Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot 2012 Results

W.O.N JACKPOT TUNA TOURNAMENT

Winning team gets their check

This year’s tuna tournament was without a doubt the best ever, everything about it, the organization, the people, the parties, the fishing were fantastic. There is a real sense of community around this event. People came from as far afield as Alaska and Wyoming to take part in this tournament which due to the low entry fee is accessible to anybody – you don’t have to be a millionaire to take part, you have jackpot options if you really want to try and win some big money and the amount of door prizes and raffles, means most people do not go home empty handed – including a local children’s home which benefited from the generosity of the anglers.

One hundred and twenty one teams signed up, making this the largest tournament held in Cabo in 2012. A field of mostly local charter boats, though a fair share or larger, private sportfishers also participated in the two days of fishing on Thursday and Friday.  For sheer numbers of big fish, there has never been a better year.

Shotgun start.

Day one saw twelve fish over 100 lbs come to the scale and five over 200 lbs – in previous years a 200 lbs fish was good enough to put you in the money, but this year it was no guarantee. Team Renegade Mike stole the show when they weighed in a 266 lbs fish, caught aboard a 31 ft Bertram – a very nice fish and the thinking was that this was quite possibly the tournament winner. Team “Santana” had  a couple of the guys on board from the team that had landed a 383 lb - the current tournament record – so this really got our attention as we made our way down to the boat as it backed in. The fish looked good, longer than Team Renegade’s, but was it fatter? The answer was soon provided as the weighmaster called out “224 lbs”.  Team Santana trailed away disappointed, not realizing that they were in the money, to the tune of $92,000.00 due to the jackpots they had entered. This day not a dorado or wahoo was weighed in over the 30 lb minimum

Team Renegade Mike with their 266 lb tuna

Day two, started out fabulous, with over 100 people on the committee boat, organized as a charity event with sponsors and guests on board, enjoying mimosas, breakfast burritos and getting in on the excitement of 121 boats jostling for position, contained in a small area behind the start boat.  Fishing this day was even better with thirteen fish over 100 lbs, five fish over 200 lbs and what ended up being the overall winner a 372 lb tuna,  for team North Star a striking wooden boat,  cold molded with a fiberglass liner, Carolina style of just 30 feet. It looks more like an Italian speed boat than a fishing boat, but who cares, they know how to catch fish.

Winning fish was fat at 372 lbs

Tournament Results:

1^st North Star  372 lb tuna  total winnings $223,540.00

2^nd Renegade Mike 266 lb tuna $95,240.00

3^rd Dona Meche 262 lb tuna $2,420.00

Day 1 optionals Santana 224 lb tuna $92,000.00

Optional $10,000 pot two days, went to Maybe Manana who did not need a big fish, in fact theirs was just 97.7 lbs to win them $72,000.00.

Nice pay off for a 30.5 lb wahoo for team Baja Bait, who took the rollover to the second day and took home  $79,200.

Hard luck story was for team Missing Lenk; they were entered in the $10,000 jackpot and had a nice fish, but broke down – team Maybe Manana went by with their fish on board, which they knew was smaller, the twist is that the captain of Mabye Manana and Missing Lenk are brothers, plus the father of both captains was also aboard the distressed vessel. Team Maybe Manana were in a dilemma as to what to do, should they stay and help or go in and weight their fish. There was a 6.00 pm deadline to be back at the marina or the fish could not be weighed. They turned back to Maybe Manana, made sure they were O.K then headed in to weigh their 97 lb fish, but looked pretty glum. They then headed out to assist Missing Lenk who coming in on one engine did not make it back in time but who would have taken the $10,000 optionals with their 217 lb fish.

Team Maybe Manana had to leave family behind to get his payday