Southern Pride Team Victorious in Aruba Caribbean Cup

[Fishing Report]

Southern Pride Team Victorious in Aruba Caribbean Cup



VARADERO MARINA, ARUBA: For the second straight year, the Southern Pride fishing team has emerged victorious in the Chivas Regal Aruba Caribbean Cup, this time fishing aboard a chartered vessel, the Curacao-based Papucho. The angling team of Gerard Aliseo, Tucker Colquhoun, Mariano dal Maso and Jimmy Taylor, with Capt. Charles Heldewier-Vignon at the helm, finished the tournament with 2300 points: three blue marlin, four white marlin and two sailfish.



With the low-slung mountains of Venezuela visible in the hazy distance, the tournament kicked off with great weather and 19 boats participating. The forecast was for calm seas throughout the week although local rain squalls would produce rough conditions from time to time. The good news was the fishing: many locals had reported a great marlin bite in progress. One team to find hot action during their pre-tournament scouting was Capt. Butch Cox's Prime Time, who scored a Grand Slam of three different billfish species the day before the tournament. It was a telling sign of things to come, as the Prime Time would score another Grand Slam on the first day of fishing to lead nearly the entire tournament only to fall from first to third on the final day of fishing.



Finishing in second place was Team Priority, Jim McCord, Jim Vaughan and Hans Kaspersetz, fishing aboard the Driftwood. They scored 1900 points in the tournament (five blues, one white and one sailfish). The Caribbean Cup marked the successful return of this team, once a top contender in the Presidential Challenge series just a few years ago.



In the angler standings, Anthony Pinzon won first place with 1500 points fishing aboard the Driftwood, an Aruban-based 35-foot Bertram charter boat. They were followed by Rob Belcher on the Prime Time with 1000 points in second place and Jeff Stingel, fishing on Frank Pettisani's Exile in third with 900 points.



The Chivas Regal Aruba Caribbean Cup serves as an important fundraising event for The Billfish Foundation. The tournament directors presented Elliott Stark from TBF with a check for $5,000 on behalf of the event participants, with a promise to continue to support billfish conservation in the Southern Caribbean through the Adopt-A-Billfish satellite tagging program and more.



The Caribbean Cup not only features outstanding fishing but also nightly entertainment, with theme cocktail parties after fishing and gala kickoff and awards dinners. Aruba's Minister of Tourism, the Honorable Otmar Oduber, was on hand to welcome the teams during the kickoff and to also celebrate with them during the awards. The tournament's Presenting Sponsor is the Aruba Tourism Authority. The event also receives outstanding support from a wide variety of local sponsors as well.



For the tournament there were 70 billfish released by 19 boats and 72 anglers: a very impressive 35 blue marlin, 16 white marlin and 19 sailfish. Two Grand Slams were scored during the tournament, with all marlin being caught using non-offset circle hooks and Berkley 30-pound test line supplied by the sponsor. Dozens more marlin were raised and lost, proving once again that Aruba has an outstanding fishing for a variety of billfish species.



For more information on the Aruba Caribbean Cup please visit www.preschallenge.com. Photography is available upon request by emailing sam@preschallenge.com.







Final Standings, 2011 Chivas Regal Aruba Caribbean Cup
Presented by the Aruba Tourism Authority



Top Team: Southern Pride, 2300 pts.

2nd Place Team: Priority, 1900 pts.

3rd Place Team: Prime Time, 1800 pts.



Top Angler: Anthony Pinzon, Driftwood, 1500 pts.

2nd Place Angler: Rob Belcher, Prime Time, 1000 pts.

3rd Place Angler: Jeff Stingel, Exile, 900 pts.


Top Boat: Papucho, 2300 pts.
2nd Place Boat: Driftwood, 1900 pts.
3rd Place Boat: Prime Time, 1800 pts.

[JFT]

Good fishing !

[Squidnation]

Here at Squidnation we would like to congratulate our very good friends and customers on both the Prime Time and Team Southern Pride. Great job on the final day fishing Tucker and Gerard!!!!!!! nice going on your angler second place finish Rob and Team Prime Time!!!!!!