ABOUT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BILLFISH RELEASE TOURNAMENT CABO SAN LUCAS, BAJA SUR, MEXICO

What is the WCBRT and how did it come to be?
Our all-release circle hook marlin tournament was founded by a a group of world-class, conservation minded anglers, sportspersons, scientists and entrepreneurs that have established individual reputations of excellence in their chosen professional fields; as well as their area of shared passion - Fishing... They are our committee.

The Committee History:
The Committee was formed when, during the course of a popular off-shore fishing tournament, a series of potential life-threatening events occurred. In November of 2005, a local charter boat was hired in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico by a team of anglers from the U.S. and Canada. Like so many thousands of other sport fishing enthusiasts every year, these friends looked forward to experiencing the fun and excitement of off-shore tournament fishing. At the end of their first day of competition, the four man team (and their Mexican Captain and crew) found themselves farther away from port than they had intended. The wind and seas of the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez were unusually rough that day. All but the fastest and largest boats had remained close to shore and had already headed back to port.

With daylight fading and conditions worsening, their 31 foot, single engine, day cruiser encountered mechanical problems. To make matters even more difficult, they had no modern GPS system with which to identify their exact position. The engine problem was severe enough that it could not be fixed at sea. Using their marine radio, they contacted a ‘sister’ boat from the same fleet and asked for assistance. Everyone was hopeful that help would arrive before darkness. The ‘sister’ boat made an attempt to try to find the troubled vessel. Unfortunately, the sister boat was smaller and low on fuel. They soon had to abandon their attempt to help when the already rough sea and weather conditions continued to deteriorate and the sun fully disappeared. Thus began the first night adrift at sea, with little food and water onboard, no medication for a diabetic team member and no easy means of determining their location.

It was during this real life drama that a small group of other fisherman in the tournament heard the radio distress calls and began closely monitoring the situation. Most assumed that the Tournament officials were prepared for such an event and the disabled boat would soon be found. However, after the first attempt by the sister boat failed, the next rescue efforts were slow to react, were unorganized and as a result, also unsuccessful. At the request of tournament officials and concerned friends and family, the Mexican Navy agreed to help in the search. They made their first effort during this first night, but after a few hours search they also decided to return to port and wait for daylight. The next morning, the Mexican Navy made their second attempt to find the fishermen. As fate would have it, instead of finding the distressed fishing vessel, the Navy found a different boat. A boat full of drugs. This ended the Mexican Navy search as they now turned their attention to the unexpected "drug bust".

One day turned into the next. Heavy winds and tides through out the night, continued to carry the boat further out to sea. Every hour that passed made the difficulty of finding the lost boat greater and greater. The U.S. Coast Guard was notified and ready to join the search. However, the Mexican Authorities would not give them permission to enter Mexican waters or fly over Mexican air space. Meanwhile, the tournament went on. Those who were experienced understood that the situation was turning grave. A few concerned Captains spoke amongst their teams (and owners) and now made the selfless decision to take action. This small group decided to forego their chances at winning several hundred thousand dollars in prize money (they quit the tournament) in order to help find these fellow anglers lost at sea. The owners, teams and crew of these private boats were from South Africa, the U.S. and Mexico and were counted among some of the best anglers and sportsmen in the world. Although they had previously only known each other by reputation or as competitors in other international fishing tournaments, they now came together to try and prevent a tragedy at sea.

After nearly three days, and drifting more than 100 miles in open ocean, the distressed charter boat, its team and crew, were miraculously found. Thanks, in large part, to the efforts of those few who understood the situation and were willing to act. A cruise ship had been listening to the radio conversations of the rescue boats and altered its course to try and help in the search. In the early morning hours of their second night at sea, the faint light of the cruise ship was spotted by the disabled boat. They were then able to use their radios to direct the cruise ship to the crippled vessel.

The Captain of the cruise ship dispatched a launch with food and supplies for all the men, and the ship's doctor to provide medical assistance to the diabetic. The cruise ship stayed with the vessel until the rescue boats arrived on scene. Instant bonds of gratitude and friendship were formed between the search teams and the men that were found. They all understood the reasons that they had come together. It was their passion for fishing, their love of the sea and the call to help their fellow man.

In the wake of this near disaster, they talked about the reasons each of them were drawn to fishing tournaments and what it is that makes a tournament a fun and fulfilling experience. They also talked of a need for more catch & release types of billfish tournaments, using techniques and equipment such as mandatory circle hook rigging of live and dead bait that can help promote healthy released billfish. They shared their ideas of supporting clean, positive, responsible tournament fishing, where 100% release and zero kill should be the norm and not the exception. Especially, in this time of rapidly declining billfish stocks due (in large part) to decades of uncontrolled commercial long-lining. They enthusiastically agreed about the importance of raising the awareness of the need for billfish conservation, children’s education of sport fishing, and demonstrating responsible stewardship of the world’s oceans.

Their impassioned discussion soon turned into another call to action. It was now time for these individuals to combine their expertise to show the tournament fishing community what they wanted in a tournament experience. It was also clear that this group of avid sportsmen and highly skilled anglers had a tremendous combined wealth of experience, expertise and influence. They decided to pool their network of resources to recruit participation from individuals and organizations that shared their passions and who also recognized a need for changes in tournament fishing. This is when The Committee was born.

The newly formed Committee took an inventory of its assets and expertise. Among their group they found; an experienced fishing tournament organizer, an owner of an events and logistics company, the owner of a marketing business with travel and media experience, anglers with ties to television and video production, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and sportsmen with connections to some of the world’s renowned scientists and billfish and marine life conservationists. In short, they had assembled a “dream team” of conservation minded world-class anglers with access to accomplished fisheries scientists and marine biologists.

In the spirit of competition, sportsmanship and conservation, The Committee organized the World Championship Billfish Release Tournament. A fishing tournament "for fishermen, by fishermen". One that provides all of the best elements of a fishing competition.

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