Team Bad Company Wins Big with 406-Pound Blue

Team Outcast: Lady angler Judy Campbell with Bill Campbell of Punta Gorda, Florida; Tyler Campbell and Stefanie Campbell of Oakwood, Ohio; Andres Jimenez of Soledad, California; and Captain Jesus Romero of Cabo San Lucas.

** Day One **

The bite lit up quick during the first day of fishing in the 2007 Los Cabos Billfish Tournament, with teams calling in billfish hookups to tournament control soon after the 7:30 a.m. Bimini start. The tournament, presented by the Los Cabos Tourism Board and Hotel Association, would end up seeing a hot striped and blue marlin bite - with one blue being brought to the scales – as well as a qualifying dorado and wahoo being weighed by the end of Day One.

The fishing day ended early for the crew of Get Over It when they returned to the docks at 2:45 p.m. to weigh what would end up being the only billfish landed on Day One – a 378-pound blue marlin. This lucky fish would end up earning the Get Over It crew $125,382 in the Cabo Chips Day One Marlin Jackpot, as well as making them the Furuno First Place Team leader and giving them the lead in the Carey Chen Winner-Take-All Jackpot and Sea Recovery Largest Blue categories.

Team Baja Boy II dominated the Day One release categories - winning the $13,000 King Sailfish Mounts Day One Billfish Release Jackpot with three releases on time, and establishing an early lead in the Berkley Most Billfish Releases category. Teams Safari and Karma picked up the Mackay Communications Early Registration Prize after releasing the first two billfish of the tournament, and they will go home with Mackay satellite phones.

In the tuna, wahoo and dorado categories, team Ninja weighed a nice 47.5-pound wahoo to establish an early lead in the Tropical Design Studios Tuna/Wahoo/Dorado Jackpots, and team Summertime got on the board with a 26.6-pound dorado. The Largest Tuna category remained open.

Overall, the tournament saw 36 billfish releases total - 21 striped marlin, 13 blues, one black and one sailfish.

The Pisces Real Estate Second Place Team, the Platinum Capital Third Place Team, the XMWX Radio Largest Black Marlin and the Melton Tackle Largest Striped Marlin categories all remained open after Day One.

** Day Two **

The bite was hot in the second day of fishing in the 2007 Los Cabos Billfish Tournament. Two qualifying blue marlin were weighed, two new leaders in both the Tuna and Dorado categories were brought to the scales and 42 billfish were photographed and released.

Lady angler Judy Campbell on Outcast made a remarkable catch Thursday – not only did their 566-pound blue end up being the largest marlin of the tournament so far, but she landed it on 50-pound gear! This catch was enough to win team Outcast the Cabo Chips Day Two Marlin Jackpot and put them in the lead as the Furuno First Place Team, as well as make them the Sea Recovery Largest Blue Marlin leader.

Bad Company also weighed a blue on Day Two, and angler Tracy Melton's 406-pound fish captured levels Two through Four in the Cabo Chips Day Two Marlin Jackpot, worth $103,433.33. The large blue also established the team as the Pisces Real Estate Second Place Team Leader. Bad Company is also leading in the Carey Chen Winner Take All Marlin Jackpot category.

Que Sera also weighed a marlin on Day Two, which has earned them 339 points. Get Over It is still the Platinum Capital Third Place Team leader with their 378-pound blue from Day One.

Summertime won the King Sailfish Day Two Billfish Release Jackpot with five releases, and they are currently the Berkley Most Billfish Releases leader with seven releases overall.
Ninja is dominating the Tropical Design Studio Tuna/Wahoo/Dorado Jackpots, with a 71.2-pound tuna and 47.5-pound wahoo. Safari took the lead in the Dorado category with a 34.3-pounder.

** Day Three and Final Report **

The striped marlin bite picked up big time on Day Three of the 2007 Los Cabos Billfish Tournament, presented by the Los Cabos Tourism Board and Hotel Association. There were 73 stripeys released, along with eight blues and one sail. The top release team with 11 releases was Fish Dogs. Summertime, however, added enough releases to win the overall release division with a tournament-record 16 releases. The total number of releases was also a tournament record, 161, which included 119 striped, 39 blues, only one black and two sails.

At the scales, team Ninja brought in a nice 202-pound striped marlin that tied the tournament record, as well as vaulting them into the lead for the Melton International Tackle Largest Striped Marlin category. Perro Caliente also had a good day at the weigh station, and took the lead in the Tropical Design Studios Tuna Jackpot with a 90.6-pound tuna.

***

At Saturday's Awards Ceremony, names were drawn for great door prizes, including jewelry from Vanmark, chronometers from Joseph Henry, artwork from Carey Chen, electronics from Furuno, leader from Berkley, clothing from Pelagic and Fishworks, Lures from Pro Soft, Hi-5, Jaslure, Mold craft and Tormenter, and gift certificates from Melton International, Alexander's Restaurant, Northern Lights, Handcrafted Mattress and Ocean Waves.

Attendees at the awards banquet enjoyed a great dinner provided by tournament host Playa Grande Resort, and everyone had a good time reliving a great tournament by watching a slideshow and video presentation. Tournament director Dan Jacobs then called Russ Nelson from The Billfish Foundation up to the microphone, who gave an impassioned speech celebrating the recent progress made towards the repeal of Mexico's Shark Norma law and encouraging anglers to keep up the fight against this potentially harmful legislation.

After thanking the tournament sponsors, including platinum sponsors Pisces Real Estate, Platinum Capital, and Pisces Sport Fishing, Jacobs brought President of Tourism Alberto Coppola up to the mic to personally thanks all tournament participants for choosing Los Cabos as their fishing destination. Then it was on to the awards...

Outcast, with Lady angler Judy Campbell and Bill Campbell of Punta Gorda, Florida; Tyler Campbell and Stefanie Campbell of Oakwood, Ohio; Andres Jimenez of Soledad, California; and Captain Jesus Romero of Cabo San Lucas, came out as the Furuno First Place Team in this year's tournament, with their 566-pound blue marlin. This fish would also earn them the Sea Recovery Largest Blue Marlin, the Day 2 Level One Cabo Chips Daily Marlin Jackpot and an invitation to the 2008 IGFA Tournament of Champions. Total winnings for team Outcast: $134,550. Congrats team Outcast!

Team Bad Company - consisting of Tracy Melton, Capt. Anthiny Hsieh, Tracy Epstein, and Kevin Nakamara, all from Newport Beach, California - was right behind Outcast as the Pisces Real Estate Second Place Team, with their 406-pound blue marlin. Bad Company, beacuse they were "all-in," had a great run, also winning the Cabo Chips Daily Marlin Jackpots Day 2, Level 2-4 and the Carey Chen Winner Take All Jackpot. Captain Hsieh also took home the Top Captain Joseph Henry Watch. Total winnings for Bad Company: $275,433.33!

The Platinum Capital Third Place Team was Drew Andrews of McDonough Georgia; Capt. Job Elesamder Villavicencio Garcia, Hernando Gonzalez Villavicencio, Edgar Chong Cecena, all of Cabo San Lucas, on Get Over It, with a 378-pound blue. Get Over It also took home the Day 1 Cabo Chips Daily Marlin Jackpot. Total Winnings For Get Over It: $139,983.34

The rest of the winning teams are as follows:

Team Ninja
Melton International Tackle Largest Striped Marlin (202-pounds)
Tropical Design Studios Wahoo Jackpot (47.5- pounds)
Day 3 Cabo Chips Daily Marlin Jackpot
Total Winnings For Ninja: $169,741.67

Team Summertime
King Sailfish Mounts Day 2 Daily Release Jackpot (5 releases)
Berkley Most Billfish Releases (16 releases)
Total winnings for Summertime: $41,000

Fish Dogs
Day 3 King Sailfish Mounts Daily Release Jackpot (11 releases)
Total winnings for Fish Dogs: $13,000

Bajaboy II
Day 1 King Sailfish Mounts Daily Release Jackpot (3 releases)
Total winnings for Bajaboy II: $13,000

Safari
Tropical Design Studios Dorado Jackpot (34.3-pounds)
Mackay Communications/Nera Early Registration Prize (Satellite Phone)
Total winnings for Safari: $15,758.33

Perro Caliente
Tropical Design Studios Tuna Jackpot (90.6-pounds)
Total winnings for Perro Caliente: $15,758.33

Karma
Mackay Communications/Nera Early Registration Prize (Satellite Phone)

El Bandito
Hard Luck

The 2007 Los Cabos Billfish Tournament had a record purse of $850,000 in cash and prizes. Be sure to attend next year's 10-Year Anniversary event, which will take place October 14-18, 2008!