The Bisbee’s Black And Blue tournament is now in its
34th year and is going from strength to strength.
This year Hurricane Odile could easily have damaged
the potential number of entrants and visitors to fish in the world famous event,
however fishermen are made of tougher stuff and the Bisbee’s went ahead
regardless, filling the town with a buzz and atmosphere all of its own.
The Bisbee family were involved immediately with the relief
effort in and around Cabo after the hurricane. Working in partnership with
groups like Waves 4 Water and Club Dust, water filtration systems were
distributed and temporary houses were erected. Bob Bisbee Senior, the founder
of the Black & Blue and the family patriarch, flew down immediately he was
able and began disbursing low-interest loans and grants to help the local,
independent charter boats, bait fishermen and eco-tourism guides get back on
the water.
Another initiative helped kick-start tournament
registration to put the local fishermen back to work. An anonymous benefactor
agreed to pay a number of base entries if anglers would book the local charters
at a fixed fee. The response was tremendous and a random raffle
assigned the teams to the participating boats.
Still, no one quite expected the overall reaction of
Bisbee’s anglers past, present and future. This is the 34th year of the B&B
and many have fished it for decades. So when the cry went out to help the local
economy rebound, hundreds heeded the call. By late Tuesday evening the boat
tally was 127 teams, with the
overall prize money topping $2.1 million. As the captains’ meeting concluded
and the jovial crowd watched the entertainment before the ceremonial torch was
lit, it went without saying that this will be the Black & Blue to remember.
Cabo San Lucas is one of the few
spots in the world where anglers can consistently catch the two largest species
of marlin, blues and blacks. Consistent success with these pelagic predators,
however, calls for different tactics which often forces decisions for Captains
and crews alike as to which species they aim for.
Blacks tend to hang around reefs and structure with
large concentrations of bait so the underwater mounts off the tip of the Baja
peninsula like Gordo Bank and Jaime Bank are prime places to bridle a live
skipjack or yellowfin tuna and slowly bump the boat in and out of gear until a
marlin spots it and decides to eat.
Blues, on the other hand, are open water predators
that roam rips, currents and weed lines in search of food like dorado and
squid. Boats targeting blue marlin often use lures so they can troll faster to
cover more water to maximize the presentation.
Canadian tourist Dan Tosczak’s vacation took a strange
and happy turn on the first day of the tourney. He and his girlfriend had booked
a trip to Cabo to watch the Bisbee’s Black & Blue Marlin Tournament,
however when they arrived, they found out about the Charter Hook-Up program and
decided to fish. By the time the scales at the Puerto Paraiso Mall closed at 9
p.m. Tosczak and Team Danito y Karlita were the early tournament leaders with a
394-pound blue.
The Charter Hook-Up program was another initiative
that was created this year as a result of Hurricane Odile to put the local
independent charter boats back to work. An anonymous donor agreed to pay the
base entry for a number of teams if they agreed to book a local boat to fish
the tournament. A random raffle matching boats and teams was held Tuesday,
setting the stage for Tosczak’s top fish. That fight took 65 minutes.
Despite
several blues and blacks being boated over the first two days, running up to
the last day there was more than $2.1 million in prize money still to win.
With no clear
winner jackpot-wise emerging, it took a flurry of fish the third and final day
to keep the late-drama streak alive. And in the end it wasn’t a monster fish or
a tournament record making the most impact. But with 37 pounds to spare, Sporty Game scored the
top prize and the biggest payout of the week. The team had bet across the board
in all possible jackpots in the optional categories and stands to win close to
$1.5 million for its catch.
Bisbees 2014 will
go down in history here in Los Cabos – not just because of the prize money –
but also because of the generosity of the Bisbee family in the recovery efforts,
the determination of the local people to get back to work despite the ravages
of Odile, and of course the visiting anglers that put so much into this amazing
community.
Proof, if ever
was needed, that Cabo was and still is basically a fishing town.
#Unstoppable.