Records Fall in PRESIDENTIAL CHALLENGE
Playa Carrillo, Costa Rica—The Presidential Challenge of Costa Rica Presented by the I.C.T celebrated its fifteenth anniversary in 2011 in grand style, with the participating anglers shattering the long-standing release records. Throughout the previous four days, the eleven teams and scores of participating anglers, observers, captains and crews, sponsor representatives and VIP guests were treated to excellent weather and outstanding offshore fishing ac- tion for marlin and sailfish, combined with exceptional post-fishing cocktail parties and dockside camaraderie. The tournament wound up with a gala awards dinner and presentation at the event’s sig- nature host facility, the beautiful beachfront Villas Playa Samara.
Throughout the tournament the seas re- mained quite calm and the fishing grounds lay just 20 miles offshore, a characteristic of the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica. And the fish were certainly there in good numbers and were ready to cooperate—the first sailfish of the event was released af- ter just 18 minutes had elapsed after the call for lines in the water, the official start of the tournament. Throughout the next three days, the VHF radio was alive with calls of billfish releases to the official Tour- nament Control, while impartial observers on each vessel ensured full compliance with all tournament rules. In addition, each angler was supplied with Berkley Big Game 20-pound test line, which is manda- tory for use in this tournament. Non-offset circle hooks were also mandatory, ensuring that a very high percentage of the billfish would be hooked in the corner of the jaw instead of deeper in the stomach, throat or gills. The Eagle Claw 2004EL was the preferred hook of the tournament.
Once the final scores had been tabulated, it was determined that the Sea Angel team had emerged victorious in the Costa Team Division. The Sea Angel team consists of boat owner and angler Greg Angel, his son Capt. BC Angel at the helm and anglers Ar- turo Moreno and Frederico Ortega acting as
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also put the team in the early lead for the Papagayo Cup Perpetual Trophy, an award presented to the team garnering the most points between the PCCA Costa Rica and Presidential Papagayo Cup tournaments.
In second place was the Las Ventanas del Mar team, consisting of Gary Carter, John Richardson and Earl Engel, fishing aboard the Permit III with Capt. Chepe Santana. They were able to score a personal Grand Slam (blue marlin, striped marlin and sail- fish) for Richardson on the second day of the tournament on their way to scoring a total of 2,100 points for the event. In fact, there were three boat Grand Slams for the tournament, proving just how prolific the billfishing can be off Carrillo. In fact, Cart- er’s gameboat Silver-Rod-O is home ported here, within sight of his beautifully scenic condominium project, Las Ventanas del Mar, overlooking the anchorage.
anglers alongside Greg in the cockpit. The team was in contention throughout the en- tire tournament but really put on the pres- sure on Day Three, releasing two blue mar- lin (worth 300 points each) in addition to a handful of sailfish to move well ahead of the second place team. They wound up the tournament with 3,300 points—two blue marlin and 27 sailfish released in three days. The team splits their time between home ports in Texas and Los Suenos, and, according to owner Greg Angel, intends to return often to Puerto Carrillo for the excellent billfishing. Their victory here
In third place was another local favorite, the Gamefisher II, with Capt. Richard Chel- lemi and Team OBX aboard: Mike Viveiros, Dell Dembosky and Craig Johnson. Team OBX was the Grand Champion Team for 2010 and is poised to make another run at the overall series title again this year. They had a great day on the third afternoon of the tournament to overtake several other teams for third place.
In the Maverick Yachts Angler Division, John Richardson won first place with 1,300 points based in no small part on the strength of his personal Grand Slam
Sporting Traditions: The Magazine · 2011 Edition ·
PresChallenge.com
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