Bisbee Tournament Payouts

1st Place Mi Novia blue marlin 375 lbs Total Winnings $436,602.00
2nd Place Extraction blue marlin 305 lbs Total Winnings $559,362.00
1st Place Release Division Team Ole Ole 1 blue marlin (on time) $33,150.00
2nd Place Release Division Team Carpe Diem 1 blue marlin $11,475.00
3rd Place Release Division Team Reata del Mar 1 blue marlin $6,375.00

As you can see the second place fish won more money, this was because the monies were rolled over from day two when no qualifying fish were caught; this team entered the following daily jackpots $200, $500, $1000, and the $2000.
Mi Novia was entered in the same jackpots. Neither boat was entered in the $5000 or $10000 daily jackpots.

Bisbee Final Results

So the big event is over and just two qualifying fish were weighed during the three days of fishing.
Largest fish was Mi Novia 375 lbs next was a 305 lb, aboard Extraction, both were blue marlin.
I went down to the marina last night to see the awards, but was kind of surprised as there were no tables or chairs, just a crowd standing around the stage, mixed with the general public. Usually a dinner is laid on for the participants with local dignitaries invited. I heard Wayne Bisbee say " Well we are not having a dinner tonight, because everybody says my food sucks anyway"...so seeing as there was no place to sit we didn't stay and will wait for the breakdown of the monies to be published hopefully today.

Bisbee Lines Out in 40 Minutes......Fish Weighed

We have just heard of another qualifying fish being weighed in for the Bisbee.
305 lbs blue marlin aboard Extraction a 48 ft Ocean. Captain Hiram Montaño. We do not know which jackpots they are in so cannot put a value on the prize they may win....but there is still 23 minutes of fishing time to go and more fish may be coming to the scale.

Day Two Bisbee Report

The second day of fishing saw zero fish come to the scale. So that means the lead fish is still the 375 lb blue aboard Mi Novia. All monies from day two roll over to today the last day of fishing, if there is a fish larger than this 375 lb'er and the team landing it has entered all the jackpots the fish caught today could be worth $1,343,170.00

Day One Bisbee Report

Ninety four teams competed on day one in the world's richest Billfish Tournament, but only one qualifying fish i.e over 300 lbs was brought to the scale by the team aboard "Mi Novia" headed up by San Diego native Bryan Miller. The fish took a 15 lb live yellowfin tuna and for obvious reasons the angler is not saying where, taking 23 minutes to boat the 375 lb blue marlin on 130 lb tackle. The fish is worth $232,000.00 for taking top honors on day one.

Tragedy on First Day of Bisbee

There were a good number of entries for this year's Bisbee Black & Blue Jackpot Tournament, totaling 94 all together. However, just 30 minutes after the shotgun start a boat was reported as being in trouble. The Bottom Line, 50 ft Hatteras was on fire off of Palmilla and then we heard she had sunk. We know the owner and crew of the Bottom Line well and talked to them when they came back on the rescue boat ....it seems like this was a freak accident. They were running at 35 knots then slowed down to 30 knots, when the captain noticed a sudden drop in power. The gauges were not showing overheating engines, but then they lost all power. Captain T.J Dobson, orginally from Oklahoma but now a naturalized Mexican citizen, put the boat in neutral and told his deckhand to open the engine hatches, which spewed out a cloud of black smoke. T.J immediately called for help on the radio whilst simultaneously grabbing the fire extinguisher. A boat close by "Sneak Attack", sped over and the anglers transferred over. T.J tried to battle the blaze but even the automatic fire safety equipment in the engine room wasn't enough and the smoke was so thick within two minutes that the crew couldn't see anything and had to abandon ship to save their lives. The boat burned furiously and then sank before the eyes of her horrified owner and crew. Owner Mike Menas from Illnois lost his passport, credit card and even his wedding ring and that was just his personal items. This team were dazed, sad and in shock when we saw them a couple of hours after the incident. This was a professional team, the boat was well maintained the captian is one admired by his peers both American and Mexican alike, in fact they just took 2nd place on Sunday in the Bisbee Offshore and first place in last years' Tuna Tournament. They were told that their entries would be refunded but were later told the rules did not allow this. So tomorrow they will be going out again, aboard a boat loaned by a kind hearted local, John Moon , a 50 ft Viking, "Fearless", which we hope they will be. It would be fantastic if they went on to win the the tournament after going through this... .we're pulling for you guys.
You can see photos here http:latimesblogs.latime.com/outposts/ scroll down to see the the ones relating to this story.

Someone is Watching Out for Us

Wednesday Oct 21st 5.45 PM

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief to see the back of Hurricane Rick. Lives, boats and homes were safe and as if to prove it a beautiful rainbow was seen in the sky....this photo shows an incredible scene of the rainbow, touching down on the cross set upon the aptly name Hill of the Cross looking over the working class neighborhood of 4 de Marzo . I just happened to glance over my shoulder on the way home from work and slammed on the brakes when I saw this, jumped out of the car and blindly snapped a couple of pictures. I couldn't see a thing with the glare in my eyes, but the result was very cool.

Tracy Ehrenberg

Bye Bye Rick

Monday October 20th, 7.22 PM

After a stressful few days of uncertainty we are now saying goodbye to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Rick...Cabo was once again spared a powerful storm and we did not even get Tropical Storm conditions, but we really appreciate the rain. As usual when there are clouds we had an incredible sunset...wish you were here but a lot of people cancelled....sigh, well somebody has to stay here and take these photos of the beautiful sunset we had tonight.

Hurricane Rick Update No #7

Tuesday October 20th 9.38 AM

Thankfully the track of what is now Tropical Storm Rick has moved further south, leaving Cabo just on the edge of the cone of the storm. Nevertheless it has been raining softly since 7.00 pm last night. We did get heavier rain around 3.00 AM but right now it has slowed to consistent, soft rain, no wind and partly cloudy. No waves to speak of on the Pacific but the Cortez side is another story. It is not the height of the waves which is a problem, even though they are at times as big as ten feet, but rather the surge, after the wave breaks, which is going all the way up the beaches to the footings of hotels on the main beach. Yesterday afternoon a 16 year old Mexican boy was swept into the sea on Medano Beach when he was too close to the waves and was drowned. The town is in good but soggy shape and the storm should be at its' closest poing by 11.00 pm tonight. We expect to be fishing Thursday or Friday.

Hurricane Rick Update #6

Monday Oct. 19, 8.43 pm

Hurricane Rick continues to turn more toward the Mexican mainland and is projected to pass just to the south of Cabo. Winds are now down to 85 MPH and it is moving NNW at 7 MPH. A hurricane watch still remains in effect for Cabo at this time. Here are some images from today...the smallish waves on the Pacific, the calm in the marina and the slightly flooded Pabellon Cultural or Cultural Center being constructed behind our building, in what used to be the biggest free parking lot in town.