PCCA Guatemala Tournament

[Marlinhunter2]

The 13th Annual PCCA Tournament was held this past weekend at Casa Vieja Lodge and Marina Pez Vela in Puerto San Jose, Guatemala. Tournament Director Joan Vernon has the following to report:

The 13th Edition of The Presidential Challenge of Guatemala Presented by INGUAT is underway. The boats left Pez Vela at 7am this morning with anxious anglers aboard. This is the final event in the PCCA Conservation Series and a lot is at stake. Teams and anglers are in competition for THE COSTA DEL MAR GRAND CHAMPION TEAM AWARD and THE EAGLE CLAW GRAND CHAMPION ANGLER AWARD which will be given out on Sunday.

NOON FRIDAY FISH REPORT
Where did they go?...is the question being asked by our PCCA fleet this morning! Joan Vernon, official scorekeeper, reports that Craig Johnson fishing for Team Decisive aboard the 'Decisive' released a fish at 9:47am. Only one other fish has been radioed in so far today. Knowing that the fish were far offshore, we are hoping that radio transmission is just bad and that many fish will show up at the end of the day. Certified Observers are aboard each boat and have the responsibility of keeping GPS times on all releases. We will keep you posted.........

Day One
Marina Pez Vela, Guatemala — This was truly a day in the dark for the radio team. Only one transmission was heard first thing in the morning. Not until the boats returned to the dock at the end of the day did we have the results. We were pleasantly surprised with the result which included 44 sailfish and 2 blue marlin. Team Decisive, fishing on the Decisive took off at 8:52 am when Craig Johnson released a sailfish. Dell Dembosky pulled a blue marlin out of the hat at 9:31 am and the team never looked back. Team Captain Mike Viveiros is fresh off a second place finish in the IGFA Offshore Championship representing the 2008 PCCA of Guatemala. Team Ol Salt fishing on the Finest Kind with Capt. Ron Hamlin and angler Sammy Castellano also added a blue marlin to the team score to put them into second. The Casa Vieja team had a steady catch releasing 10 sails to move them into third place.

DAY ONE RESULTS
44 Sailfish/2 Blue Marlin ALL ON CIRCLE HOOKS!

FIRST FISH: Craig Johnson/Evelio Mederos 8:52am
1ST PLACE TEAM: Decisive 1800 pts
2ND PLACE TEAM: Ol Salt 1500 pts
3RD PLACE TEAM: Casa Vieja 1000 pts
1ST PLACE ANGLER: Dell Dembosky 900 pts
2ND PLACE ANGLER: Sammy Castellano 900 pts
3RD PLACE ANGLER: Craig Johnson 600 pts
TOP BOAT: Decisive 1800 pts
2ND BOAT: Finest Kind 1500 pts
3RD BOAT: Rum Line 1000 pts

DECISIVE HOLDS ON TO LEAD AT END OF DAY TWO

DAY TWO RESULTS
70 Sailfish 1 Blue Marlin

1ST PLACE TEAM: Decisive 3200 pts
2ND PLACE TEAM: Casa Vieja 2600 pts
3RD PLACE TEAM: Ol Salt 1900 pts
TOP BOAT: Decisive 3200 pts
2ND BOAT: Rum Line 2600 pts
3RD BOAT: Finest Kind 1900 pts
TOP ANGLER: Jim Turner 1400 pts
2ND ANGLER: Dell Dembosky 1400 pts
3RD ANGLER: Craig Johnson 1200 pts
TOP DAILY ANGLER: Jim Turner 1100 pts
TOP BOAT DAY 2: Decisive 1400 pts (on time)

In the early afternoon of Day Three, the Casa Vieja team fishing on Rum Line with Capt. Chris Sheeder passed Team Decisive and Capt. Brad Philipps to claim victory in the 2009 PCCA of Guatemala. Team Ol Salt fishing aboard the Finest Kind with Capt. Ron Hamlin placed third.

FINAL RESULTS

211 Sailfish / 3 Blue Marlin
ALL ON CIRCLE HOOKS!
LAST FISH: MIKE VIVEIROS 3:35PM
1ST PLACE TEAM: CASA VIEJA 4500 PTS
2ND PLACE TEAM: DECISIVE 4200 PTS
3RD PLACE TEAM: OL SALT 3300 PTS
1ST PLACE ANGLER: JIM TURNER 2300 PTS
2ND PLACE ANGLER: DELL DEMBOSKY 1700 PTS
3RD PLACE ANGLER: CRAIG JOHNSON 1500 PTS
TOP BOAT: RUM LINE 4500 PTS
2ND BOAT: DECISIVE 4200 PTS
3RD BOAT: FINEST KIND 3300 PTS

TEAM CASA VIEJA WINS 2009 PCCA OF GUATEMALA PRESENTED BY INGUAT - CONSISTING OF JAIRO DE LEON, JUAN ANON AND JIM TURNER

DAVIS CLAPP AND TEAM A-FIN-ITY ARE GRAND CHAMPIONS FOR THE 2009 PCCA SERIES

COSTA DEL MAR GRAND CHAMPION TEAM - A-FIN-ITY 8250 POINTS
2ND - USA - 8150
3RD - OL SALT - 6600

EAGLE CLAW GRAND CHAMPION ANGLER - DAVIS CLAPP 4050 POINTS
2ND - MIKE VIVEIROS 3250
3RD - DAN PIMENTAL 2650

Further information for future PCCA events can be found at www.preschallenge.com

Further information about Casa Vieja Lodge can be obtained at 800.882.4665 or 305.854.4665 www.casaviejalodge.com or www.southfishing.com

[Marlinhunter2]

For those that care about such things - here's the list of boats and anglers participating in this event:

A-Fin-Ity with Capt. Juanga Lopez. Anglers: Davis Clapp, Dan Pimental & Luis Fernado

Decisive with Capt. Brad Philipps. Anglers: Mike Vivieros, Dell Dombosky & Craig Johnson

Fishing Fever a private boat from Los Suenos. Anglers Tito Muntaner, Evelio Mederos & Carlos Barnes

Team Casa Vieja on Rum Line with Capt. Chris Sheeder. Anglers: Jim Turner, Juan Anon & Jairo De Leon

Team USA on Mojo a private boat. Anglers: Bill Easum, Chris Domel & JW Bones

Team Cap Cana on Intensity with Capt. Nico Melendrez. Anglers: Miguel Ricart, Jose Leon & Rafael Paulino

Team Ol Salt on Finest Kind with Capt. Ron Hamlin. Anglers: Mike Topp, Shawn Kooyman and Sammy Castellano

Jim Turner's blue marlin put him at the top of the angler leader board on time over Dell Dembosky. Dell's teammate, Craig Johnson, held a firm grip on third place angler.

The PCCA Guatemala is famous for exciting finishes. This year was no exception. The bite started off early and teams called in several doubles and triples. At 1:30 p.m, Team Casa Vieja pulled ahead of Decisive for the lead. When the dust settled and scorecards collected, Team Casa Vieja had pulled off the victory. Ol Salt, fishing on Finest Kind, had a great day and held on to third place in the Costa Del Mar Team Division.

The winner of the Baptist Health International Angler Division was Jim Turner, fishing for Team Casa Vieja. His blue marlin on Day One put him on his way to the win. In a hard-fought battle, Dell Dembosky finished in second place fishing for Team Decisive. The Third Place angler position went down to the wire. In the end, Dell's teammate Craig Johnson slid into the third place angler slot.

For the third year in a row Team A-Fin-Ity won the coveted COSTA DEL MAR GRAND CHAMPION TEAM by the narrowest of margins over Team USA, as only one fish separated these two very competitive teams. Ol Salt fished all of the PCCA events to take third place overall. Again, it was a narrow one fish victory over team Decisive/OBX.