All Release Tournament adds optional kill catagory

[Mark Ray]

I just left the craziness of The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament and it's optional re- entry deal and recieve a newsletter from The Bay Point Invitational for which I am the artist for.
I paint billfish for a living so I want them alive on my canvas as well as in the water. I have been asked to paint them hanging from a scale at the docks and refuse to do so.
I am a strong supporter of catch and release and see no point in bringing them back to the docks just for the crowd to see.
With all the technology these days and filming the catch and release, why add an additional catagory which you have to pay more for just to bring one back to be weighed in.
Last year the Bay point Invitational went all release, The Billfish Foundation was on hand as well. This year they added an optional catagory to the tournament for the anglers that wanted to weigh one.
I just wanted to see what you all thought about this. Below is the press release.

Bay Point Brings Back "Big Blue"
Tournament Adds Optional Category for Weighed Blue Marlin
June 9, 2009

Widely regarded as the premier billfish tournament of the Gulf Coast, The Bay Point Invitational today announced a return of the Weighed Blue Marlin category. The tournament will continue to feature a Catch and Release category for billfish, but has added a separate division specifically for anglers wanting to weigh in a blue marlin in excess of 103 inches.

Participants will be able to compete in both the catch and release division, and the weighed blue marlin division. Although entry into the tournament will automatically enter anglers into the catch and release division, participants must enter the weighed blue marlin division as a separate category.

The tournament entry fee was lowered to $6,500 this year and anglers will be able to opt into the weighed blue marlin division for an additional $2,000. Featuring a single winner jackpot in the weighed blue marlin category, the angler with the heaviest blue marlin will take home 100% of the additional weighed blue marlin entry fees.

The decision to weigh blue marlin was made partly in response to requests from past participants. While many anglers supported the Invitational’s recent move to an all catch and release format, numerous participants expressed a desire to weigh in billfish.

“There’s something about bringing a big blue home to Bay Point,” said Steve Arndt, Marina Director at Bay Point Marina. “Everyone dreams about bringing in a monster blue, but to do it in front of a crowd of thousands is the pinnacle of sportfishing. That’s what separates the Invitational from other billfish tournaments.”

Now in its 26th year, the Invitational has a long history of giving back to the community and this year is no exception. The Bay Point Tournament Committee has refocused the tournament as a charity event to raise funds for local children’s charities. All proceeds from the 2009 event will go to the St. Joe Community Foundation which will then distribute 100% of the funds raised to Anchorage Children’s Home, the Boys and Girls Club of Bay County and the Gulf Coast Children's Advocacy Center.

The 26th Annual Bay Point Invitational Billfish Tournament will be held July 16-19 at Bay Point Marina. For more information please visit www.baypointbillfish.com.

[scattered_grass]

i think bringing one in is pretty lame myself...thats why we have cameras

[Swami]

While I fully support catch and release, sometimes we have to look at these things from a different point of view.

When Bay Point went all-release last year, it hurt their entry numbers. The guys that fish the Gulf tournaments put up big money in the calcuttas and they do not want it decided on points, but on who hangs the biggest fish at the end of the week. The tournament organizers felt that adding this category would be a way to regain some of those boats that wouldn't fish an all-release tournament.

And without the numbers of boats entering (and playing the calcuttas) then there's no way to reach those magical six or seven figure payouts. Just imagine if the Big Rock or Bisbees went all release--you take luck almost completely out of the picture since you now have to concentrate on numbers of releases and not just catching one big fish--and the average Joe quits playing the game since he feels like he can't compete with the tournament pros. The numbers go down and the winner gets $100,000 instead of $1,000,000.

In my mind, the answer has always been modified release with big minimums. I'd be happy if everyone went to a 500 or even 600 pound minimum weight, since you're going to release 95 percent of the fish anyway (and we're already using circle hooks with meat, so they should be released in pretty good shape too). It's as close to a win-win as I can think of.

Anybody else?

[clt_capt]

Unfortunately killing a fish is a way to up the number of entries.

In an all release format, professional crews are more likely to get more shots and convert those release shots....

But anyone can get lucky and get a single big fish - hence the increased entries... Just human nature unfortunately.

I would love to see kill tournaments go to 600 points for a release and a minimum weight of 500 lbs - that would seriously make crews think about their fish.

But as evidenced by Big Rock, when there is big money on the line, people don't measure very accurately...

[sportfishingusa]

While I fully support catch and release, sometimes we have to look at these things from a different point of view.

When Bay Point went all-release last year, it hurt their entry numbers. The guys that fish the Gulf tournaments put up big money in the calcuttas and they do not want it decided on points, but on who hangs the biggest fish at the end of the week. The tournament organizers felt that adding this category would be a way to regain some of those boats that wouldn't fish an all-release tournament.

And without the numbers of boats entering (and playing the calcuttas) then there's no way to reach those magical six or seven figure payouts. Just imagine if the Big Rock or Bisbees went all release--you take luck almost completely out of the picture since you now have to concentrate on numbers of releases and not just catching one big fish--and the average Joe quits playing the game since he feels like he can't compete with the tournament pros. The numbers go down and the winner gets $100,000 instead of $1,000,000.

In my mind, the answer has always been modified release with big minimums. I'd be happy if everyone went to a 500 or even 600 pound minimum weight, since you're going to release 95 percent of the fish anyway (and we're already using circle hooks with meat, so they should be released in pretty good shape too). It's as close to a win-win as I can think of.

Anybody else?

Very well put swami..


Shoot i even noticed that the beach haven white marlin invitiation just added a freaking blue marlin kill categorie at 105" and minimum weight of 250lbs!! WTF!?!?

[C-Duck]

The reality is I think that EVERYONE who sportfishes supports catch and release fishing, BUT it is extremely self-rightgeous for anyone to denegrate anyone for the legal harvest of a fish or bird or animal. Does having a bill on the snout make one fish more important than another. There is a place for catch and release, and for kill tournaments to coexist in our world.

We have never killed a billfish (intentionally, yet) on our boat, but I absolutely would if in a tournament, and it is legal. These tournaments are great events.

Proper management of our resources is what it is all about. Some kill, but mostly catch and release seems to be a great balance. Why screw with it because "you" feel it is wrong for "you". You don't want to kill, then don't kill...but don't shit on the next guy for doing so.

People need to get a grip. We ALL want a strong resource, but 100% catch and release is not the answer, and is a shallow "feel good" approach that is wholly unnatural in the real world in my opinion.

MAGGIE is bringing a blue one to the scales at The Big Rock as I write this, and I am as fired up for them as I would be if I were in the cockpit. I wish them well on their catch.

Curtis Campbell
Reel Estate Sportfishing
Ocean City, MD

[scattered_grass]

The reality is I think that EVERYONE who sportfishes supports catch and release fishing, BUT it is extremely self-rightgeous for anyone to denegrate anyone for the legal harvest of a fish or bird or animal. Does having a bill on the snout make one fish more important than another. There is a place for catch and release, and for kill tournaments to coexist in our world.

We have never killed a billfish (intentionally, yet) on our boat, but I absolutely would if in a tournament, and it is legal. These tournaments are great events.

Proper management of our resources is what it is all about. Some kill, but mostly catch and release seems to be a great balance. Why screw with it because "you" feel it is wrong for "you". You don't want to kill, then don't kill...but don't shit on the next guy for doing so.

People need to get a grip. We ALL want a strong resource, but 100% catch and release is not the answer, and is a shallow "feel good" approach that is wholly unnatural in the real world in my opinion.

MAGGIE is bringing a blue one to the scales at The Big Rock as I write this, and I am as fired up for them as I would be if I were in the cockpit. I wish them well on their catch.

Curtis Campbell
Reel Estate Sportfishing
Ocean City, MD

i agree..i would def. bring a big one in if in a tourny, but on the other hand its just harder for me to justify killing a big majestic animal like a blue marlin(which are no good to eat) compared to your meatfish that actually harvested to eat. but i do think that it can be good for tournaments and the sf industry as a whole.

[canyongear]

While I fully support catch and release, sometimes we have to look at these things from a different point of view.

When Bay Point went all-release last year, it hurt their entry numbers. The guys that fish the Gulf tournaments put up big money in the calcuttas and they do not want it decided on points, but on who hangs the biggest fish at the end of the week. The tournament organizers felt that adding this category would be a way to regain some of those boats that wouldn't fish an all-release tournament.

And without the numbers of boats entering (and playing the calcuttas) then there's no way to reach those magical six or seven figure payouts. Just imagine if the Big Rock or Bisbees went all release--you take luck almost completely out of the picture since you now have to concentrate on numbers of releases and not just catching one big fish--and the average Joe quits playing the game since he feels like he can't compete with the tournament pros. The numbers go down and the winner gets $100,000 instead of $1,000,000.

In my mind, the answer has always been modified release with big minimums. I'd be happy if everyone went to a 500 or even 600 pound minimum weight, since you're going to release 95 percent of the fish anyway (and we're already using circle hooks with meat, so they should be released in pretty good shape too). It's as close to a win-win as I can think of.

Anybody else?

Well said, Well put, Well thought out..Agree on the weight or length or both as a benchmark.

[jbrob]

The harvesting of a few billfish is not going to hurt the stock and with the money on the line at some tournaments, the big fish is going to be hard to eliminate. It also allows the amateur to compete and have a chance. In a release only format only boats with semi-professional crews have a chance to win. To me, the taking of 3 to 6 billfish at a tournament is much less worse than the boat catching 50 or 60 dophins, gaffers, every day to show the crowd what they can catch if they charter and then top it off with 6 amberjack and a few bottom fish.

Someone mentioned the Maggie. Well it is the Maggie 2 since they had fished out their 4 days already and put up another $17,000 to be able to do the last 2. I think that stinks and the Big Rock should change their rules to eliminate it. The guys who laid earlier in the week when only small fish were being caught to fish the last two days are now being screwed by allowing the winner take all category to be fished 6 days by anyone with the money to put up. And Maggie was not the only ones that did it.

[DropinBack]

If they took out a kill catagory in the WMO then i imagine less than 1/4 of people would still enter... Like mentioed above... a kill tournement gives a novice or a less experienced group a chance to win...