NEW 2011 OFFSHORE FISHING TOURNAMENT

[cappyD]

The regs for bluefin are a real concern, and posting stuff here is good to create awareness but the meetings are important as are letters. Doms post is a good one. On a lighter note:

For anyone interested Ive been working hard on the development of some cape cod based offshore tournaments. Id like to run some ideas by you guys and get some good quality feedback. The regs on BF this year are going to make it challenging to say the least. But if we can build these events with a big push of conservation...it WILL get recognized and thats what its going to take. Heres what I have for possibilities.

1. a Bluefin tuna event held in hyannis harbor in mid july 2 weeks before the shark tourney in OB. Big calcuttas, tent, food every night, party/banquet on sunday from noon to 5pm instead of trying to do it on sat night rushing everyone after wiegh in. Now heres the thing...giants will count...but its not going to be a point per pound event. It will be by number of releases. The only fish to come into the scales will be for calcuttas. There will be the following categories for calcutta

a biggest 73plus inch tuna category(one fish per day)

a biggest 72less inch category(whatever regs allow)

most releases for each day of fishing(you choose what day/all days)

most releases for entire tournament

so heres whats kind of cool by doing this structure. A boat that catches a giant, can keep fishing and get points releasing fish. This will level the playing field a bit. The way to win the event is to catch the MOST fish..not the biggest. BUT the biggest fish will win a fat calcutta(as it should)

There WILL BE BOUNDARIES, and releases will have to be called in..WHEN THEY HAPPEN..and a committee boat will have to acknowledge all releases and catches. All releases will have to be documented with a digital camera and the footage will have to include a tournament flag(which will be handed out at captains meeting) The format will be very similar to that of sailfish tourneys in FLA.

And finally, MANDATORY POLYGRAPHS will be given to rule out any bs. My aim is to create an event that people will want to fish and look forward to every year. This is a HUGE amount of work, time, and money for a guy like me to cough up. So I'm only going to do it if I have the interest from you guys. Im thinking around 1k for an entry fee.

Pigroast on sunday, bikini contests, live music, vendor displays, great food every night,public attendance, bar, great captains bag, great competitive tuna fishing, and a high stakes atmosphere, raffle, prizes, trophies, ect

I would bring in a charitable event to benefit from the proceeds as well as try and raise money to support our fisheries management. I will say this, the more organized we can become as concerned fishermen, the better. This event would be done right.

I'm also considering a canyon tourney either in august or in september. I have spent a good amount of time putting together a plan to do an Oak Bluffs based event in mid september(thurs thru sun)...based out of Nancys restaurant. The harbor is willing to work with me too. But my only concern is what do you guys think? Would you fish a fall canyon event? Or would you rather see one in August? I dont want to compete with the Tri-state in BI as its one of my favorite events to fish and Id be crazy to do that anyway. So if I did august, it would be in the latter part of the month. Im not even sure if I could get it done in OB in August. If not, it may work in Hyannis as well.

Let me know!

Dont be afraid to speak your mind here.

[turbocc]

Damon,

Hope this takes off like you plan it sounds like it would be a blast. Will the BFT tourny be IGFA?

[cappyD]

For those of you who have reached out to me on here, feel free to also contact me directly at captdamon@gmail.com. As far as the IGFA goes, the answer is yes, but spreadar bars are going to be an issue for the bluefin event. and people gaffing giants is downright dangerous if they havnt done it before. I turned a carolina boat guys gaff into a pretzel on a 500 pounder I think he since bought a POON

[stew]

I liked to see it a trolling only format, no live bait\chunking fishing. I think you will get more boats if it's troll only. Why bother will all the IGFA stuff. Lets just come up with a basic set of rules and keep it simple. Poons and Spreader bars are good and basic one angler fights fish stuff and so on. We could come up with the basic rules easy and let people go fishing. Too many rules too many ways to mess up. I like the whole KISS aproach. I think it's a great idea D. Capt. Eric

[Innovator]

I vote for POON legal!!! Picture/video are a must for releases. Keep the B.S. down. Guy calls a hook up to the committee boat, is given a # (22 for example) writes 22 on a sheet of paper, take a picture of fish with the #22 in the picture/video and release is good.

[Block and Tackle]

What are the fishing grounds?

[Fishypantsmagoo]

on the BFT tourney:
spreader bars- LEGAL
Live/Bait-LEGAL
POON-LEGAL
Definitely what Stew said of 1 angler fighting the fish

Canyon Tourney:
IGFA rules
September-There is nothing in sept for legitimate tourneys

[cappyD]

All very good legitimate questions/concerns.

I think the boundaries will be the following.

There will be a box grid...4 lat long points marking each corner edge of the boundary...very simple layout. The coordinates would be

41.00 x 70.00(bottom left)
41.00 x 69.00(bottom right)

42.00 x 70.00(top left)
42.00 x 69.00(top right)

This will allow people to fish crab ledge, nauset, the sword, the BC, the BB, the wrecks, the 6and 8, the Figs, and a lot of other humps in and around the shipping lanes. It will be more than enough room to fish.

I dont think I will limit people to the type of fishing they employ. Every crew is different. I simply want to provide an event that allows for anyone who knows how to catch a tuna fish, to enter and have a shot at winning. But to win this thing, youre gonna have to have more than blind luck. The release structure will keep people on their toes and certainly involve some skills. The mandatory polygraph tests are no joke. Bottom line is to cheat is a felony, and you would have to have elephant balls and stupidity to try and cheat. I will have a bullet proof system that will keep people honest as there will be big calcuttas involved. Thats what makes these events exciting.

The bluewater/canyon event will definitely be IGFA. Id like to be able to send a winning crew to Cabo. The real concern is what time of year to have the event. I personally like september because the canyon fishing is usually on fire then, and theres usually even a good night bite by then too...not to mention some monster wahoo around. Its by far my favorite time to fish out there. Our last trip out in late sept in 2010 we caught a big blue marlin, 2 huge wahoo, a swordish, some nice mahi, and yellowfin tuna to 90 pounds(biggest yellows we saw all season).

Ive talked with John Shea at Trader Eds. He's totally gun-ho for doing the July tuna event as is Wayne Kurker at Hyannis Marina. It would be a world class production..lobster dinner on thurs pm/captains meeting, shotgun start at 04:00 on Fr and Sat mornings, weigh station 3pm to 7pm each day, food/beverage each night, tent, sponsor/vendor displays, and big bash on sunday noon to 5pm for awards ceremony, live band, bikini contest, weve talked about a full on pig roast poolside at Trader Eds/Tent. Heres the thing...in order to do this right, Im going to need entries ahead of time...not the week of the event. Im going to make entiry and registration more affordable/attractive for guys who get in early. Not to mention, in order to fish this event, your vessel will have to be in hyannis harbor(transom name documented) all days including thurs, and it will be a first come first serve on dockage.

Weather is always an issue with any tournament, and I am looking into a bail out plan, certainly for Oak Bluffs event which will be called the OBC(Oak Bluffs Challenge)

As far as the bluefin tourney goes, its gonna have to be silly rough not to be able to fish for bluefin

[cappyD]

yes I agree on poons and spreadar bars legal for the BFT. I dont want guys getting knocked out by gaff poles from 100 inch angry mackeral

[Tbgame32]

Sounds perfect the way you have it. Dates are great for both, count me in! There are August options already and a great early Sept tourney is needed. Entries right around 1k seem to be the norm, but you should make it whatever you need to make the tourney high end... we will all will pay for a great format/venue.

OBC... good name!

Fish On!