Well, it was another great year for the Florida Billfish Masters Tournament.
Captain Dan Kipnis once again out did himself. The Captain's meeting on Thursday,
March 18th, 2004 went well and was held at the famed Miami
Beach Rod & Reel Club.
I
was at the docks early for the first day's fishing (5:15am) and as soon as I
opened the car door I knew the winds were going to blow all day. I took photos
at the dock, and as the tournament participants picked up their observers, and
then finally my ride, the Get Lit captained by Ray Rosher pulled in to pick
up me and their observer. It was a rather smooth ride out of the cut on the
sleek 52 Viking, but a smaller boat would have capsized as the seas we a sustained
8 feet with an occaisional 10-12' swell every once in a while! Not a bad fishing
day at all as there were 93 releases for the 28 boats fishing the tournament.
Get Lit ended up going 5 for 10 on sails, but picked up three keeper dolphin
and several bonitos. The day one leader was "Cabana" with 9 releases
for a total of 1800 boats.
I
was at the dock early again for the second day of the tournament and took multiple
pictures of almost all boats as they came in to pick up their observers. Winds
and seas seemed to have calmed substantially, and we had to wait to see how
this effects fishing action for the second day. Well, calmer winds and seas
did in fact mean slower fishing; however, 51 releases (inluding 1 white marlin!)
were reported. During the 2 day event, 143 sailfish releases and 1 white marlin
release were reported by a field of only 29 boats! After all was said and done,
the prize money totaled $123,050 to be paid out to three places. Team "Boat
Center" got the first billfish release of the tournament and received 4
box tickets to a home Miami Heat game as a result. First place overall went
to "Cabana" with 17 releases (1 white marlin) for a total of 3400
points which was worth $74, 350! Second place went to Miss Britt (by time) with
9 releases for a total of 1800 points worth $29,220. Third place went to "Chopper"
which also had 9 releases and was worth a total of $19,480. Both daily payouts
went to "Cabana" which proves that with fishing - consistancy pays!!!
All in all, this was a great event agin this year. Capt Dan Kipnis did a great
job and we should all thank him for his work whenever we get the chance. See
you all next year!!!
THE
PHOTOS
DVDs
are now available with ALL pictures
from the tournament in 300DPI resolution for printing for $30 or with a slide
show that will play on a normal DVD player on a TV or on your computer for $30.
SPECIAL - get both DVDs for $50! Send an email to info@endlessimagery.com for
more info.
