HOT News from the IGFA - February 2008

IGFA Offshore World Championship attracting over 60 teams

 

            With just three months away the ninth annual2008 IGFA Offshore World Championship has already attracted over 60 teams to compete at Cabo San Lucas off the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja peninsula May 11 – 1716.  

            Considered the most prestigious catch-and-release blue water fishing tournament in the world, the event also draws the single largest contingent of international teams ever to compete in a fishing competition.

             “We could again have representation of teams from nearly 30 countries,” said tournament coordinator Ms. Lesley Arico. 

Countries and territories from five continents represented so far include teams from Angola, Australia, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Grenada, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand,  Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos, the United States, Vanuatu and Venezuela.

With six teams signed on,Brazil is second only to the United States in the number of teams represented. The U.S. has 19 teams signed on.

  Many of the teams in the ninth annual tournament will be represented by anglers from a number of additional countries.

 At the IGFA OWC last year, a team representing its win in Spain’s Marina Rubicon Marlin Cup 2006 tournament leaped from the middle of the 62 boat field to win by one release fish over a team from Cabo San Lucas.

 It was the second straight year that a team, on the final day of the four day competition, had an amazing 10 releases of striped marlin to win the championship. Using circle hooks, a total of 335 marlin were caught and safely released among the teams entered.

            This year’s pre-registered teams accepted invitations after winning one of 130 IGFA qualifying tournaments held in 38 countries worldwide during 2007. It’s the seventh straight year Cabo San Lucas, has been chosen as the championship location.

            Teams fish from a different boat each day based on a drawing before the competition begins. All are guided by local Cabo captains for marlin and other billfish. The top team with the most marlin and billfish releases wins engraved watches, along with trophies and merchandise.  Awards are presented through to the third place finishing team.

            Partners and sponsors for the IGFA Offshore World Championship are Secretaria de Turismo of Baja California Sur, Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, Hotel Finisterra, Momoi Hi-Catch, Guy Harvey, Inc., Stidd Systems, Picante Sport Fishing and Yacht Sales, Cabo Yachts, Shimano, Hook & Tackle, Murray Products Fighting Chairs, AFTCO Bluewater Sportswear, Bodo Muche Studio-Foundry, IWS Scales, King Sailfish Mounts, Minerva’s Baja Tackle, Trans Cabo, API Cabo San Lucas and Illusion Diamond.

            Updated information and a growing list of the registered teams can be found on the IGFA web site at www.igfa.org under the fishing tab on the home page by clicking “tournaments.”

            Questions regarding the 2008 IGFA OWC should be directed to Ms. Arico at 954-924-4222 or via e-mail at LArico@igfa.org.

###

 

Top Challengers signing up for IGFA Inshore World Championship  

 

            The list continues to grow of fly and light-tackle champions from tournaments on four continents who have signed on for the 2008 IGFA Inshore World Championship June 29 - July 2 in Islamorada, Fla., USA.

            Pre-registered for the eighth annual event among the 32 men and women champions are newcomers Johan Pettersson, winner of the Pike Challenge in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden; Phil Clark, representing the 26th Barramundi Classic from Australia and Gustaf Brew, winner of the Murchison Falls Open Fishing Competition in Uganda, Africa.   

            “Most of the tournament champions are anglers from across the U.S.,” said IGFA IWC tournament coordinator Denise Hartman.  “Each week we continue to receive calls of interest from more tournament champions who were invited after winning an IGFA qualifying event. It’s a prestigious element to their tournament for the winners to receive invitations to this world class competition.”    

Since the tournament’s inception Islamorada, hailed as the “Sportfishing Capitol of the World” is the site for the three-day catch-and-release championship. The Bayside Marina at the World Wide Sportsman is the heart of the activities with the ultimate fishing competition taking place on both Florida Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

            Winners of over 50 IGFA qualifying tournaments held around the globe in 2007 have been invited to compete in the championship. There were 53 tournaments held in six countries (Bahamas, Brazil, Uganda, Canada, Sweden, Australia), and in 11 states in the U.S.

            The IGFA’s IWC is unofficially considered by many the “super bowl” of fly and light-tackle fishing. From a drawing on the opening night, the qualifiers are paired with a different premier Keys guide each day fishing for tarpon, bonefish, permit, snook and redfish.

            Rolex timepieces will be awarded to the IWC’s Grand Champion, Artificial Lure Division Champion, Fly Rod Division Champion and Bait Casting Division Champion.

            Besides platinum partner Mercury Marine other tournament partners include Shimano, Gâ–ªLoomis, 3M Scientific Angler, Islamorada Fish Company, Stiffy Push Poles, King Sailfish Mounts, Bacardi, Costa Del Mar sunglasses, The Islander Resort, Momoi Hi-Liner, Zane Grey Lounge, Hook & Tackle, K D & G Sea Life Masterpieces, Rapala, Image Graphics 2000, Illusion Diamond, World Wide Sportsman, Reel Life Art by Pasta, Daiichi and Redbone Tournaments. 

            For the latest details and the list of anglers, go to the IGFA web site at www.igfa.org and select the fishing tab on the home page and click on “tournaments.” For questions regarding the IGFA IWC, contact Ms. Hartman at 954-927-2628 or dhartman@igfa.org

###

  

IGFA School of Sportfishing classes now underway through March

           

            The IGFA School of Sportfishing is into its sixth session through the end of March with appealing curriculums, limited class sizes and expert instructors answering the needs of the attending anglers, all in the conducive setting of the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum Learning Center.

            The popular three-hour evening sessions from 7 to 10 p.m. on Tuesday nights, feature many of the most popular classes previously offered along with new classes that participants have expressed strong interest in adding. 

            “One of the keys to the School of Sportfishing’s success over the past two years is that we’ve taken into account what our attendees have to say,” said IGFA Adult Education Coordinator David Matagiese. “They’ve provided great suggestions that have made the program better with input for new topics they’d like to have offered. We go to the drawing board before each session to provide the best classes and program possible.” 

Matagiese said the remainder of classes this session includes:   

·         “Fishing Bridges and Beaches” with Capt. Mark Zasky, on February 19

·         “Successful Swordfishing,” with Capt. Josh Brown , February 26

·         “Learning to Kitefish,” taught by Capt. Bouncer Smith, March 4

·         “Bottom Fishing Wrecks and Reefs,” Capt. Bouncer Smith,  on March 18

·         “Back Country Fishing: Mangroves and Flats,” with Capt. Mark Zasky, March 25

            For more details go to the IGFA web site at www.igfa.org/schoolofsportfishing.aspor contact Matagiese at 954-924-4247 or dmatagiese@igfa.org, or contact Veronica Woods at 954-924-4334 or reservations@igfa.org

###

 

February Hot Catches

 

            The world records department of the International Game Fish Association provides monthly highlights of selected documented fish catches made from across the globe and submitted for world records. IGFA world records coordinator Rebecca Wright provided the following information on these 10 recent submissions now before the world records committee.

 

Catching a huge 400 plus pound shark can be a wrestling match for any angler but doing it using 6 kg (12 lb) class line adds another challenge. While fishing Australia’s Kiama Canyon, Andrew Finney of Greenwell Pt NSW, Australia, landed a blue shark (Prionace glauca) on September 16, 2007. Guided by Mitch Ryan and using mullet for bait, Finney wrestled with the shark for 30 minutes. Once under his control it weighed in at 192.4 kg (424 lb 2 oz). Finney is up for a male 12 lb IGFA line class record.  Finney’s record may beat the 395 lb 11 oz from 15 years ago in the waters of Port Hacking, near Sydney. (Photo: blue shark - 07120064)

 

Fishing the waters of Virginia’s Norfolk Canyon, Chris Boyce of Hampton, Va, USA, guided by Dr. Ken Neill III, landed a snowy grouper (Epinephelus niveatus) on Dec. 9, 2007. The grouper enticed by false albacore for bait weighed in at 29.94 kg (66 lb 0 oz). Boyce is up for an IGFA All-Tackle record which currently stands at 65 lb 8 oz, caught last summer in the same waters. (Photo: snowy grouper - 07120066)

 

With Vila Real Santo Antonio, Portugal, as his fishing backdrop angler Luis Ceia, of  Faro, Portugal, guided by Eduardo Soares and using sardinha for bait, landed a gilthead seabream (Sparus Aurata) on Dec. 9. The fish weighed 3.21 kg (7 lb 1 oz) and Ceia has applied for a IGFA men’s 8 kg (16 lb) line class world record which is currently vacant. (Photo: gilthead seabream, 07120078)

     

Junior angler Martini Arostegui, of Coral Gables, Fla, USA, may have moved closer to being the first youngster to capture 100 records before his 17^th birthday, after landing a trahira (Hoplias spp.) on Dec. 30. Caught on cut bait, the fish weighed 10.21 kg (22 lb 8 oz) and was released after documenting. He was fishing Suriname’s Kabalebo River, and has applied for the male junior class record and hopes to break the 18 lb 0 oz mark he set last April from the same river. (Photo: trahira - 08010014)

   

Fishing the beautiful waters of Rodrigues Island of Mauritius, angler and IGFA Representative for Israel Jean-Jacques Ohayon, Ashdod, Israel, guided by Yann Colas, IGFA Representative for Mauritius, landed a twospot red snapper, (Lutjanus bohar) on Dec. 24.  The fish was caught on bonito and weighed 13.5 kg (29 lb 12 oz) for a potential All-Tackle class record. The current record is over 17 years old for a 27 lb 8 oz caught in 1990 in Japanese waters. (Photo: twospot red snapper - 08010030)

 

Kouki Akeyama, Kirakata-Shi Osaka, Japan, fishing Kushimoto, Japan, landed a red cornetfish, (Fistularia petimba). The fish caught on Nov. 26 weighed 2.5 kg (5 lb 8 oz).  Akeyama has applied for an All-Tackle class record that could possibly beat the current record by three pounds for a red cornetfish of 2 lb 5 oz, caught in 2006 in the waters near Shimoda, Japan. (Photo: red cornetfish - 08100033)

     

On January 5^th Alfredo Pietri, of Valencia, Venezuela, fishing his country’s Villacoa River, landed a blackstriped peacock (Cichla intermedia). The fish weighing 3.4 kg (7 lb 8 oz) on 6 kg (12 lb) class line using a Smithwick lure. Pietri released the fish after documenting. The current IGFA line class record stands at 4 lb 6 oz, caught in 1999 near the Caurama Lodge in Venezuela. (Photo: blackstriped peacock - 08100034)

 

On holiday while fly-fishing the Rio Pasimoni, in Venezuela, Eduardo Aristuieta, Miami, Fla., USA, guided by Novaldo Ventum, landed a speckled peacock (Cichla temensis) on Dec. 17.  The fish, which weighed 9.53 kg (21 lb 0 oz), took 25 minutes to capture on 6 kg (12 lb) class tippet, using an Alf Mostro fly. He released the peacock.  The current mark is 18 lb 0 oz caught in 2004 from the Rio Araca, Amazonia Brazil. (Photo: speckled peacock – 08010000)

 

Using an Australian made Killalure for bait while fishing the Tinaroo Dam, Helen Laura Golding, Atherton QLD, Australia, landed a barramundi (Lates calcarifer) on January 5, taking her 20 minutes to fight. She was guided by Jeff Golding, The fish weighed 27.67 kg (61 lb 0 oz) and has been entered for an IGFA female junior class record entry. She’s hoping to beat the 44 lb 1 oz mark of five years ago also from the same waters. (Photo: barramundi - 08100039)

    

Fishing Content Key, Florida, USA, over the Christmas holidays, Jason Reynolds, of Newark, Del., USA, guided by Capt. Jay Wright Jr., landed a blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus) using 60 kg (130 lb) class line and using cut bait. The fish, caught on Dec. 22, weighed 27.22 kg (60 lb 0 oz). Reynolds released the catch. The line class record is currently vacant. (Photo: blacktip shark - 08010072)

###

 

IGFA Observer Training Course paying off for conservation

           

            It began in 2002 by the International Game Fish Association as a conservation initiative to allow offshore billfish tournaments the option to go to a 100% release format, with trained and experienced observers on board to verify catches and educate anglers about IGFA angling rules.

            According to IGFA Conservation Director Jason Schratwieser, since the association began the Observer Training Course (OTC) it has trained well over 1,000 experienced anglers, boat captains and crew members as observers for over 20 fishing tournaments held each year around the world.                      

            “With the decline of many billfish stocks, the importance of release formats in tournaments has increased,” said Schratwieser.  “As release tournaments become more common and cash payouts increase, unbiased observers become vital in reporting rule infractions as well as for identifying billfish species.

            “Observers can often benefit anglers by preventing inadvertent rule infractions before they even happen. In addition, having observers that are trained to identify billfish species under frantic tournament conditions virtually eliminates the need to bring back dead fish to the dock for official scoring.”

 

Interested in taking the IGFA Observer Course?
            Schratwieser said the training classes take almost an entire day, typically starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m. The cost of the class is $150 and includes a one year IGFA membership, training manual and two instructional (IGFA Rules & Billfish Identification) DVDs. 

            Individuals that have completed the IGFA Observer Course are notified of tournaments requiring trained observers by email blasts and posts on the IGFA Observer Online Talk Forum. There is no annual fee to receive these notices, but observers must keep their IGFA membership current.

 

Is your tournament interested in using observers?
            If you’re a tournament director interested in using IGFA trained observers, simply send an email to the IGFA with the following information:

• Tournament’s name and location
• Tournament dates
• Tournament director’s name and contact information
• Number of observers needed
• Logistics covered by the tournament
• Any additional information necessary for observers

            There’s no charge to use IGFA trained observers.  Upon receipt of this information, the IGFA will forward a blast email to the observers listed on the IGFA website and also post the information on the IGFA Observer Online Talk Forum. 

            “The IGFA cannot select observers for tournaments or advise tournament directors which observers to use,” said Schratwieser. “We recommend that tournament directors develop a short questionnaire for interested observers so they can determine their level of experience in their region.”

           

Upcoming IGFA OTC session in California

            The next IGFA Observer Training Class will be offered March 15 at the Shoreline Yacht Club in Long Beach, Calif. USA.  OTC applications are available at the IGFA website www.igfa.org. Pre-registration is required.

            For more information on the IGFA OTC please call Schratwieser at 954-924-4320 or via e-mail at jschratwieser@igfa.org.

###

 

--News of IGFA Hall of Famers--

Lefty Kreh to hold court at FFF National Fly Fishing Expo

 

            IGFA Hall of Fame member Lefty Kreh, will be among many notable fly fishers from around the world demonstrating skills needed to catch more fish as the Federation of Fly Fishers holds The FFF National Fly Fishing Exposition, March 28- 30 at the Lakeland Center in Lakeland, Fla.FL, USA.  IGFA Hall of Famer,

            The expo will include open seminars covering fly fishing around the country, fly tying and bamboo rod building during each of the three days.  Educational and conservation programs also will be offered by the Federation for attendees.  In keeping with the Federation’s policy of “All Fish, All Waters,” they’ll feature tying and fishing programs for warm and coldwater species, saltwater fishing and related subjects. 

            Attendees will be able to try out the newest rods and talk with and  get instructions from experts,.  Eat, drink and rub elbows with the fly fishers from around the world at the “Tarpon Hop”.  Special prices will be offered for multiple day attendance, hotel accommodations and more.

            To catch a demonstration with Lefty on knot tying, register for seminars and special events, find informaton on accommodations and view the programs, visit the National Fly Fishing Expo web site at www.nationalflyexpo.com

###

 

--Now at the Museum--

IGFA Art Gallery Wall

           

            Through the month of July the IGFA will display the photographic and artistic works of Toni Parras on its Art Gallery Wall.

Toni has a hungry eye that has taken her around the world to capture her images. A professional writer and photographer she’s interested in many different fields, including travel, science and environment, arts and culture as well as volunteering her time to the IGFA.

Her work has taken Toni to a dozen countries where she has covered topics ranging from seaweed farming to meteors. Her love for the ocean often leads her to marine-related themes. 

She often shoots in black and white and then hand-paints her prints for an entirely different feel.  Images are printed on black and white photographic paper and then hand-colored using a combination of oil paints, chalks, watercolors and/or pencils. 

Toni's latest creation is a landscape photograph of the majestic façade of the International Fishing Hall of Fame.  This commissioned image was awarded to the 2006 World Record Recipients at the IGFA’s Fourth Annual World Record Achievement Awards.

If you’d like to see more of Toni's work, please visit www.toniparras.com.

            For more information, please contact Joanie Tomlin at the IGFA at 954-924-4312 or email her at JTomlin@igfa.org.  

###

Add to: del.icio.us | Digg