2 Days..436 Sailfish Releases!

[Bluewater Movements]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ABC/World Diamond Source Billfish Challenge Arrives on Feb 21st

The month of February has typically been known to produce some of the hottest Sailfishing action along the Southeast coast of Florida. The results from the last two years of the ABC/World Diamond Source Billfish Challenge are living proof of that very fact. In 2006, a field of 61 boats released 187 fish in the one day tournament. Last year, 67 teams combined to release an astonishing 249 fish. Top team honors in 2007 were awarded to presenting sponsor, Danny Massa of D&D Welding. Massa’s ‘Never Satisfied’ fishing team tallied 16 releases, earning over $41,000 in cash prizes last year. Over $150,000 in cash and prizes were awarded to top teams in the 2007 event.

In the past few years, the Billfish Challenge event has worked its way up the ladder, becoming one of the premier Sailfish tournaments in South Florida. The event has strong ties to the Associated Builders and Contractors organization, commonly referred to as the ABC. “The Billfish Challenge event was built with the same principles in mind when it comes to developing a property or constructing a building,” said Jim Zerby, board member for the tournament and Vice President of Hypower, a major sponsor of the tournament as well. “We built a strong foundation through our relationship with the ABC and many of the ABC member companies who have contributed significantly to the tournament as sponsors over the years. Working together with our director, Jamie Bunn, of Bluewater Movements, we’ve been able to assemble a top shelf event in a format that has been extremely appealing to Sailfish enthusiasts from West Palm to Miami.”

The Billfish Challenge tournament is hosted at IGFA Hall of Fame Museum in Dania, FL. Teams have the unique ability to choose from one of three inlets to compete from. Available inlets are Government Cut in Miami Beach, Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano Beach and Lake Worth Inlet in West Palm Beach. “That is a signature feature of our tournament,” said Jamie Bunn. We have been able to make it more convenient for teams in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties to compete out of an inlet that is close to home. The tournament has also recognized the implications of rising fuel costs these days and taken measures to keep teams from burning excess fuel unnecessarily. “Teams will nominate the inlet that they are going to check out from in advance of the tournament,” said Bunn. “However, they have the ability to return their release cards into any one of the three inlets. It prevents them from having to run at extremely high rates of speed to get back to their inlet, burning tons of fuel in the process.” Beyond that, the one day fishing format of the tournament is a big savings when it comes to time and money.

The kickoff party and final registration for the ABC/World Diamond Source Billfish Challenge is Thursday, February 21 from 6pm to 10 pm at IGFA. Fishing is Saturday, February 23rd with the awards ceremony to be hosted back at IGFA Hall of Fame on Sunday, Feb. 24th from 4pm to 6pm. Entry fee in the tournament is $600 per team and includes all anglers. For more information on the tournament log on to or call 954-725-4010.

[WhItEoUt 23]

Team Barely Legal in it to win it

[WhItEoUt 23]

Next saturday gettin close...