10th Annual Riviera Zane Grey Invitational Tournament Coverage

The second leg of the California Billfish Series is ready to begin as some of the most skilled sportfishing captains and crews assemble back at Santa Catalina Island in Avalon for the Tenth Annual Riviera Zane Grey Invitational Billfish Tournament. The best of the professionals from the Avalon Billfish Classic along with many new faces will set out at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow, September 15, from in front of the Avalon Harbor in search of the most and biggest striped marlin to be found in the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Teams will compete both for points based on fish that are successfully released while fishing during the three days, and also awarded points for fish that are weighed that meet tournament minimum sizes. The minimum length for fish to be brought to the scales is 84 inches from the fork of the tail to the tip of the lower jaw while there is also a minimum weight of 165 pounds. Points are accrued for the single largest striped marlin weighed by a given boat during the tournament, though more than one fish may be weighed at the discretion of the crew. All crews must use non-offset circle hooks to ensure the best possible chance for healthy release of all fish that are caught.

The Zane Grey Invitational is held off the coast of Catalina Island where the famous author helped shape the pursuit of gamefish in a sporting manner. It honors one of the most famous and influential sportfishermen to ever take up the rod and reel, and a man that helped develop many of the same ethics and ideals that continue to guide the sport to this day. By promoting conservation as a chief concern of all participants it follows in the tradition that Zane Grey and many other founding fathers established over 100 years previously.

This is the second event in as many weeks held on the small but historically imperative island of Catalina and the boats will scour the same waters where the first striped marlin were ever caught using sporting tackle. The fleet of boats will leave behind Avalon Harbor and the tournament control vessel, "Pacific Provider", heading out in all directions to what they believe to be the most fertile fishing grounds. The tournament will be held each day from Monday thru Wednesday with a possible extra day on Thursday if by some remote chance the boats come up empty handed on the first three days. As has become tradition in the ten years of the tournament, there will be a shotgun start with all of the participants lining up and going full throttle into the day. Live coverage will be found here and at www.catalinatournaments.com where tournament information and standings will be updated so that anyone interested can keep up to the minute with what happens on the water. There are 15 boats registered to fish with a first place purse of over $120,000, not including the daily pools which up the ante and reward depending on the optional entries for each boat.

The third and final leg of the California Billfish Series to be held on Catalina Island this year will take place next week on September 22 and 23 when the 16th Annual Catalina Classic takes off.

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