Professional Division

1st Place - Team Bad Company 3 Releases

2nd Place - Gambler 2 Releases

3rd Place - Ruckus 2 Releases

Day 1 Daily Prize Winner - Team Bad Company

Amateur Division

No Releases on Day 1

There weren’t many bright eyes at 5:30 A.M. yesterday as the crew from Sportfishermen.com assembled at the Philadelphia Airport for an early flight to the west coast. Three of us boarded a Continental Airlines 737 and 8 hours later, following a quick stop in Houston, landed at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County having made it safely to California. Ray Hsieh picked us up and we headed to Crow’s Nest Yachts where he had the 33-foot "Contender One" waiting to whisk us across San Pedro Channel to Catalina Island for the beginning of the Yamaha Contender Avalon Billfish Classic Marlin Tournament, the first of three upcoming events in the California Billfish Series. Ray had us cruising along at 40-plus knots and we soon pulled up to Avalon on the island.

Our first stop was at the roving tournament headquarters aboard the 165-foot "Pacific Provider", a new mothership and traveling yacht club created by Eastern Pacific Yacht Club and built on the hull of a former Alaskan crab fishing boat. Set up to provide service, fuel, supplies, and five star lodging for members and guests virtually anywhere on the world’s oceans. This served as the home for the captain’s meeting and party to open the event. With food and drink that matched the luxury and first class style of the entire operation, all of the guests were well entertained before Rod Halperin went over the rules in a brief meeting that kicked off the two days of fishing off the California Coast.

Catalina Island and Avalon are somewhat off the beaten track but drew a crowd that included some of the best billfishermen on the west coast of the U.S. A total of 14 boats entered this year in the Pro-Am format. Of the entries, there are 6 crews in the amateur division and another 8 that qualify as professional crews. The boats range from the 65-foot "Gambler" on the pro side to the 22-foot "Bucks Shot" who is competing on the amateur side.

For the professional crews there is almost $20,000 on the line without including the daily prizes. One the water competing for the top honor and the cash are the 48-foot Cabo "Reel Time", 58 Riviera "Knot For Rent", 65 Elliot "Gambler", 48 custom "Angel and the Bad Man", 50-foot Cheoy Lee "Reel Nice and Easy", the "Ruckus", a 40-foot Riviera, a 39-foot Tiara called "Pacific Edge" and rounding out the field, the 60-foot Viking of Team Bad Company. All of the boats entered the $500 daily pool, while five took the plunge for the $1,000 daily and four took a shot at the $2,000 daily prize.

On the amateur side, there is over $7,000 on the line without counting the optional daily prize money. The eight boats that are fighting for the top spot here are the "Bad Dog II", a 43-foot Riviera, the "Exta Sea", a 50-foot Mikelson, the 34-foot Luhrs "Quality Time", the 22-foot Skagit Orca "Bucks Shot", the 48-foot Cabo "Aly Cat", and the 29-foot Blackfin "Cazador". There is one daily prize level for the amateur competitors at $500 with four of the six boats entering to win the money.

At the mid-point of the first day there were a total of three billfish releases while one fish had broken off and one boat was into a fight. The first fish of the day came on the "Pacific Edge" and was released a little more than an hour into the fishing at 8:12. Team Bad Company worked hard to get the second release of the day, spending about an hour on the fish before turning the marlin loose at 8:40. The next boat to bend a rod was the "Aly Cat" who jigged up a tuna at 9:32, a nice catch but not worth tournament points. "Reel Nice and Easy" put up a release at 10:25 and had the final release in the books when the first quarter of fishing ended. The "Pacific Edge" also lost a fish off just before 11:30 and the Ruckus was still fighting a fish at the 11:30 mark. All of the billfish were caught on baits and at the hands of crews in the pro division while the lone tuna aboard the "Aly Cat" was the single hook-up from the amateur league.

To keep things exciting regardless of the fishing conditions each day, the tournament committee and sponsors hold hourly giveaways to the competing teams. On this day it was the "Bad Dog II" and "Reel Time" that took the Aftco captain’s bags at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. while the "Quality Time", "Knot for Rent", "Bucks Shot" and "Aly Cat" drew KK Pono lures. The "Ruckus" and "Cazador" also won custom Black Bart lures courtesy of Dana Landing. Both the Black Bart and KK Pono Lures are custom made for the tournament and feature unique colors, inserts and logos that are not found in any store or catalog.

As the afternoon progressed, the wind picked up and conditions got better for the marlin bite off Catalina Island. The "Gambler" was the first to capitalize on the improving conditions and released a marlin at 1:39. The "Knot for Rent" was the next to hook up but unfortunately the fish came unglued before they could chalk up a clean release. Team Bad Company was up next and pulled a double of marlin and went 1 for 2 on them with one coming unstuck and the other coming to boatside for the release points. Before the "Bad Company" could call in the release however, the "Gambler" was hooked up again and got the release in before Bad Company so they slid into first place on points. The Reel Time hooked up in the final hour and released their marlin just as the 4:00 lines out call came from the tournament control. The "Ruckus" also hooked up in the final hour and got a clean release on what was their second billfish of the day at 3:52. "Reel Nice and Easy" was another boat that got bit in a flurry of last minute action and released a marlin at 4:07 for their second of the day. Team Bad Company got the final fish of the day, releasing their third billfish in the first half of competition. The final fish also put them into the lead for the tournament and locked up the first of the daily prize money.

At the day’s end there were three boats with two marlin releases, "Reel Nice and Easy", "Ruckus", and "Gambler." "Bad Company" released three of the four fish they hooked on the day for top bragging rights on the day. All of the fish were caught by teams on the professional side of the tournament and the amateur prizes roll over into day 2 so there’s a big payday that is just waiting for a bite. Meanwhile the pro division is still close and with a decent day’s fishing anyone can take the prize. There were a total of 11 marlin released among 14 boats in the first day, the second and final day opens with the traditional shotgun start tomorrow.