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DAY ONE FISHING - Taking the lead day one was local Cabo San Lucas Team Get Over It – Drew Andrews with 19 striped Marlin releases for the day and taking home the USD $ 40 000.00 daily jackpots. They were followed by Team Spartacus at Sea with 13 releases and Team Bad Company with 10 releases. DAY TWO FISHING - Fishng was slow for the day but local Team Get Over It still managed to release 14 fish to continue to dominate the lead and win the day 2 USD $ 40 000.00 daily jackpots with Team Tiger Spirit releasing 10 and Team Spartacus at Sea releasing 8 fish DAY THREE FISHING - The two leading teams continued to find “the bite” in their pursuit of striped marlin as both to be slower fishing for most teams however Team Get Over It dominated the final day with 24 releases and taking the 3rd day jackpot of USD $ 40 000.00 earning them the first place and the World Championship Billfish Release Title. Team Spartacus at Sea had 13 releases followed by Team Bull Rider with 9 releases. Team Get Over It also received the Top Angler Award at the banquet. DAY FOUR OBSERVERS TOURNAMENT - The Observer Tournament was supported by several gracious teams who kindly donated their boats, time, crews for the observer tournament, a special thanks to Team Tiger Spirit, Team Protocol, Team Caliente, Team EZ Duz It and Team Reelaxe for taking the observers out. Fishing was incredibly difficult in rough seas for the observers, green cold water and 40 knt winds blowing by 10.00am. Team Reelaxe observer John Johnson from Florida had already released 2 marlin by 10.00 am giving him 1st Place in the observer event even after Team Reelaxe elected to return to port and call it a day whilst other teams continued to battle the weather. TOURNAMENT RESULTS: 1st Place Team - Get Over It - 57 Releases and USD $ 143,500.00 2nd Place Team - Spartacus at Sea - 34 Releases and USD $ 14,200.00 3rd Place Team - Tiger Spirit - 27 Releases and USD $ 11,300.00 1st Place Observer on Team Reelaxe - John Johnson out of Florida 2nd Place Observer - Dan Anderson 3nd Place Observer on Team Tiger Spirit - Steve Gornel – Australia Tournament statistics were 200 releases for 12 teams an average of 16,6 fish per team. Special Thanks go out to Team Tiger Spirit, Team Bad Company and Team Reelaxe for donating all their winnings to the Billfish Foundation. The WCBRT event would like to thank the International Teams from Brazil, Italy and Australia for their participation and all our Partners and sponsors for the World Championship Billfish Release Tournament, The Billfish Foundation, Minerva’s Baja Tackle, Pacific Coast Sportfishing, Melton International Tackle, No Worry’s, King Sailfish Mounts, Pisces Sportfishing, Roffs, Eagle Claw, Berkley, Quick Rig, Marlin World TV , Capitan Del Niño’s Childrens Charity. WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIP BILLFISH RELEASE TOURNAMENT RULES 2007 TOURNAMENT WINNERS 2007 MINI WCBRT RESULTS -Video Clip 1 Video Clip 2 Team "Reelaxe" Wins and Sets New World Record Cabo San Lucas Mexico, 9th Dec 2007 - Mini WCBRT Results and New World Records Set Cabo considered the Striped Marlin Capital of the World by knowledgable blue water anglers, was certainly not disapointing as world records were shattered in numerous catagories! This tournament was designed by fisherman to be a tournament "For fishermen by fishermen". The Mini WCBRT Dec 7th & 8th was introduced after the prestigious WCBRT three day all circle hook May event, being a 100% catch-and-release tournament. The Mini WCBRT was designed to take advantage of Cabo's most productive time for stripped marlin. And it was a huge success! The team average for the two day tournament was a mind blowing 231.4 fish per boat. With the high individual angler catching 59 marlin in one day. More than most serious marlin fisherman will catch in a life time. All the marlin were released! The WCBRT tournament produced more released striped marlin ever in the history of a money tournament worldwide all on circle hooks. The World Championship Billfish Tournament is an IGFA qualifying event. The WCBRT has again proven and leads the way for other billfish tournaments by putting on a circle hook only, 100%, "No Muerto" ( No Kill) release money tournament in Mexico. The 2007 December 7th & 8th Mini WCBRT produced an amazing record setting 1157 billfish released for 2 days for an average of 115.7 marlin released per boat per day ! Team Reelaxe recently set a World record of 179 marlin released in a single day November 3rd, 2007 shattering this record in the tournament by releasing 190 striped marlin on day two of the tournament setting a NEW WORLD RECORD. Another tournament world record was set for the most released marlin in a single day in any tournament by a single team and the most released striped marlin combined for the tournament 1157 for 5 teams. The New World record 190 striped marlin was captured on the Reelaxe's 8 boat cameras, underwater cameras and by video of the tournament camera crew filming onboard Reelaxe on day two. Team Reelaxe was - Chris Badsey, Dave Brackmann, Steve Brackmann, Alex Rogers, Jose Espanoza , Mark Clayton, Saul Contrearus, Dennis Poulton. Top angler was Reelaxe angler Jose Esponoza with a personal best and tournament record of 59 released stripped marlin in a single day. Team Reelaxe released a total of 330 striped marlin in the two day tournament setting another tournament record for a single team in two days. With IGFA qualified observers and WCBRT observers aboard tournament boats, the catches were photographed and documented and filmed with video camera's including the tournament hired independent video camera crew documenting all released fish at the boat in accordance with the IGFA and WCBRT rules. Observers were randomly assigned to boats on day one and then the top 3 teams on day 2 carried an observer on board their boats. 2007 MINI DEC TOURNAMENT RESULTS: DAY ONE RESULTS: 1st Place Team " Reelaxe" - 140 releases 2nd Place Team " Get Over it"- 139 releases 3rd Place Team " Tenacious" - 91 releases 4th Place Team " Bull Rider" - 79 releases 5th Place Team " Cabo Villa" - 49 releases DAY TWO RESULTS: 1st Place Team "Reelaxe " - 190 releases 2nd Place Team "Get Over It"- 189 releases 3rd Place Team "Tenacious" - 103 releases 4th Place Team "Cabo Villa" - 89 releases 5th Place Team " Bull Rider" - 88 releases FINAL RESULTS: 1st Place: Team "Reelaxe" - 330 releases 2nd Place: Team Get Over It - 328 releases 3rd Place: Team Tenacious - 194 releases 2007 TOURNAMENT WINNERS The teams releasing the most billfish over the three days were Team CHIQELIN and Team BAD COMPANY tied with 33 released marlin each and the tie breaker was determined by time, putting Team Chiqelin in 1st Place and lead by Team Captain Lance Keller and Mike " The Beak " Hurt. Team Chiqelin released a total of 33 marlin during the event earning a first place cash prize and daily jackpots of USD $ 160,762.00. Team Chiqelin also received 3 daily release category awards of USD $ 500 each for the release category. Team Chiqelin graciously donated the USD $ 1,500.00 to The Billfish Foundation Norma 029 Fund at the awards banquet. All State, municipal, federal taxes and checks were paid and presented first at the awards banquet and then all teams were presented and paid immediately following the event . The WCBRT's cash payout is the highest cash payout for any striped marlin money tournament in the world. Bad Company's top angler Peter Groesbeck also took top honors for top angler of the tournament with an impressive 21 released fish. Second place team with 33 released marlin was Team Bad Company with Team Captain Steve Lassley earning them USD $ 11, 400.00. At the awards banquet, Team Bad Company graciously donated their total winnings of USD $ 11,400.00 to The Billfish Foundation Norma 029 Fund. Third place team with 30 released striped marlin was Cabo San Lucas local team, Team GET OVER IT earning them a USD $ 77,730.00 which included the second day's daily jackpots for the most released fish. For a complete recap of the event, please see our PRESS page. THE PREMIER ALL-RELEASE CIRCLE HOOK MARLIN TOURNAMENT IN CABO All circle hook. All release. That's the only way to ensure the future of marlin and billfish fisheries as well as to preserve recreational and tournament fishing not only in Cabo San Lucas and the Baja peninsula but worldwide. Everyday, thousands of marlin, sailfish and other billfish species are killed, most by commercial fishing boats longliners that have little if any concern over the plight of marlin or other incidental catch". Billfish and other marine species are caught in miles and miles of J-hook-rigged lines or indiscriminate gill nets. Countless other marlin and billfish are taken as trophies by uninformed anglers a large number of which compete in billfish tournaments that require a weigh-in to determine the winners. While the negative impact that these anglers and tournaments have upon the fishery is nowhere near that of commercial fishing fleets, they are in a position to inspire change. Change not only in the attitudes and tactics used by sports fishermen, but also within the commercial fishing industry. By refocusing attention on the destructive methods used and how simple changes in techniques can minimize loss we hope to set a new precedent - Responsible, Conservation-Based Tournaments and a renewed effort to enforce Responsible Commercial Fishing. In the spirit of Competition, Sportsmanship and Conservation, the world's top anglers have united to present one of the richest and most prestigious billfish tournaments ever held. The World Championship Billfish Release Tournament (WCBRT) is set for May 27th through May 31st at the beautiful Cabo Villas Beach Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. With the mandatory use of circle hooks in an all-release format, WCBRT offers a new class of billfish tournament. The inaugural event has already attracted anglers from worldwide ports of distinction. The 2007 WCBRT is a qualifying event for the IGFA Offshore Championship and will include a Junior World Championship Division. The mission of the WCBRT is to promote competition, sportsmanship and the advancement of billfish conservation in a manner that will insure healthy billfish populations and exciting fishing experiences today and for future generations. OUR
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