|
Bisbee's Black & Blue Tournament Results - 2000
|
Tournament Week - October 25 to 27, 2000
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, México.
2000 Bisbee Black & Blue Jackpot Tournament
Recap by Tracy Ehrenberg |
|
|
The prizes were awarded by the amount of money won, starting with the smallest check :
3rd place in tournament
Los Companeros 460 lb blue - $96,525.00
2nd place in tournament $200 & $500.00 day one jackpot winners
Picante Expresso, 472 lb blue - $279,765.00
5th place in tournament, $1000 & $2000 day one jackpot winners
Rora II 395 lb blue - $445,140.00
4th place in tournament and all four daily jackpots day three
Chupacabra 404 lb blue - $574,560.00
1st place in tournament and all four daily jackpots day two
After Midnight, 500 lb black - $989,910.00.
This year's Bisbee was all set to be special, the 20th tournament, the year 2000 and a record number of entries consisting of 231 teams and 789 anglers. As usual excitement was high, the night before the contest, with teams scrambling to buy last minute tackle and get final preparations in place. The welcome cocktail party was packed and Wayne Bisbee took questions, regarding tournament rules from anglers. The location this year was different, as for the first time, the whole event took place on the sportfishing dock, also know as the mini cruise ship pier.
Boats were out before dawn on the first day, October 25th, looking for ideal bait, preferably skipjacks, or small yellowfin tuna. The sardine catchers did brisk business, at $20.00 a scoop, but this was of no importance to the anglers, wanting to improve their odds. Local dignitaries joined Bisbee out at the arch, for the start, set at 8:00 am, boats raced back in to be behind the starting line. The line up was impressive, from afar, it looked as if the bay had been transformed and that a strange new reef had popped up overnight, but as you got closer the outline of boats of all different shape and sizes could be discerned. Vessels ranged from humble 26-foot day cruisers, basically outfitted, to incredible yachts, rigged with every kind of electronic imaginable. The largest vessel entered was a beautiful 120 ft luxury yacht, complete with Jacuzzi on the upper deck. A flare shot into the air, signaled the start of the tournament and boats raced out from the starting line, battling for position, bows lifting clear of the water and creating a roller coaster of waves. A terrified guy in a kayak, who must have been the only person in town not to realize what was happening that morning, was right in the path of the departing vessels and raised his paddle high above his head, either in futile defense, or to make himself visible.
Radio activity was pretty slow the first day, but around 11.00 am it was reported that a vessel had a fish on board and that they were heading back to the scale. By noon Rora II, a boat out of Puerta Vallarta, had hung their fish. We had our first qualifier, a 395 lb blue marlin caught by Rafael Herrera from Leon, Mexico. This news encouraged anglers that the fish were out there, despite rough conditions that produced seas up to 10 feet this first day. Two other boats weighed in fish before the 5:00 pm lines out signal, one by the C-Bandit and one by Grisannel, neither reached the 300 lb weight limit – making team Rora very happy – it was just a question of waiting, as they were entered in all the daily jackpots, of $200.00, $500.00. $1000.00 & $2000.00. Boats starting showing up back in Cabo by 6:00 pm and another three fish were weighed in, again, none made the 300 lb mark, however as darkness began, it was reported that Picante Expresso, had just landed a fish that they had been fighting for seven hours and that they were on the way back to the weigh station. This boat pulled up at around 7:30 and the fish hoisted up, proved to weigh 472 lbs, caught by Dennis Lesinsky from East L.A – these guys were not entered in all the daily jackpots, which meant their winnings would not be as high as Rora II.
Day two the tournament started in the same way as the first, with boats racing out at the after the 10 second count down, leading up to 8:00 am, Bisbee wished the boats luck and the hunt was on. One boat was called back to port, as they were seen being handed a rod and reel from a panga, which is strictly against the rules and were not permitted to fish this day. There was more action the second day, but no fish came to the scale really early, the first vessel to weigh a fish the second day, was El Vato, but their fish was just shy, at 282 lbs, a couple of other non-qualifiers were weighed, followed by a 340 lb blue taken on Pro Fish Nt. Shortly after Los Companeros, showed up with a very decent 460 lb blue marlin, caught by Wayne Kozlosky from Chicago. Pura Vida followed with a 352 lb black marlin. At 6:00 pm After Midnight, a beautiful 75 ft Mikelson, out of Newport Beach pulled up to the dock, all ears had been tuned to the radio, as their hook up was reported at 11:00 am and it was known, from the rumor among the crews, that this was serious fish. This was apparent to everybody, as they backed up, their fish shrouded, in a protective cover. The rigid dorsal fins, protruding from the cover, left no doubt that this was a black. As is the custom, the crowd called out numbers, of what they thought the fish would weigh. This fish was impressive, with a huge head and shoulders, when finally hung a hush descended on the crowd, as the all clear signal was given and the weight called out at 500 lbs, which produced a lot of whooping and hollering especially by angler Russ Armstrong. This team was looking at a big payday, as they were entered in all the daily jackpots. Only two other fish were due in at the scale and shortly after Dorado I weighed in a 312 lb black marlin. Karina kept us waiting until close to 9:00 pm before showing up with another black, that didn't make it at 276 lbs, making After Midnight the day two winner and current leader in the tournament.
Day Three saw anglers heading off again, into less than ideal conditions, battling rough seas and wind, however, anybody had a shot and energy was high. First fish of the day came in around 11:00 am, by King Fisher, sadly just two pounds short at 298 lbs. An hour later No Problem pulled in with a fair size black that tipped the scales at 371 lbs. This was followed by a non-qualifier and then came Chupacabra, last year's second place team, which put everybody on the alert. Their blue went up on the scale and registered 404 lbs, for angler John Uhr, which definitely put them in the running for a place. Another blue was weighed in shortly afterwards by Tuna Time, barely making it at 301 lbs. Anglers started to get desperate into the final hours of the contest, calling each other on cell phones and radio to get reports on activity from each other. Two other boats were reported has having fish on board and heading back to the scale. As it drew near to 5:00 pm, people from the whole town started drifting towards the scale, setting up for a good look at whoever the winners would be. The 5:00 pm lines out signal was given and boats started racing back to port, all teams exhausted after three, long and rough days at sea. Between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm the two fish came in, neither making the 300 lb mark. Though it has been barely noticed, Minerva III had reported a hook-up at 3:35 pm. News started to trickle back and the word around the docks was that they had a very nice fish. This made us sit up and listen; the local crews would never say anything like that, unless there was truth to it. This news caused a ripple of excitement through the locals, Minerva III, is a popular 31 ft Bertram, owned by Bob and Minerva Smith, much loved residents of Cabo for 25 years and owners of Minerva's Baja Tackle. The general consensus was, "we hope they get it, it couldn't go to better people". At around 5:40 the fish was reported to be on board and that the boat was on the way in. They had hooked up six miles out from Salina, near to Punta Gorda, so it would take them a while to get in. The scale was to be closed at 10.00 pm, so they had to be back by then to qualify. As darkness settled on Cabo, the crowd around the scale began to swell, with many well-wishers from the local sportfishing community gathering along with their families. By 9:00 pm the crowd had grown to close to 1000 people all eager to get a look at what could be the winner. By this time, lights could be seen far off in the ocean, slowly making their way towards Cabo and at 9.30 pm Minerva III backed up to the dock. Everybody could see that the fish was big, but it was hard to guessanticipation was high and you could of heard a pin drop, as the fish was hoisted high. The weighmaster signaled the all clear and then the clear words rang out into the night 534 lbs! The crowd erupted into cheers, hoots and applause, the local crew had done it, the smaller boat, the little guy beating out the big guy - the atmosphere was electric. The winner of the 2000 Bisbee was Minerva III, with a team of anglers from Alaska, guided to their victory by a Cabo crew.
A collective contented mood pervaded the docks the following day, as the local boats, got back to their normal day charters, one of "our" crews, had won, meaning the Minerva III's captain, Gil Kakogui and deckhand Hector Romero. Most of the crews that staff Cabo's day charter boats, which number over 100 vessels are related in some way, so everybody felt they had a part in the victory. This mood was maintained throughout the day until just about one hour before the awards dinner began. The word began to circulate that Minerva III, was not going to get the prize. There was unbelief, everyone knew the crew on Minerva III were straight up guys and Minerva Smith, the owner and local I.G.F.A rep, is known to be a person of ethics and good moral character who wouldn't have anything to do with any "funny business". I hooked up with the glum looking Minerva III team just before the awards banquet began. Only two of the team were present, Tim Worthington from Homer, Alaska and Bob Hunt from California, they told me that angler Jim Grimes was back at the hotel throwing up, being consoled by team captain Chuck Hagen, as they had been told that they would not be receiving any prizes and then went on to explain.Tim Worthington told me that Jim Grimes had been subjected to a polygraph test, as all money winners are supposed to be. The state trooper from Anchorage, with 20 years in the service, was the novice angler on the team, never having caught a marlin in his life. The other guys had fished the tournament seven times before, with this being their fourth year on Minvera III. It was Jim's turn in the chair when they got their strike on a 15 lb yellowfin tuna. They followed their carefully practiced sequence, with Jim lifting the rod from the holder, waiting 5 seconds, as instructed before moving the lever and setting the hook. The fish was firmly on before he sat down in the chair. Next followed the fight, which was to last four muscle wearying hours, with Jim not knowing his right from his left "he would tell us move the chair to the left" stated Worthington, "when he actually went the right, - he was so tired" said Worthington. They tried to leader the fish three times, with the rest of the team alert and doing everything they could to make this come out right. By now it was getting dark and Hector, the deckhand crouched on the deck eyes riveted on the line, looking for the swivel to come up, so that he could grab the leader". " A few times Jim called out, Don't touch my line", commented Bob Hunt, fellow team member " and Hector jumped back, raising his hands if under arrest, saying, I'm not touching your line". On the third attempt they gaffed the fish and boated it. Jim Grimes was asked by the Polygraph tester "Is there anything at all that you were uncomfortable with", and Grimes replied "well, I think the deckhand did touch the line 3 or 4 times". The Polygraph examiner, replied " that everything seemed to be in order" and went off to confer with Wayne Bisbee, who returned to the room and told Grimes and the rest of the team, as quoted by Tim Worthington "I'd rather have you guys cheat and win, that to tell the truth and get disqualified for an infraction". However Jim believing that he was doing nothing wrong just stated what he believed happened, in which case, Bisbee asked them to "respectively withdraw", that the deckhand touching the line was against the rules. The team protested loudly and asked that they all be given a Polygraph test, along with the deckhand in question, which was refused, with Bisbee saying "I've got all I need". I questioned Hector Romero and Gil Kakogui, who told me" we've done nothing wrong, we have a lot of experience and know what we are doing, we would not risk breaking off a fish of this size by touching the line". Romero added " the line did touch the back of my glove on one occasion, but this was an accidental brush, there was never any intent to help the angler", not only are they disappointed they also lost around $50,000.00 a life changing amount for these guys. Worthington and Hunt, explained that Grimes was a rookie angler and could not clearly see what was going on at the transom, whilst he was sitting in the chair, they claim that what he saw was Hector handle the leader three times and that what he told the Polygraphier was not correct. The dinner proceeded with raffles and auctions and then came the part everybody waited for the pay out of prize money: Wayne Bisbee made a small speech, saying "This is a very difficult thing for me to do, I do not want to imply by any means, that there was any cheating on the part of the team of Minerva III, however, the integrity of one of the anglers has led us to disqualify their fish". At this Minerva stood and stepped up onto the stage, but was refused the microphone by Bisbee, she introduced herself as loudly as she could and advised everybody, that her team had won fairly, they had won the tournament and had lodged a formal complaint with Bisbee, she then called upon the authorities to intervene to rectify the situation and that she wanted justice.
The atmosphere was very subdued after the incident with Minerva and a lot people angered with what appeared to be an injustice. Minerva told me that she was very upset, as the rest of the team had not had a chance to be interviewed by the Polygrapher and she stated that there was no committee, no further investigation, and that Wayne was the sole person that decided the fate of her team. Jim Grimes when asked could he say that he was 100% sure, that the mate had touched the line, replied "no". When asked if he felt they had won fairly replied "yes".
This has left a bad taste in everyone's mouth and we hope this situation will be cleared up soon. We appreciate all that Bisbee brings to our town, but the feeling among the locals is that their people have been robbed.
By Tracy Ehrenberg
p.s: Last minute update: there is a video in possession of local Cabo people, which will be shown to Wayne Bisbee, where the team of After Midnight – can be seen aiding the angler in a way that is against the rules and would disqualify the boat from earning any monies. Federal authorities are being urged to stop payment on all monies until an investigation takes place.
|
|
BARCOS PISCIS, S.A. de C.V.
Blvd. Marina y Madero - P.O. Box 137
Cabo San Lucas, B.C.S., 23410 Mexico
Tel: 011-52 (624) 143-1288 - Fax: 011-52 (624) 143-0588
Email: pisces@piscessportfishing.com
|
|
CABO SAN LUCAS AND LOS CABOS SPORTFISHING GUIDE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2010 - Joseph A. Tyson - Tyson Promotions, Inc - All Rights Reserved
Los Cabos Magazine - Los Cabos Visitor's Guide - Promociones Tyson, S. A. de C. V.
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico - Last Revision - 31 October 2006 - jat
|
