Day 2 - May 9, 2006
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico – For many it was a phenomenal day of bluewater fishing as a single day tournament record139 marlin were caught and released in the second day of the seventh annual Rolex/International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Offshore Championship (OCT) in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
For others the bite was off.
Through it all the team of Californian’s (USA) representing its win at the TAA Eastcape, Mexico Billfish Tournament again caught five marlin and added a 27.4 lb weight fish to take sole possession of first place at the midway point in the championship. The four, Keith Leimbach, San Carlos; Dave Stoller; San Rafael; Bill Evans, Hillsborough and John Jacobi of Dinuba, Calif., were able to entice more fish to their lures (4) and only one to live bait, a reverse of their previous day. With 300 points per marlin their total now stands at 3027.4 points.
“We got into a good routine again today and hope to continue it tomorrow,” said Leimbach. “We were also lucky to catch and release two of the marlin while fighting them at the same time from the bow and the stern.”
While first round leading teams Sicily, Italy; and Turks & Caicos slipped in the standings with one and no marlin respectively, other teams filled their spaces near the top. One such team is from Angola, Africa representing the 24 Horas da Pesca de Luanda, which scored with six marlin, doubling their previous day. The Angolans now have 2700 points on their nine billfish for second place. The Angola team is made up of Jose Henrique Da Silva, Leonor Silva, Marco Roberto Da Silva Couto, Mario Proenca and Ernesto Ferraz.
In third hoping to repeat their fortunes of last year and continue as reigning title holders are the 2005 Rolex/IGFA Offshore Champions, a team with members from Miami, Fla, and the Chicago, Ill., suburbs. Ray and Charmain Rosher, Miami, and Scott Segal, Libertyville and Tom Schramm Roselle, caught five marlin on Tuesday to push their point total to 2428.2.
The biggest jump of the day was the Bermuda Anglers Club ILTT team which zeroed out on day one to comeback and score seven striped marlin releases on the Rebelde operated by Capt. Jaime Sanchez of Cabo. The team made up of Leslie E.M. Spanswick, David Ross DeSilva, Ron Boys and Richard King is in fourth with 2100 points. King said the boat captain and mate were exceptional.
Moving up to fifth with six marlin on day two was the Bahamas Rotary Tuna Classic team of Chris Lloyd, Paul King, Richard King and Adam Dann all of Nassau. They have 1826.8 points.
The Sicily, Italy team, a day one tri-leader, dropped to sixth on a single marlin release. That team is made up of Daniele Tarroni, Fabio Gieri, Carlo Pezzini and Massimo Brogna.
Sean O’Neill of the Caicos Classic team said he saw more fish than ever before but they couldn’t attract even one to their baits. He’s joined by Jared Fulton, Chris Stubbs, David Ward and Hugh O’Neill all from the Turks & Caicos now in 12th place.
In the boat standings the Minerva III with Capt. Gilberto Kakogui is in the lead with 3,000 points in skippering two different teams. In second is Capt. Jaime Sanchez on the Rebelde with 2700 points and Capt. Antonio Romero on the Pride is currently third with 2400 points. All are from the Los Cabos area.
Among angler standings Mrs. Nancy Murray of Dover Del., USA with the Invitational Gold Cup Tournament in Palm Beach, Fla., is the women’s leader with 600 points on two marlin, a striped and the only blue of the tournament. With 2700 points on nine marlin, Marco Roberto Da Silva Couto of the Angolan team leads as top rod among the male anglers.
The prestigious four day “offshore fishing championship of the world,” hosts what is believed to be the single largest contingent of international teams ever to compete in a fishing competition.
The tournament has attracted many of the world’s best angling teams who have won at least one of 110 IGFA sanctioned qualifying offshore events held in 40 countries across the globe during 2005. The number of IGFA qualifying tournaments continues to climb each year.
This is the fifth straight year Cabo San Lucas, Mexico is the location for the international event.
