is unreal! Being a family, Mum, Dad and the Pigeon pair there was lots for everyone to see and do, great food, great people and the fishing was fantastic. We’ll be back!
from the Mumford Family,
Sunshine Coast, Qld.
“Joan Vernon” Lady Action
One of the leaders of the “Circle Hook Revolution” to promote and encourage the use of circle hooks in billfishing, 1998/99.
Joan Vernon was born in Mesa, Arizona and now resides in Key Biscayne, Florida. A widow, she has 1 daughter, 1 son and 3 grandchildren. This remarkable lady has achieved much more than most of her peers, and her conservation efforts and angling achievements have placed her in very high regard.
“I started saltwater fishing when I was 9 years old in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, fishing for trout, redfish and snook. I spent a lot of time in Marathon, Florida, during my teenage years. I was brought up on the water and have run boats as long as I can remember. When I moved to Key Biscayne in 1970 I bought a 22’ boat and started fishing offshore Miami with light tackle. I then graduated to a 25 footer and lighter tackle. I began kite fishing for sailfish in 1978 using 6 lb. Line. In 1987 I got my USCG license and did some charter fishing out of Miami. In 1979, 1980 and 1982, I was Women’s Master Angler in the Metropolitan South Florida Fishing Tournament (called the MET for short). This is a 5 month tournament-the largest of its kind in the world. I had to fish with light line as well as spin, plug and fly tackle. In 1981. I won the Fly Championship in the MET, the only woman to date to win this honor. I started serious fly fishing in the early 80’s and am a past winner of the Women’s World Invitational Fly Tarpon Championship. I have also placed in this tournament many times.
My first love is light tackle fishing…no matter what type of rod or reel. It is not the weight of the fish but the challenge of catching it on light line and artificial lures that is my interest. I always travel with my flyrod and have caught numerous pacific sailfish on fly (before it was fashionable, I might add!).”
"In 1996 I founded Sporting Traditions. Events organized and produced by this company benefit various charitable organizations that support and enhance the marine environment in Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala. The Presidential Challenge of Central America (PCCA) is a series of tournaments benefiting conservation and promoting tourism in Central America and the Caribbean. The primary goal of The PCCA is to promote the sport fishing industry in these regions by working with the governments of the involved countries to promote game fish conservation. I am now immediate past Chairman of THE BILLFISH FOUNDATION and together we are working to convince the members of government that they must sustain healthy billfish stocks in order to support the sport fishing industry. In 1999 the Presidential Challenge Series became the first fishing tournaments in the world to require the use of circle hooks in competition. It was a true ‘Challenge’ as anglers are reluctant to change their techniques and styles. In order to accomplish this transition research was needed as to the success this type of hook had in the safe catch and release of billfish. I was able to raise the funds needed to do a comparison study of the conventional ‘J’ hooks and the circle hook. The results presented an eye opener to the anglers but more importantly to the fishery managers. The Billfish Foundation once again threw their support into the circle hook battle and funded thousands of circle hooks that were distributed around the world. By 2002 I had convinced the prestigious Yamaha Contender Miami Billfish Tournament to convert to circle hooks. They became the first tournament in the USA to make this move and created quite a furor in the East Coast Fishing Community. The battle for circle hooks was now full blown around the world. By the mid 2000’s the country of Costa Rica made circle hooks mandatory when fishing for billfish in coastal waters. By this time more research was needed so I once again joined with The Billfish Foundation in getting funding to do further studies. The government of the United States stepped up to the plate and in 2008 required the use of circle hooks when fishing for billfish in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters. Today I continue to be called upon by members of the angling community, hook manufacturers and tournament directors around the world to offer advice, techniques and critiques regarding circle hooks."
Joan Vernon was born in Mesa, Arizona and now resides in Key Biscayne, Florida. A widow, she has 1 daughter, 1 son and 3 grandchildren. This remarkable lady has achieved much more than most of her peers, and her conservation efforts and angling achievements have placed her in very high regard.
“I started saltwater fishing when I was 9 years old in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, fishing for trout, redfish and snook. I spent a lot of time in Marathon, Florida, during my teenage years. I was brought up on the water and have run boats as long as I can remember. When I moved to Key Biscayne in 1970 I bought a 22’ boat and started fishing offshore Miami with light tackle. I then graduated to a 25 footer and lighter tackle. I began kite fishing for sailfish in 1978 using 6 lb. Line. In 1987 I got my USCG license and did some charter fishing out of Miami. In 1979, 1980 and 1982, I was Women’s Master Angler in the Metropolitan South Florida Fishing Tournament (called the MET for short). This is a 5 month tournament-the largest of its kind in the world. I had to fish with light line as well as spin, plug and fly tackle. In 1981. I won the Fly Championship in the MET, the only woman to date to win this honor. I started serious fly fishing in the early 80’s and am a past winner of the Women’s World Invitational Fly Tarpon Championship. I have also placed in this tournament many times.
My first love is light tackle fishing…no matter what type of rod or reel. It is not the weight of the fish but the challenge of catching it on light line and artificial lures that is my interest. I always travel with my flyrod and have caught numerous pacific sailfish on fly (before it was fashionable, I might add!).”
"In 1996 I founded Sporting Traditions. Events organized and produced by this company benefit various charitable organizations that support and enhance the marine environment in Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala. The Presidential Challenge of Central America (PCCA) is a series of tournaments benefiting conservation and promoting tourism in Central America and the Caribbean. The primary goal of The PCCA is to promote the sport fishing industry in these regions by working with the governments of the involved countries to promote game fish conservation. I am now immediate past Chairman of THE BILLFISH FOUNDATION and together we are working to convince the members of government that they must sustain healthy billfish stocks in order to support the sport fishing industry. In 1999 the Presidential Challenge Series became the first fishing tournaments in the world to require the use of circle hooks in competition. It was a true ‘Challenge’ as anglers are reluctant to change their techniques and styles. In order to accomplish this transition research was needed as to the success this type of hook had in the safe catch and release of billfish. I was able to raise the funds needed to do a comparison study of the conventional ‘J’ hooks and the circle hook. The results presented an eye opener to the anglers but more importantly to the fishery managers. The Billfish Foundation once again threw their support into the circle hook battle and funded thousands of circle hooks that were distributed around the world. By 2002 I had convinced the prestigious Yamaha Contender Miami Billfish Tournament to convert to circle hooks. They became the first tournament in the USA to make this move and created quite a furor in the East Coast Fishing Community. The battle for circle hooks was now full blown around the world. By the mid 2000’s the country of Costa Rica made circle hooks mandatory when fishing for billfish in coastal waters. By this time more research was needed so I once again joined with The Billfish Foundation in getting funding to do further studies. The government of the United States stepped up to the plate and in 2008 required the use of circle hooks when fishing for billfish in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters. Today I continue to be called upon by members of the angling community, hook manufacturers and tournament directors around the world to offer advice, techniques and critiques regarding circle hooks."
“The Offield Center for Billfish Studies pushes both ends of the research envelope” by Michael L. Domeier, Ph.D.
These “new” archival tags have never been used on Marlin before, but they have been on Tuna ...
During a two week expedition to Bahia Magdalena, Paxson Offield and his crew aboard the Kelsey Lee successfully initiated a new striped marlin research program that taps both the latest and oldest tagging technologies. The new study, conjured up by Paxson and the Director of the Offield Center for Billfish Studies (OCBS), Dr. Michael Domeier, hopes to pick up where they left off when they last tagged marlin off Mag Bay.
OCBS has placed more popup satellite tags on marlin than any other research group in the world, and most of these have been carried by striped marlin. Although the popup tags have provided great data on the habitat preferences and short term movement patterns of these marlin, they have not allowed individual marlin to be tracked for long (multi-year) periods of time. Multi-year data are important for defining marlin stocks, and the only way to get long term data is to surgically implant archival tags, another form of electronic tag, into the abdominal cavity. Hauling a live marlin out of the water, cutting it open to insert a tag and then stitching it up before tossing it back in the water sounds pretty crazy, right? Yeah, but they did it... FIFTY times! These new archival tags have never been used on marlin before, but they’ve been used very successfully on tuna species. There’s two reasons they’ve not been used on marlin and the first one is obvious: it’s very difficult to capture and restrain marlin without seriously injuring the fish or the fishermen. The second reason is that the only way to retrieve the data is to have someone recapture the fish...and marlin have historically had miserable conventional tag return rates (~1%). No one knows why the recapture rate is so low, but Offield and Domeier are hoping that part of the problem has been that marlin are very good at shedding their conventional tags. The past satellite tagging work provided ample evidence that marlin can shed tags; it was rare for a marlin to carry a tag for more than 3 months. To address this problem, Dr. Domeier completely redesigned conventional tags for marlin. He created a new multi-pronged tag head and made the tags longer so they could be inserted deeper into the muscle tissue. In addition, some of the prongs are sheathed in Dacron, a material that the medical profession has used to promote tissue adhesion to surgical implants. The crew of the Kelsey Lee have perfected the technique of hoisting the live marlin aboard and keeping it alive for the duration of the surgery. Once the fish is placed back in the water it is gently revived next to the boat before it is released. Each fish that gets an implanted archival tag also receives a bright yellow newstyle conventional tag; both the conventional tag and the archival tag have text that announce the $500 reward for the return of the archival tag. In cooperation with The Billfish Foundation and The Crean Foundation, OCBS made nearly 2000 orange-colored, new conventional tags, to help determine if they actually work better than the normal TBF tags. Hopefully this new approach to old technology, along with cutting edge electronic tags, will soon unlock the secrets of long term marlin movement patterns.
Michael L. Domeier, Ph.D.
President
Marine Conservation Science Institute Offield Center For Billfish Studies
www.MarineCSI.org
During a two week expedition to Bahia Magdalena, Paxson Offield and his crew aboard the Kelsey Lee successfully initiated a new striped marlin research program that taps both the latest and oldest tagging technologies. The new study, conjured up by Paxson and the Director of the Offield Center for Billfish Studies (OCBS), Dr. Michael Domeier, hopes to pick up where they left off when they last tagged marlin off Mag Bay.
OCBS has placed more popup satellite tags on marlin than any other research group in the world, and most of these have been carried by striped marlin. Although the popup tags have provided great data on the habitat preferences and short term movement patterns of these marlin, they have not allowed individual marlin to be tracked for long (multi-year) periods of time. Multi-year data are important for defining marlin stocks, and the only way to get long term data is to surgically implant archival tags, another form of electronic tag, into the abdominal cavity. Hauling a live marlin out of the water, cutting it open to insert a tag and then stitching it up before tossing it back in the water sounds pretty crazy, right? Yeah, but they did it... FIFTY times! These new archival tags have never been used on marlin before, but they’ve been used very successfully on tuna species. There’s two reasons they’ve not been used on marlin and the first one is obvious: it’s very difficult to capture and restrain marlin without seriously injuring the fish or the fishermen. The second reason is that the only way to retrieve the data is to have someone recapture the fish...and marlin have historically had miserable conventional tag return rates (~1%). No one knows why the recapture rate is so low, but Offield and Domeier are hoping that part of the problem has been that marlin are very good at shedding their conventional tags. The past satellite tagging work provided ample evidence that marlin can shed tags; it was rare for a marlin to carry a tag for more than 3 months. To address this problem, Dr. Domeier completely redesigned conventional tags for marlin. He created a new multi-pronged tag head and made the tags longer so they could be inserted deeper into the muscle tissue. In addition, some of the prongs are sheathed in Dacron, a material that the medical profession has used to promote tissue adhesion to surgical implants. The crew of the Kelsey Lee have perfected the technique of hoisting the live marlin aboard and keeping it alive for the duration of the surgery. Once the fish is placed back in the water it is gently revived next to the boat before it is released. Each fish that gets an implanted archival tag also receives a bright yellow newstyle conventional tag; both the conventional tag and the archival tag have text that announce the $500 reward for the return of the archival tag. In cooperation with The Billfish Foundation and The Crean Foundation, OCBS made nearly 2000 orange-colored, new conventional tags, to help determine if they actually work better than the normal TBF tags. Hopefully this new approach to old technology, along with cutting edge electronic tags, will soon unlock the secrets of long term marlin movement patterns.
Michael L. Domeier, Ph.D.
President
Marine Conservation Science Institute Offield Center For Billfish Studies
www.MarineCSI.org
“MAHI MAHI a Unique Fish” by Riccardo Tamburini
Known as Dolphin, Dorado or Mahi Mahi, this amazingly coloured fish certainly knows how to behave badly
It’s almost impossible to describe the vibrant colours of a living dolphin (coryphaena hippurus), but when they are close to the boat you can see the goldish yellow of the stomach and flanks, and a shiny green with intense blue hue along the back. Sadly these colours become darker and turn to grey as the dolphin expires. The sexual differences are clear to see, expecially in mature specimens: the male in particular has a frontal bony crest which is much more visible than that of the female. In warm tropical seas this fish can reach weights of up to 50 kilos with a length of more than 200 cm. In the Mediterranean they are smaller with a few recent specimens weighing in at over 10 kilos, but nevertheless they are still considered a special “catch” amongst anglers. The dolphin is extremely long in relation to its weight, and this disproportion can be explained if we carefully look at its very long and compressed form. The tail is out of proportion to the rest of the body, these are the characteristics of a pelagic fish. The dolphin is a restless swimmer and fearsome predator. It can commonly be found beneath floating objects, benefiting from shade, temporary shelter and the fact that this flotsam also attracts clupeids, mackerel and other fish which form the staple diet of the dolphin.
A real sportfish
Pelagic fish are caught by fishing techniques and the dolphin can truly be defined as a real classic sportfish. In fact, it’s not always attracted to the appeal of static baits but can prefer lures trolled at fast speed. Like other species, Dolphin come closer to the shore during autumnal months, and can be caught by anglers floating baits relatively close to the shoreline. Young Dolphins by nature will follow the leader, and as a consequence when shoals are localized, it is possible to catch multiple fish in a short time. Many fishermen use “cannizzi” (a kind of FAD) that are anchored to the sea bottom and are made of interlaced palm leaves. These structures appeal to the dolphins and anglers can have a lot of fun driving around the “cannizzi” which also attract young amberjacks and other pelagic fish. European fishing laws restrict the daily catch weights, although in generally most ethical anglers will usually release their fish. An exciting fishing technique is to spin lures (made with small poopers) around the cannizzi which encourage the dolphin to make a spectacular surface attack. Many spectacular jumps will normally follow and during this time the fish will quite often free itself from the hook.
Offshore Trolling
The biggest fish caught in the Med sea and certified in the IGFA books, was a male specimen of 34 kilos in Malta. Nowadays this record may well be broken as anglers are encountering more and more larger specimens. Mature dolphins are less attracted by lures and this has been proved with some incredibly big captures by anglers searching for dentex and amberjacks in deep water. This appears to be the case worldwide where big dolphins are always caught by using live bait. A clear example is Cabo San Lucas, Mexico where very experienced anglers have created a most spectacular boat fishing technique of casting with live bait. The target is usually striped marlin, although they can catch mature dolphins of more than 25 kilos by using a mackerel as live bait which has been hooked through the nostril and is cast onto the surface.
Random Encounters...
In the last few years the dolphin’s average size and living territory has increased and this has prompted anglers to always have ready ‘fishing rigs’ which have been purposely put together to catch dolphin should they come across them. It’s safe to say that dolphin can be caught at pretty much any distance from the stern when using lures to attract tuna. I have discussed with many other anglers the merits of different techniques, and yet I still do not really understand whether mature dolphin prefer baited lure sets close to or far from the boat. It seems that they prefer surface lures, although the classic X-rap will quite often reveal a nice surprise. On reflection, I would say that it is much easier encountering this fish by luck as opposed to using a specific technique which may eventually turn into a disappointing results. Of course, whilst trolling offshore, if we found floating wreckage, it’s definitely worth having a quick look as even a common plastic bag can attract the attention of this pelagic fish.
It’s almost impossible to describe the vibrant colours of a living dolphin (coryphaena hippurus), but when they are close to the boat you can see the goldish yellow of the stomach and flanks, and a shiny green with intense blue hue along the back. Sadly these colours become darker and turn to grey as the dolphin expires. The sexual differences are clear to see, expecially in mature specimens: the male in particular has a frontal bony crest which is much more visible than that of the female. In warm tropical seas this fish can reach weights of up to 50 kilos with a length of more than 200 cm. In the Mediterranean they are smaller with a few recent specimens weighing in at over 10 kilos, but nevertheless they are still considered a special “catch” amongst anglers. The dolphin is extremely long in relation to its weight, and this disproportion can be explained if we carefully look at its very long and compressed form. The tail is out of proportion to the rest of the body, these are the characteristics of a pelagic fish. The dolphin is a restless swimmer and fearsome predator. It can commonly be found beneath floating objects, benefiting from shade, temporary shelter and the fact that this flotsam also attracts clupeids, mackerel and other fish which form the staple diet of the dolphin.
A real sportfish
Pelagic fish are caught by fishing techniques and the dolphin can truly be defined as a real classic sportfish. In fact, it’s not always attracted to the appeal of static baits but can prefer lures trolled at fast speed. Like other species, Dolphin come closer to the shore during autumnal months, and can be caught by anglers floating baits relatively close to the shoreline. Young Dolphins by nature will follow the leader, and as a consequence when shoals are localized, it is possible to catch multiple fish in a short time. Many fishermen use “cannizzi” (a kind of FAD) that are anchored to the sea bottom and are made of interlaced palm leaves. These structures appeal to the dolphins and anglers can have a lot of fun driving around the “cannizzi” which also attract young amberjacks and other pelagic fish. European fishing laws restrict the daily catch weights, although in generally most ethical anglers will usually release their fish. An exciting fishing technique is to spin lures (made with small poopers) around the cannizzi which encourage the dolphin to make a spectacular surface attack. Many spectacular jumps will normally follow and during this time the fish will quite often free itself from the hook.
Offshore Trolling
The biggest fish caught in the Med sea and certified in the IGFA books, was a male specimen of 34 kilos in Malta. Nowadays this record may well be broken as anglers are encountering more and more larger specimens. Mature dolphins are less attracted by lures and this has been proved with some incredibly big captures by anglers searching for dentex and amberjacks in deep water. This appears to be the case worldwide where big dolphins are always caught by using live bait. A clear example is Cabo San Lucas, Mexico where very experienced anglers have created a most spectacular boat fishing technique of casting with live bait. The target is usually striped marlin, although they can catch mature dolphins of more than 25 kilos by using a mackerel as live bait which has been hooked through the nostril and is cast onto the surface.
Random Encounters...
In the last few years the dolphin’s average size and living territory has increased and this has prompted anglers to always have ready ‘fishing rigs’ which have been purposely put together to catch dolphin should they come across them. It’s safe to say that dolphin can be caught at pretty much any distance from the stern when using lures to attract tuna. I have discussed with many other anglers the merits of different techniques, and yet I still do not really understand whether mature dolphin prefer baited lure sets close to or far from the boat. It seems that they prefer surface lures, although the classic X-rap will quite often reveal a nice surprise. On reflection, I would say that it is much easier encountering this fish by luck as opposed to using a specific technique which may eventually turn into a disappointing results. Of course, whilst trolling offshore, if we found floating wreckage, it’s definitely worth having a quick look as even a common plastic bag can attract the attention of this pelagic fish.
“SWORDPLAY” by Bill Brown and Nick Stanczyk
At the southern end of Islamorada in the Florida Keys lies a historic landmark, Bud N’ Mary’s Marina. Over the years its renown captains, clients, and their world record catches have helped ‘The Village of Islands’ become known as ‘The Sportfishing Capital of the World.” However, over the short span of the past six years a revolution of sorts has put this location at the forefront of angling history. Totally revolutionary methods of landing broadbill swordfish, “The Gladiators of the Deep,” during the hours of daylight have been developed in near secrecy by a dedicated group of anglers who sail out of Bud N’ Mary’s. Deep in the dark depths of the canyons and drop-offs marking the delineations of the Gulf Stream’s meandering course off of Islamorada there’s been a transformation of sorts over the past few years. ’ Xiphias gladius,’ the mighty broadbill swordfish have been caught in both numbers and sizes that literally boggle the mind due to a driven group of anglers employing ‘deep dropping’ methodology to target these elusive gamefish that were traditionally sought only during the hours of darkness. The innovative tackle and techniques employed in this newly discovered fishery evolved due to persistence of Bud N’ Mary’s owner, Captain Richard Stanczyk along with his younger brother Scott, first-mate KJ, long time friend Vic Gaspeny, and Richard’s son, Nick. Together, this team has spent many long days plumbing the depths of the nearby Gulf Stream waters seeking out and landing the broadbill swordfish during the hours of daylight with absolute consistency. They’ve complied an incomparable run of success as they once had 53 straight trips with these billfish coming over the gunnels of the ‘Catch 22’ or the ‘B N’ M..’ Vic now holds the unofficial record for capturing the most swordfish over-all with 98 of them occurring during the hours of daylight.
The broadbill swordfish is probably one of the most challenging Apex Predators found swimming in the oceans of the world in that it can take a bait in the crushing depths of 2000 feet of water, come to the surface to leap with abandon before sounding back to the abyss from which it came. No battle with these fish is the same as some are fast and furious while others take the angler hours of torture like exertion in the fighting chair. “Even the thought of having someone reel in nearly a half mile of line without the aid of an electric reel to assist them makes some anglers tremble in that they’re simply not up to this physical and mental challenge,” Vic related. Richard feels that, “The real test of catching a swordfish in the daytime is having over 2,000 feet of line out with a 15 pound sinker attached while seeking a quarry with a very soft mouth and still managing to bring it up to the surface without losing it,” were just a few of the obstacles that has to be over-come. Vic commented that, “The desire to capture these fish is driven by the realistic chance of capturing a true monster in the 700- to 900 pound and, potentially, even larger. We’ve caught them up to 450 pounds and have broken off much bigger fish several times.” Nick stated that, “The most awe-inspiring aspect of fighting these fish is the unpredictability of exactly knowing when the fight will end. We’ve had big broadbills up after an hour thinking that the battle was almost over when they’ll suddenly rip off hundreds of yards of line, and you’d then realize that the real battle has just begun.’ Scott had captained a majority of these tips and feels that it’s the time spent at the dock and in the cockpit is the key to capturing these fish with regularity in that, “The preparation for these trips is time consuming in that you need a reel capable of holding nearly a mile of braided line coupled with a rod limber enough to telegraph a subtle bite, yet having enough backbone to break the will of one of the most powerful gamefish found lurking in the world’s oceans. All of the elements of this equation, including the tackle’s have to made without a single failure or a lapse of concentration.” In the wide world of salt water angling, there aren’t too many surprises left, but daytime swordfishing in the Keys is most definitely one of them. A momentary glimpse of a mercurial hued swordfish engaging in an acrobatic leap above the azure blue waters of the Gulf Stream can lead to an addiction that can only be cured by heading out to capture one of these legendary billfish that many angling tales are made of.
The broadbill swordfish is probably one of the most challenging Apex Predators found swimming in the oceans of the world in that it can take a bait in the crushing depths of 2000 feet of water, come to the surface to leap with abandon before sounding back to the abyss from which it came. No battle with these fish is the same as some are fast and furious while others take the angler hours of torture like exertion in the fighting chair. “Even the thought of having someone reel in nearly a half mile of line without the aid of an electric reel to assist them makes some anglers tremble in that they’re simply not up to this physical and mental challenge,” Vic related. Richard feels that, “The real test of catching a swordfish in the daytime is having over 2,000 feet of line out with a 15 pound sinker attached while seeking a quarry with a very soft mouth and still managing to bring it up to the surface without losing it,” were just a few of the obstacles that has to be over-come. Vic commented that, “The desire to capture these fish is driven by the realistic chance of capturing a true monster in the 700- to 900 pound and, potentially, even larger. We’ve caught them up to 450 pounds and have broken off much bigger fish several times.” Nick stated that, “The most awe-inspiring aspect of fighting these fish is the unpredictability of exactly knowing when the fight will end. We’ve had big broadbills up after an hour thinking that the battle was almost over when they’ll suddenly rip off hundreds of yards of line, and you’d then realize that the real battle has just begun.’ Scott had captained a majority of these tips and feels that it’s the time spent at the dock and in the cockpit is the key to capturing these fish with regularity in that, “The preparation for these trips is time consuming in that you need a reel capable of holding nearly a mile of braided line coupled with a rod limber enough to telegraph a subtle bite, yet having enough backbone to break the will of one of the most powerful gamefish found lurking in the world’s oceans. All of the elements of this equation, including the tackle’s have to made without a single failure or a lapse of concentration.” In the wide world of salt water angling, there aren’t too many surprises left, but daytime swordfishing in the Keys is most definitely one of them. A momentary glimpse of a mercurial hued swordfish engaging in an acrobatic leap above the azure blue waters of the Gulf Stream can lead to an addiction that can only be cured by heading out to capture one of these legendary billfish that many angling tales are made of.
“Chasing Leerfish” by Paolo Castelnuovo
The Leerfish, known also as Gaarick (Lichia Amia) is a powerful carangid, nervous and suspicious like a race foal: very difficult to entice to bite, it must be hunted using specific techniques. Once hooked, the fight is always exciting for the angler, and every catch is a great new story to be told. An exceptional game fish The Leerfish is extremely powerful and fast when attacking baitfish thanks to the efficient streamlined shape of its body.
The very large caudal fin, compressed shape and muscular structure, make this fish a perfect example of a sea predator. Brown above, and silvery white below the evident line, it can sometimes cause identification confusion with the Great Amberjack; however the smaller head and higher and thinner central part of the body, will be the identifying factors. Its mouth has very long upper and lower jaws which extend to the rear margin of the eyes, and once opened has incredible dimensions, suitable for swallowing big baits.
A ferocious predator The Leerfish reproductive period begins in spring and lasts until the beginning of the summer, when, exhausted and hungry after its “love season”, it gathers in large schools close to the shore searching the right spots to hunt its bait fish prey. Preferred areas are river estuaries, port structures and shallow waters. The favourite baits of Leerfish are mullet, ‘horse mackerel’, garpike (similar to ballyhoo), and mackerel which are hunted especially during daylight hours when the sunlight helps its attack.
Where and how?
The Leerfish can be found along the entire Italian coast, especially in the areas where there is a predominance of sandy beaches. The main fishing techniques used for this game fish are livebait trolling, and spinning with surface hardbaits. Occasionally they can even be caught from the shore. This article deals only with livebait trolling, certainly our preferred fishing technique. We have always accomplished our best results in the Tuscany sea, more precisely in the areas around the Argentario promontory, from Albenga river to the port of Santo Stefano.
The typical fishing trip begins very early in the morning in order to have enough time to catch at least 8-10 bait fish (mullet, garpike etc.) which are kept in the livewell. The bigger the bait is, the greater the chance of catching a large Leerfish.
We use 12 or 20 lb trolling rods, equipped with conventional reels 2.5/0 or 4/0, loaded with nylon or braided line.
The leader is made of 6 or 7 feet of 40lb test flurorocarbon line, ending with a “catalina rig” hook style. A small (2/0, 3/0) non offset hook (to close the jaws of the bait fish), is bound, back to back with a larger (7/0, 8/0) hook (eventually Circle), that will have the function of penetrating the hard mouth apparatus of the Leerfish when it swallows the bait.
This rig has been designed in this way as the Leerfish usually grabs the bait in the middle of the body, and then after a few seconds will turn it and swallow it head first.
Trolling configuration
We troll two lines, positioning the bait 50 to 70 yards behind the boat. One bait is kept on the surface, whilst the other is trolled with a 4-5 ounce quick release sinker about 20 yards from the bait. The ideal trolling speed is around 1.5 to 2 knots. The Leerfish usually follows the bait before the attack. Therefore when we notice a vibration of the rod tip, this will usually mean that our livebait is attempting to escape from the predator behind it. We then remove the rod from the holder and jig it a little to stimulate the attack from the Leerfish. When everything is carried out properly, the strike comes very quickly and now we have to manage the most difficult part... It’s important that the fish can take the bait away without realizing there is any significant resistance of the line, therefore the drag must be kept very close to free spool. After a few seconds of interminable waiting, we will then move the drag to the strike position to begin the real fight. The fish will fight mostly on surface, with prolonged runs, jumps and water splashes, making these moments incredibly exciting.
Paolo Castelnuovo
Castel23@libero.it
www.iopescocosi.com
The very large caudal fin, compressed shape and muscular structure, make this fish a perfect example of a sea predator. Brown above, and silvery white below the evident line, it can sometimes cause identification confusion with the Great Amberjack; however the smaller head and higher and thinner central part of the body, will be the identifying factors. Its mouth has very long upper and lower jaws which extend to the rear margin of the eyes, and once opened has incredible dimensions, suitable for swallowing big baits.
A ferocious predator The Leerfish reproductive period begins in spring and lasts until the beginning of the summer, when, exhausted and hungry after its “love season”, it gathers in large schools close to the shore searching the right spots to hunt its bait fish prey. Preferred areas are river estuaries, port structures and shallow waters. The favourite baits of Leerfish are mullet, ‘horse mackerel’, garpike (similar to ballyhoo), and mackerel which are hunted especially during daylight hours when the sunlight helps its attack.
Where and how?
The Leerfish can be found along the entire Italian coast, especially in the areas where there is a predominance of sandy beaches. The main fishing techniques used for this game fish are livebait trolling, and spinning with surface hardbaits. Occasionally they can even be caught from the shore. This article deals only with livebait trolling, certainly our preferred fishing technique. We have always accomplished our best results in the Tuscany sea, more precisely in the areas around the Argentario promontory, from Albenga river to the port of Santo Stefano.
The typical fishing trip begins very early in the morning in order to have enough time to catch at least 8-10 bait fish (mullet, garpike etc.) which are kept in the livewell. The bigger the bait is, the greater the chance of catching a large Leerfish.
We use 12 or 20 lb trolling rods, equipped with conventional reels 2.5/0 or 4/0, loaded with nylon or braided line.
The leader is made of 6 or 7 feet of 40lb test flurorocarbon line, ending with a “catalina rig” hook style. A small (2/0, 3/0) non offset hook (to close the jaws of the bait fish), is bound, back to back with a larger (7/0, 8/0) hook (eventually Circle), that will have the function of penetrating the hard mouth apparatus of the Leerfish when it swallows the bait.
This rig has been designed in this way as the Leerfish usually grabs the bait in the middle of the body, and then after a few seconds will turn it and swallow it head first.
Trolling configuration
We troll two lines, positioning the bait 50 to 70 yards behind the boat. One bait is kept on the surface, whilst the other is trolled with a 4-5 ounce quick release sinker about 20 yards from the bait. The ideal trolling speed is around 1.5 to 2 knots. The Leerfish usually follows the bait before the attack. Therefore when we notice a vibration of the rod tip, this will usually mean that our livebait is attempting to escape from the predator behind it. We then remove the rod from the holder and jig it a little to stimulate the attack from the Leerfish. When everything is carried out properly, the strike comes very quickly and now we have to manage the most difficult part... It’s important that the fish can take the bait away without realizing there is any significant resistance of the line, therefore the drag must be kept very close to free spool. After a few seconds of interminable waiting, we will then move the drag to the strike position to begin the real fight. The fish will fight mostly on surface, with prolonged runs, jumps and water splashes, making these moments incredibly exciting.
Paolo Castelnuovo
Castel23@libero.it
www.iopescocosi.com
“TBF News” by Pete Johnson
Ban on exports of sailfish passes as part of Costa Rican conservation agreement The Billfish Foundation generally pleased with new regulations
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica
Though not all of the previously agreed measures were passed by the Costa Rican fisheries agencies’ board this past week for the protection of sailfish and other sport fishing resources, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) was upbeat about the regulations which were approved.
“The primary concern was the exportation of sailfish meat which now will no longer be allowed as well as stopping the use of live bait by the commercial long-liners,” said TBF’s Central American Conservation Director Herbert Nanne after seeing the final agreement issued Friday by the Costa Rican Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute INCOPESCA (Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura). Nanne was president of INCOPESCA from 1998 - 2002. For a number of years groups like TBF and Costa Rican sportsmen and women united in a billfish conservation front have been working with the government for the expansion of conservation measures to protect sailfish from commercial fishing.
Besides banning sailfish exports other points in the final INCOPESCA agreement were:
· prohibiting the use of live bait on long-lines which have been found to kill many sailfish;
· a special INCOPESCA license to capture live bait to be used in other fisheries by commercial long-liners;
· the proper release of live sailfish, striped marlins, white marlins and swordfish caught by sport fishermen and commercial long-liners, by cutting the line near the leader or as close as possible to the hook without taking the fish out of the water;
· making it illegal for sport fishers to use gaffs to bring the fish close to the boat or to pull it up on-board for photographic purposes;
· limiting to a 15% maximum of sailfish permitted as by-catch for commercial purposes.
“If more than 15% are landed the sailfish will be confiscated and donated to nonprofit institutions like elderly homes, schools etc.,” said Nanne. “Commercial fishers that want to land sailfish must request an in-port inspection to INCOPESCA prior to landing. For transport and commerce of sailfish in CR, the trucks must have special INCOPESCA inspected documents.”
Nanne said for the full compliance of this agreement INCOPESCA will form a special committee to include INCOPESCA regional directors and sportfishing sector representatives from Golfito and Quepos along with the Costa Rican Coast Guard. He said INCOPESCA will inventory the sailfish stored in commercial freezers for export purposes no later than the December 28, 2008. After these sailfish are sold no further export will be allowed.
“These sailfish conservation measures are significant and the first in more than a decade in Costa Rica,” said TBF’s President Ellen Peel, “and we are proud that the collective efforts of many people were responsible for this victory.” Nanne added the conservation measures are the result of the work of many people united in the Costa Rican Sailfish Conservation, Front like Donald McGuinness, Todd Staley, Darren McClave, Jeannette Perez, Jesus Vallejos, Domingo Dominguez, Ricardo Seevers, Alberto Laurencich, Miguel Duran, Rolando Chaves, Raul Miranda and others.
“We want to also thank Luis Dobles, the new president of INCOPESCA for working diligently by meeting with all the sportfishing leaders in CR, and its board of directors for passing the sailfish conservation measures,” said Nanne. Dr. Russell Nelson, the TBF’s scientific director said he and Nanne still have concerns regarding the vulnerability of sailfish that collect in certain areas. The sport fishing contingent had made complete closure requests to long-line commercial fishing along the Pacific coast 30 miles out from Burica at the Costa Rica/ Panama border to Quepos during the months of January to May.
“Those and some other important time and zone buffer measures weren’t passed by the INCOPESCA board. But all in all the other measures passed is a much needed start for the expansion of conservation measures,” said Nelson.
Ms. Peel said TBF will continue to work with the Costa Rican sportfishing and tourism interests in pursuit of these goals and press for aggressive billfish conservation measures.
The Billfish Foundation was established in 1986 and is the only non-profit organization dedicated solely to conserving and enhancing billfish populations worldwide. With world headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., USA, TBF’s comprehensive network of members and supporters includes anglers, captains, mates, tournament directors, clubs, sport fishing and tourism businesses. By coordinating efforts and speaking with one voice, the organization works for solutions that are good for billfish, not punitive to recreational anglers and good for the local economy.
TBF PR counsel -
Pete Johnson,
Johnson Communications,
Scottsdale, Ariz., USA
480-951-3654 (ph)
JohnsonCom@aol.com
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica
Though not all of the previously agreed measures were passed by the Costa Rican fisheries agencies’ board this past week for the protection of sailfish and other sport fishing resources, The Billfish Foundation (TBF) was upbeat about the regulations which were approved.
“The primary concern was the exportation of sailfish meat which now will no longer be allowed as well as stopping the use of live bait by the commercial long-liners,” said TBF’s Central American Conservation Director Herbert Nanne after seeing the final agreement issued Friday by the Costa Rican Fisheries and Aquaculture Institute INCOPESCA (Instituto Costarricense de Pesca y Acuicultura). Nanne was president of INCOPESCA from 1998 - 2002. For a number of years groups like TBF and Costa Rican sportsmen and women united in a billfish conservation front have been working with the government for the expansion of conservation measures to protect sailfish from commercial fishing.
Besides banning sailfish exports other points in the final INCOPESCA agreement were:
· prohibiting the use of live bait on long-lines which have been found to kill many sailfish;
· a special INCOPESCA license to capture live bait to be used in other fisheries by commercial long-liners;
· the proper release of live sailfish, striped marlins, white marlins and swordfish caught by sport fishermen and commercial long-liners, by cutting the line near the leader or as close as possible to the hook without taking the fish out of the water;
· making it illegal for sport fishers to use gaffs to bring the fish close to the boat or to pull it up on-board for photographic purposes;
· limiting to a 15% maximum of sailfish permitted as by-catch for commercial purposes.
“If more than 15% are landed the sailfish will be confiscated and donated to nonprofit institutions like elderly homes, schools etc.,” said Nanne. “Commercial fishers that want to land sailfish must request an in-port inspection to INCOPESCA prior to landing. For transport and commerce of sailfish in CR, the trucks must have special INCOPESCA inspected documents.”
Nanne said for the full compliance of this agreement INCOPESCA will form a special committee to include INCOPESCA regional directors and sportfishing sector representatives from Golfito and Quepos along with the Costa Rican Coast Guard. He said INCOPESCA will inventory the sailfish stored in commercial freezers for export purposes no later than the December 28, 2008. After these sailfish are sold no further export will be allowed.
“These sailfish conservation measures are significant and the first in more than a decade in Costa Rica,” said TBF’s President Ellen Peel, “and we are proud that the collective efforts of many people were responsible for this victory.” Nanne added the conservation measures are the result of the work of many people united in the Costa Rican Sailfish Conservation, Front like Donald McGuinness, Todd Staley, Darren McClave, Jeannette Perez, Jesus Vallejos, Domingo Dominguez, Ricardo Seevers, Alberto Laurencich, Miguel Duran, Rolando Chaves, Raul Miranda and others.
“We want to also thank Luis Dobles, the new president of INCOPESCA for working diligently by meeting with all the sportfishing leaders in CR, and its board of directors for passing the sailfish conservation measures,” said Nanne. Dr. Russell Nelson, the TBF’s scientific director said he and Nanne still have concerns regarding the vulnerability of sailfish that collect in certain areas. The sport fishing contingent had made complete closure requests to long-line commercial fishing along the Pacific coast 30 miles out from Burica at the Costa Rica/ Panama border to Quepos during the months of January to May.
“Those and some other important time and zone buffer measures weren’t passed by the INCOPESCA board. But all in all the other measures passed is a much needed start for the expansion of conservation measures,” said Nelson.
Ms. Peel said TBF will continue to work with the Costa Rican sportfishing and tourism interests in pursuit of these goals and press for aggressive billfish conservation measures.
The Billfish Foundation was established in 1986 and is the only non-profit organization dedicated solely to conserving and enhancing billfish populations worldwide. With world headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., USA, TBF’s comprehensive network of members and supporters includes anglers, captains, mates, tournament directors, clubs, sport fishing and tourism businesses. By coordinating efforts and speaking with one voice, the organization works for solutions that are good for billfish, not punitive to recreational anglers and good for the local economy.
TBF PR counsel -
Pete Johnson,
Johnson Communications,
Scottsdale, Ariz., USA
480-951-3654 (ph)
JohnsonCom@aol.com
“2009 Palm Beach Sailfish Classic” by Matt Murray
The 4th Annual Palm Beach Sailfish Classic took place starting with the Captain’s meeting at the Buccaneer on the evening of January 1, 2009. Thus began the ’09 Sailfish Tournament Season in Palm Beach. The tournament boats were a mix of the old time trollers and kite flying center consoles, and the anticipation was high as Day 1 of fishing broke with great weather and the teams headed out.
Day 1 was another sterling performance by Wink Doerzbacher and the crew of the Masque, as they were top boat with 8 releases on dead bait for 1600 points, closely followed by Big Oh with 7 releases for 1400 points. Angler Molly Fleming aboard the Certifiable released the first fish of the tournament just minutes after lines in.
The family that benefited from the 2008 Make-A-Wish donation was in attendance for the dinner and gave a very moving speech about how much the tournament and the charity had changed their lives for the better. The evening continued at the Buccaneer with a fabulous magic show by Mio.
Day 2 conditions found most of the boats heading north again, and in a closely fought
battle decided on time, Team Big Oh ended up as Top Boat for the tournament, adding 5 fish to bring them to 12 for the tournament, edging out Masque by 23 minutes. Certifiable rounded out the top 3 as Molly Fleming captured Top Female Angler award. Rudy Polselli aboard the Rude Awakening was Top Angler. Catch One had a productive day on live bait, releasing 10 fish. Bob DeGabriel released the final fish of the tournament and Junior angler Patrick Miller won his division. Top Wahoo was landed by another Junior angler, Camden Varley- Harris and weighed a hefty 46.2 pounds. Top Captain was Ronnie Fields aboard Big Oh, and Big Oh and Masque won the Crew Awards.
The awards ceremony followed dinner and cocktails with Tournament Director Pat Ross and Helen Hironomus presenting the trophies to the winners as well as a check to the Billfish Foundation in the amount of $12,000.00, and a check to Make-A-Wish for $22,000.00. In four short years, the Palm Beach Sailfish Classic has given $150,000.00 to the charities, and granted 20 children’s wishes through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Mark your calendars, same time, same place next year for the 2010 Palm Beach Sailfish Classic!
Day 1 was another sterling performance by Wink Doerzbacher and the crew of the Masque, as they were top boat with 8 releases on dead bait for 1600 points, closely followed by Big Oh with 7 releases for 1400 points. Angler Molly Fleming aboard the Certifiable released the first fish of the tournament just minutes after lines in.
The family that benefited from the 2008 Make-A-Wish donation was in attendance for the dinner and gave a very moving speech about how much the tournament and the charity had changed their lives for the better. The evening continued at the Buccaneer with a fabulous magic show by Mio.
Day 2 conditions found most of the boats heading north again, and in a closely fought
battle decided on time, Team Big Oh ended up as Top Boat for the tournament, adding 5 fish to bring them to 12 for the tournament, edging out Masque by 23 minutes. Certifiable rounded out the top 3 as Molly Fleming captured Top Female Angler award. Rudy Polselli aboard the Rude Awakening was Top Angler. Catch One had a productive day on live bait, releasing 10 fish. Bob DeGabriel released the final fish of the tournament and Junior angler Patrick Miller won his division. Top Wahoo was landed by another Junior angler, Camden Varley- Harris and weighed a hefty 46.2 pounds. Top Captain was Ronnie Fields aboard Big Oh, and Big Oh and Masque won the Crew Awards.
The awards ceremony followed dinner and cocktails with Tournament Director Pat Ross and Helen Hironomus presenting the trophies to the winners as well as a check to the Billfish Foundation in the amount of $12,000.00, and a check to Make-A-Wish for $22,000.00. In four short years, the Palm Beach Sailfish Classic has given $150,000.00 to the charities, and granted 20 children’s wishes through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Mark your calendars, same time, same place next year for the 2010 Palm Beach Sailfish Classic!
“Team Sidab claim their prize to fish in South Africa”
“Winners” of the Sinbad Classic - Arabia’s premier sportfishing tournament - head for Cape Town
The four winners of the 2008 Sinbad Classic’s first prize, Ahmed, Fahad, Khadim and Nabil headed off to South Africa from Oman to target giant yellow fin tuna found in Cape Town between October and April every year.
They arrived for their first days fishing at Hout Bay Marina and were introduced to the Captain and owner of ‘Hooked on Africa Fishing Charters’, Sean Amor. Sean mentioned he had been out the day before and had caught some very large Yellow Fin Tuna, which added to their excitement.
The seas off the African coastline are extremely big and at some points quite rough,
however the boat was equal to the task and with its Catamaran hull, especially designed for the Cape Waters, it glided through the surf with ease. The run to the fishing grounds is about 50-60 nautical miles and takes about 2 hours. The aim was to meet up with the Commercial trawlers where they would find the Yellow Fin Tuna feeding on the scraps left behind in the wake of the bigger boats.
Day 1 Shortly after ‘lines in’ we had our first strike of a fish. From nowhere two of our other lines seemed to rattle off the reels, sounding that we had fish that needed to be brought to the boat. As we began to pull in what were to be the smaller long fin tuna, the crew started to throw cut up Mackerel into the water for what we learned would attract the giant Yellow Fin Tuna to the lines. This is a completely different style of fishing to that of what we practice in Oman but it seemed to work because it wasn’t long before Ahmed was fighting what would turn out to be a 55kg+ fish. There were high fives being thrown around the boat as Ahmed landed the fish and it would soon be our turn as one after another each of the other four rods and lines went tight. There was huge commotion on the boat as we all fought to keep the giant Yellow Fin tuna on our lines. It is one of the fishing world’s ultimate thrills to catch these large fish and we were definitely not going to lose them now.
Fahad was next to land his fish which was roughly 60kg+ in size, where after Ahmed landed his second fish of the day also in the region of 60kg+. I was firmly strapped into a harness that clipped onto the reel to ensure that the rod wasn’t pulled from my hands during the fight, something that I was thankful for as it allowed me to rest my aching arms for a few brief moments before once again resuming the long fight with this giant fish. It was thirty long minutes later that I finally brought the fish to the boat. It was brought on board with groans as the crew struggled to pull the fish over the gunnels (the side of the boat). It was an extremely large fish in the region of 70kg+ and I was all smiles as I turned to see my Omani compatriots all cheering for me.
Five hours had just flown by and we had landed six of these giant fish. Once more we heard the sound of the line peeling off the reel, Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Ahmed jumped on the rod, he was determined to catch the largest fish of the day and we were all in agreement that by the sound of it, this fish was going to be very big. The battle lasted for somewhere around 45 minutes before Ahmed managed to bring the fish to the side of the boat. Under the electric blue water we could see that this was indeed a very large fish and it continued to battle the line once more as it dived back into the deep on sight of the boat. The line once again peeled off the reel and Ahmed turned to us with a fire burning in his eyes. He was not going to let this fish be the one that got away.
It was another 15 minutes before he eventually managed ……………. see mag for more
The four winners of the 2008 Sinbad Classic’s first prize, Ahmed, Fahad, Khadim and Nabil headed off to South Africa from Oman to target giant yellow fin tuna found in Cape Town between October and April every year.
They arrived for their first days fishing at Hout Bay Marina and were introduced to the Captain and owner of ‘Hooked on Africa Fishing Charters’, Sean Amor. Sean mentioned he had been out the day before and had caught some very large Yellow Fin Tuna, which added to their excitement.
The seas off the African coastline are extremely big and at some points quite rough,
however the boat was equal to the task and with its Catamaran hull, especially designed for the Cape Waters, it glided through the surf with ease. The run to the fishing grounds is about 50-60 nautical miles and takes about 2 hours. The aim was to meet up with the Commercial trawlers where they would find the Yellow Fin Tuna feeding on the scraps left behind in the wake of the bigger boats.
Day 1 Shortly after ‘lines in’ we had our first strike of a fish. From nowhere two of our other lines seemed to rattle off the reels, sounding that we had fish that needed to be brought to the boat. As we began to pull in what were to be the smaller long fin tuna, the crew started to throw cut up Mackerel into the water for what we learned would attract the giant Yellow Fin Tuna to the lines. This is a completely different style of fishing to that of what we practice in Oman but it seemed to work because it wasn’t long before Ahmed was fighting what would turn out to be a 55kg+ fish. There were high fives being thrown around the boat as Ahmed landed the fish and it would soon be our turn as one after another each of the other four rods and lines went tight. There was huge commotion on the boat as we all fought to keep the giant Yellow Fin tuna on our lines. It is one of the fishing world’s ultimate thrills to catch these large fish and we were definitely not going to lose them now.
Fahad was next to land his fish which was roughly 60kg+ in size, where after Ahmed landed his second fish of the day also in the region of 60kg+. I was firmly strapped into a harness that clipped onto the reel to ensure that the rod wasn’t pulled from my hands during the fight, something that I was thankful for as it allowed me to rest my aching arms for a few brief moments before once again resuming the long fight with this giant fish. It was thirty long minutes later that I finally brought the fish to the boat. It was brought on board with groans as the crew struggled to pull the fish over the gunnels (the side of the boat). It was an extremely large fish in the region of 70kg+ and I was all smiles as I turned to see my Omani compatriots all cheering for me.
Five hours had just flown by and we had landed six of these giant fish. Once more we heard the sound of the line peeling off the reel, Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Ahmed jumped on the rod, he was determined to catch the largest fish of the day and we were all in agreement that by the sound of it, this fish was going to be very big. The battle lasted for somewhere around 45 minutes before Ahmed managed to bring the fish to the side of the boat. Under the electric blue water we could see that this was indeed a very large fish and it continued to battle the line once more as it dived back into the deep on sight of the boat. The line once again peeled off the reel and Ahmed turned to us with a fire burning in his eyes. He was not going to let this fish be the one that got away.
It was another 15 minutes before he eventually managed ……………. see mag for more