the 73rd International Light Tackle Association Sailfish Tournament at Crocodile Bay Resort Costa Rica! By Todd Staley – Tico Times

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Sailfish tourney results in

www.crocodilebay.com

Posted: Friday, March 08, 2013 – By Todd Staley
Success highlights advantages to environmental law enforcement in Gulfo Dulce.

Fish

Photo courtesy of Zach Frazee

Did intervention have anything to do with the success of the 73rd International Light Tackle Association Sailfish Tournament hosted this year by Costa Rica at Crocodile Bay Resort and Marina in Puerto Jiménez? I think so.

The recent demise of nearly 300 sea turtles in the Southern Zone of Costa Rica has been of officially declared a result of illegal fishing methods. The problem stemmed from the illegal catching of live bait in the protected Golfo Dulce, and then using the bait on long lines in areas where live bait is not allowed.

The result was a massive kill of not only sea turtles but sailfish as well, and complaints were filed with various agencies including the new Vice Minister of Oceans José Lino Chaves. Within a week, he was personally in the area and heading a patrol that captured 14 boats from the Golfito and Quepos areas. The boats were fishing bait inside the gulf, and Chaves filed suits against all of them.

Within days, many of the boats fishing illegally headed out of the area. INCOPESCA also declared a ban on all commercial longline activity within the boundaries of the tournament during fishing days. The result was some boats getting more than 30 bites a day.

Teams from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the United States competed in the four-day catch-and-release event. The results showed that if fishing regulations are followed and enforced, Costa Rica has a chance of reclaiming its former spot as “Sailfish Capital of the World.” The tournament was dedicated to Tia Nora Schofield, who broke down the gender barrier, earning women the right to compete in fishing tournaments nearly 50 years ago.

Fifteen boats competed in the event, and the leader board was constantly changing amongst anglers, boats and teams. The format of teammates fishing on separate boats each date but accumulating points for their respective teams eliminated the need for observers. The opportunity for participants to fish with so many different anglers allowed old friendships to be renewed.

More than 800 fish were raised, and 406 were caught and released during the four days of fishing. The final results are as follows.

  TEAMS TOT PTS
1ST ASOC. NACIONAL de PESCA de GUATEMALA – #1 3700
2ND ASOC. NACIONAL de PESCA de GUATEMALA – #3 3400
3RD PORT ARANSAS ROD & REEL CLUB – USA 3400
4 CLUB AMATEUR de PESCA #1 – COSTA RICA 3200
5 CLUB AMATEUR de PESCA #2 – COSTA RICA 3100
6 CLUB AMATEUR de PESCA #3 – COSTA RICA 3100
7 CLUB NAUTICO de STE. DOM. – DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 2600
8 OCEAN CITY LIGHT TACKLS CLUB – USA 2600
9 ARRECHO FISHING TEAM – PUERTO RICO 2500
10 ASOC. NACIONAL de PESCA de GUATEMALA – #2 2500
11 SAILFISH & TARPON CLUB OF MEXICO 2500
12 PUERTO RICO LIGHT TACKLE ANGLERS 2400
13 SADSAA – SOUTH AFRICA 1900
14 PLAYA GRANDE YACHTING CLUB – VENEZUELA 1700
15 CLUB AMATEUR de PESCA #4 – COSTA RICA 1600
PLACE ANGLERS DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 TOTAL
               
1ST JULIO MANSYLLA 300 100 400 900 1700
2ND MATTHEW BARRAZOTTO 100 200 200 1100 1600
3RD JAVIER MONTEALEGRE 300 300 300 600 1500
4 LUIS PEDRO FORTUNY 400 0 700 300 1400
5 RICARDO SEEVERS 200 200 600 300 1300
6 RICKY JAEN 300 200 200 600 1300
7 DR. CARLOS FORTUNY 300 200 400 400 1300
8 JUAN MANUEL COBAR 400 100 200 600 1300
9 LUIS LEOPOLDO GONZALEZ 300 0 500 500 1300
10 ALVARO DE LA HOZ 100 200 500 500 1300
11 ALBERTO LAURENCICH 0 100 700 400 1200
12 JORGE N. GUTIERREZ 300 200 600 100 1200
13 CHARLES DONATO 100 0 700 300 1100
14 ALVARO FORTUNY 300 100 400 300 1100
15 ORLANDO SOTO 200 100 300 500 1100
16 JOHN PRICE 100 100 500 400 1100
17 CARLOS FORTUNY, JR. 200 100 500 200 1000
18 ANTON LINGENFELDER 100 0 500 400 1000
19 FERNANDO MERCK 200 0 500 300 1000
20 DOMINGO DOMINGUEZ 100 200 300 300 900
21 JOSE SCHIFTER 100 100 400 300 900
22 JAVIER PADILLA 200 100 200 400 900
23 CARLOS PADILLA 200 0 300 300 800
24 ROGER GALINDO 300 100 300 100 800
25 RODRIGO GUZMAN 300 300 200 0 800
26 EVELIO MEDEROS 100 200 300 200 800
27 GABRIEL B. RIVAS 100 200 200 300 800
28 HUMBERTO DONATO 100 0 200 400 700
29 TIM CHOATE 100 200 200 200 700
30 CARLOS BARNES 100 200 100 300 700
31 FERNANDO PINTO 0 100 100 500 700
31 MANOLO MATIENZO 200 0 0 500 700
33 MICHAEL KELLY 100 100 200 200 600
34 DIEGO CABRERA 100 0 300 200 600
35 JOHN CARBONE 0 0 400 200 600
36 MANUEL COBAR 100 100 200 200 600
37 NILS GUTIERREZ 100 100 0 400 600
38 WALLY HEINSEN 0 300 200 0 500
39 PAUL BORCHERDS 0 0 200 300 500
40 CARLOS ENRIQUE MONTEROS 100 0 200 100 400
41 BRUNO RODRIGUEZ 100 0 100 200 400
42 WYNAND WIERING 0 0 0 400 400
43 NORA SCHOFIELD 100 0 100 200 400
44 BRUNO DI BENEDETTO 100 100 0 100 300
45 STEPHANIE CHOATE 100   100 100 300
  ALTERNATE         400  
  TOTALS 7000 4600 13500 15500 40200
PLACE BOATS DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 TOTAL
1ST GERMAN 600 500 1500 1800 4400
2ND MCGUINNESS 700 600 1200 1500 4000
3RD FRANCISCO 700 500 1400 1000 3600
4 CHEPE 600 500 1600 900 3600
5 BOOLO 800 300 800 1400 3300
6 SAMBA 600 300 800 1200 2900
7 XIPHIAS 300 300 900 1300 2800
8 OLDEMAR 300 300 800 1000 2400
9 MELVIN 200 500 800 800 2300
10 WILL 400 100 800 800 2100
11 FREDDY 500 200 600 800 2100
12 GEOVANNY 100 300 700 900 2000
13 EDWIN 400 100 600 700 1800
14 ALPHA MIKE 500 0 400 800 1700
15 MAURICIO 300 100 600 600 1600