Following the first day of the 5th Annual Deep Sea Fishing tournament, and 12 hours of fishing, the competition continued on Sunday, July 8th, once again from the early hours of the morning with departure from the port at 6 a.m. and preparations going on well before dawn.
Emotions were high throughout the day as in the Gulf Grouper category there was already a weigh-in that would be difficult to beat (80.1 lbs.), and there were already a few catches in the running in the Leopard Grouper category; however, those from the Pinto Bass category caught on Saturday did not meet the minimum weight for the competition so the field was still wide open for first place. Captains and crew had to decide if they would look for larger Gulf Grouper or opt for smaller species in order to guarantee a good prize. Many of them decided to go in search of Pinto Bass, given that the prize in that category was $3,000 USD. There was also a $2,000 USD prize on the line for Leopard Grouper and $4,000 USD for first place in the Gulf Grouper category.
The wait was nerve-wracking as we received cell calls periodically saying they had caught a fish, but that did not meet the minimum weight requirements so they would continue in search for a bigger catch. And so went the day, until around 3:30 when anxiety grew more intense as the weigh-in station would be closing at 4 p.m. and no one had returned. We tried communicating with the captains but the majority were out of range, which meant they were still far from Port.
It was around 3:40 p.m. when the first boat could be seen on the horizon, racing its way toward the docks. After this, there was another and another until the ships of Caballo de Mar, Tiburon, Katrina, Just Hammered, Daybreak, and Nava II all arrived at the scale to weigh their fish as each competitor sought triumph.
Following the weigh-in, a small reception was held for all tournament participants on the patio of Terramar Restaurant. The award ceremony was held with representatives from the Convention and Visitors Bureau (OCV) presiding, along with City Secretary Fausto Soto there on behalf of the Mayor, and representatives from the Secretary of Fishing and from the 2012 Sea of Cortes Circuit, who handed out prizes and recognitions to the winners as follows:
CATEGORIA BAYA / Gulf Grouper:
1er. Lugar / 1st Place: “Beatriz Selene” 80 lbs. Martin N. Banos.
2do. Lugar / 2nd Place: “El Tiburón” 76.7 Lbs. David Roberts.
3er. Lugar / 3rd Place: “El Tiburón” 74.1 Lbs. David Roberts.
CATEGORIA PINTA / Pinto Bass:
1er. Lugar / 1st Place: “ La Katrina” 20.1 Lbs. Enrique Rodríguez Rodríguez
CATEGORIA SARDINERA / Leopard Grouper:
1er. Lugar / 1st Place: “Just Hammered” 18.6 Lbs. Blair Warner
2do. Lugar / 2nd Place: “Caballo del Mar” 15.6 Lbs. John Thomas Doljanin
3er. Lugar / 3rd Place: “El Tiburón” 15.3 Lbs. David Roberts.
It is worth mentioning that all the winners were given certificates to participate in the Grand Final tournament of the Sea of Cortes Circuit, to be held in Los Cabos in December, with a prize purse of $400,000 USD!
Dia 2
Despues del primer dia del torneo ( 12 horas pescando), la jornada continuo desde muy temprano el domingo, con la salida a las 6:00 de la manana, los preparativos se llevaron al cabo en la madrugada.
La emocion estuvo presente todo el dia, ya que la categoria de Baya, ya tenia un peso muy dificil de mejorar (80.1 lbs) y ya habia diferentes pesos competiendo en la categoria de “Sardinera”, sin embargo,en la categoria “Pinto Bass” los ejemplares capturados, no llegaron a superar los pesos minimos, y la posibilidad de conseguir un premio al primer lugar en estas, estaba abierta. Asi que los capitanes y tripulacion, debian de decidir si buscaban mejorar el peso de la baya o conseguir una especie menor que les garantizara llevarse un buen premio.
Asi que muchos de ellos, decidieron ir a buiscar una “Pinta” ya que en esta categoria el premio al primer lugar era de $3,000 usd, la tercer categoria “Sardinera” con $2,000 usd, y la Baya con $3,000 usd al primer lugar. La espera fue angustiante, ya que constantemente recibiamos reportes via celular, de que habian agarrado un pez pero que no daba el peso minimo, por lo que debian seguir buscando atrapar uno de mejor tamaño. y asi se paso el dia, y alrededor de las 3:30, la preocupacion se hizo mas intensa, ya que la bascula se cerraba a las 4:00 pm y no habia regresado nadie. intentamos comunicarnos con los capitanes, pero la mayoria estaban fuera de rango, lo que significaba que se encontraban aun lejos del Puerto.
Fue alrededor de las 3:40, cuando en el Horizonte se vislumbro la primera embarcacion dirigirse a toda velocidad hacia muelle, detras de esta venia otra, y ade esta manera las embarcaciones Caballo de Mar, Tiburon, Katrina, Just hammered, Daybreak, y Nava II, llegaron a la bascula para pesar sus peces y buscar triunfar en la competencia.
Posterior al pesaje, se ofrecio una pequeña recepcion para los participantes, y se llevo al cabo la ceremonia de premiacion,con los directivos de la OCV, representante del Alcalde, y la Secretaria de pesca, quienes hicieron entrega de premios y reconocimientos a los ganadores, quedando las pocisiones de la siguiente manera:
CATEGORIA BAYA:
1er. Lugar: “Beatriz Selene” 80 lbs. Martin N. Banos.
2do. Lugar : “El Tiburón” 76.7 Lbs. David Roberts.
3er. Lugar: “El Tiburón” 74.1 Lbs. David Roberts.
CATEGORIA PINTA
1er. Lugar: “ La Katrina” 20.1 Lbs. Enrique Rodríguez Rodríguez
CATEGORIA SARDINERA:
1er. Lugar: “Just Hammer” 18.6 Lbs. Blair Warner
2do. Lugar: “Caballo del Mar” 15.6 Lbs. John Thomas Doljanin
3er. Lugar: “El Tiburón” 15.3 Lbs. David Roberts.
Cabe mencionar que todos los ganadores, se hicieron acreedores a un certificado de participacion, en el Torneo final del Circuito Mar de Cortés a llevarse al cabo en los Cabos a final del año y el cual tendra una gran bolsa a repartir en premios de $400,000 usd.