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Thanks for the updates. Wish I were there also, instead I'm winterizing the boat today prepping for 20 degrees tomorrow night. Ugh, what I would do to be sitting in the hookup right now with a cold one....instead of being the cold one.
Good luck to all the anglers and special regards to the CMMTC members on the list, Andy Levy and Chris Lepping.
How's participation this year compared to others? There are a couple of boat names I thought would be there but don't see on the list.
Now booking for May Striper fishing on the Roanoke River North Carolina 910-540-2464
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Draginfly is owned by our very own "Down East guide" George Beckwith here on the board. Took me 2 years to get George on the board but he oa here now...
Good morning from Costa Rica everyone:
Sorry for the delays but we had a power outage last night, not uncommon for Central America, even for a resort like Los Suenos, and it took out our wireless Internet access. We're up and running today though from radio control.
The bite turned on yesterday for the fleet--we had 32 anglers and all but two released at least one billfish. There were a total of 92 bills let go including six marlin (four blues and two stripeys). Pretty hot action.
The Dragin Fly has the two leading anglers on board with them--Larry Drivon and Mainor Oporto managed to land two marlin and nine sails between them so they had a great day. I also ran into my old friend George Beckwith last night at the after fishing cocktail party. It's funny to sit around and BS about duck hunting in New Bern sitting at the bar in Costa Rica.
Today's a new day though so we'll see what the fish gods have in store for the fleet. The main body of fish seems to be located about 35 miles from the dock down towards Quepos, so I'm sure most of the boats will lay down the riggers there and hope for the best.
Here's the press release from yesteday along with the standings. Marlin are worth 400 points and sails 100.
Thanks for checking in with us, stay tuned for updates,
Sam
WBS GRAND CHAMPIONSHIPS UNDERWAY IN COSTA RICA
LOS SUENOS—The first day of fishing in the 2008 World Billfish Series Grand Championships is now complete, and what a day it was. Thirty-two anglers fishing aboard 16 boats accounted for just over 90 billfish releases, including a half-dozen marlin releases.
Amid perfectly blue skies, temperatures in the low 80s and light winds, the fleet set off for the not-so-distant fishing grounds off Los Suenos Resort and Marina in central Costa Rica. In fact, several boats overran the fish, thinking a longer run to deeper waters would be necessary. Just the opposite was true, with the majority of billfish releases taking place around 35 miles from the marina’s entrance.
Taking an early lead was Californian Larry Drivon, fishing aboard the 42-foot Maverick, Dragin Fly. Drivon was able to release a blue marlin as well as six sailfish during the tournament fishing hours. With any species of marlin worth 400 points and sailfish worth 100 points each, Drivon amassed an insurmountable total of 900 points.
The WBS Grand Championships format pits two qualified anglers per boat, each fishing as individuals and not as a team. Across from Drivon in the Dragin Fly’s cockpit would be a formidable opponent: the 2007 WBS World Champion, Mainor Oporto. The young Costa Rican angler nearly topped Drivon’s score, releasing a marlin along with five sails to tally 800 points.
In third place would be Floridian James Vaughan, fishing aboard the 74-foot Viking, Reel Screamer. Vaughan, from Lake Wales, FL, released a marlin early in the day and followed up the initial success with a pair of sailfish, good for 600 points. Vaughan has competed in the WBS Grand Championships on several occasions and certainly has the experience to take home a title this year.
Another WBS Grand Championships veteran is James Kontos, from Crested Butte, Colorado. Kontos, fishing aboard the Tuna Bite, had to work hard throughout the day to remain in contention. There would be no high-scoring marlin for the young angler; instead, he would be forced to make the most of the more numerous sailfish bites, and by the call for lines out he had released six, good for 600 points the hard way.
Rounding out the top five would be another highly experienced tournament veteran, Port Aransas, Texas’ Bill Easum. Fresh off a tournament victory in El Salvador and the 2008 WBS Pacific Division winner, Easum also worked hard for his points today, tallying six sailfish for 600 points but falling just short based on the time of his last release against Easum.
The boats will take to the water again on Friday for the second day of the WBS Grand Championships, with the top five anglers moving on to the third and final day of competition on Saturday. At stake is the title of WBS World Champion of Billfishing as well as the keys to a new Mercedes C-300 and a custom bronze trophy by marine artist Geoffrey Smith. It’s sure to be an exciting event right up until the very end.
For more information, please visit www.fishWBS.com.
Larry Drivon 900
Mainor Oporto 800
Jim Vaughan 600
James Kontos 600
Bill Easum 600
Erik Waldin 600
Scooter Porto 500
Bob DelVecchio 500
Arthur Kontos 500
Jimmy Taylor 500
Pat Logue 500
Dwight Wolf 400
Peter Cherasia 400
Chris Wood 400
Greg Voell 400
Tim Hake 300
David Perry 300
Sari Turner 300
Chris Domel 300
Chris Lepping 300
Rocky Jones 200
Dell Dombosky 200
Mark Wodlinger 200
Bill Royster 200
Dave Dickerson 200
Scott Rickert 100
Andy Levy 100
Karl Knudsen 100
Scott Logue 100
Richard Lebo 100
Well, that didn't take long--Uno Mas just released the first fish of the day, a sailfish for angler Matt Traber at 8:07, just seven minutes after lines out. They swung for the fences yesterday hoping for a hot marlin bite off Cabo Blanco that never materialized but they're poised to make a good run of it today.
Just a reminder that the top five anglers from the first two days will advance to tomorrow's final shootout where they'll fish solo on their boats with camera crews recording every minute--the winner will get the keys to a new Mercedes and a beautiful bronze Grander Marlin trophy, so today is critical for the anglers to make it into that final round.
With marlin being worth 400 points, all it takes is one for an angler to be right back in the middle of contention so stay tuned for more updates from Costa Rica...
Bill, thank you very much for helping us post photos--between running the radio and fighting our Internet connection it's great to have you backing us up there. I also certainly give John Eppe a boatload of credit considering how he's able to post thousands of photos from even more remote locations than this.
The fleet just released the 100th billfish of the tournament, also marking the point where every single angler in attendance has now released at least one billfish. I can't think of too many other events anywhere in the world that could offer that statement!
The big news this morning is a blue marlin release for angler Chris Domel, fishing aboard Vince Austin's beautiful new Gamefisherman, Adios. That catapults Chris from virtual obscurity in 19th up into third place in the standings for now--just goes to show that a marlin release is really a game-changer in this tournament.
Mainor Oporto just let go a sail at ten after 9 to remain in second place behind Larry Drivon--both now have 900 points. If both anglers hold onto top five finishes then the highest scoring angler of the pair will remain with the Dragin Fly, while the other angler will move to an alternate boat for tomorrow's final day shootout.
It appears that the bite's a little slower today but the fleet is zeroed in, now it's just a matter of waiting them out. More to follow from WBS radio control here in Los Suenos...
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