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Bisbee Cup Review, Steve Lassley |
- By Steve Lassley
- Published 12/7/2008
- Fishing Reports
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Rating:
This is the last Tournament of the season (really this time) The Bisbee Cup Championship, it is an invitational tournament. You have to qualify to compete. This Tournament has some of the best teams on this Coast. Over 300 boats and only 10 qualified, 7 competed (Kind of glad the Gambler didn't show up). We are hoping to do well in this one as we have had a couple bad Mexico tournaments, it would be a nice way to end the season. Luckily, we did ok in Puerto Vallarta.
Pete and I fly in on Monday. We have 3 days to pre-fish and try to figure out where all the Marlin are and how best to catch them. Our Team is going to consist of Myself, Anthony, Ron, Pete, Jimmy, Chad and Eliseo (Andy won't be fishing the tournaments with us anymore, they are going to be doing more trips with the Mirage operation, we will miss him)
As soon as we land we tear into the tackle. Swapping out rod and reel combinations to fit some special needs. New line on everything and Eliseo is tying leaders, lots and lots of leaders. Last year the top 2 boats had over a 100 fish each, not that kind of volume this year, but..........you never know.
We depart early the next morning. Start looking at all the places that hold bait and Marlin. Taking notes on everything. We are pulling up on the bank and there are Birds, Whales, Seals and Marlin are jumping everywhere, everywhere.
For weeks I have been talking about ways to get separation from the other competitors, techniques that are new or with a twist to them. We can't just slug it out with these local guys, they would kick our ass. WILDCATTER and TIGER SPIRIT have some of the best local crew members around. When I say local, it is only a reference to the area, they would be good anywhere they went. These guys grew up casting at Marlin, in these waters. They are good at it. We have to have something different just to stay close. So we spend 3 days trying it all and then some. The problem is, every day we fished the fish changed. No pattern. Everyday was different. Show at a different time of day, react different, current would switch everyday or pulse( Bisbee flashback). Oh boy.......
Shotgun start the first day and we are the first one on the bank. We hook our first fish in about 3 minutes of getting there. Already about 15 - 20 boats there and nobody hooked up, guess the pre-fishing worked out. That first day we were raising fish every 2 - 3 minutes. Release a fish or 2 or 3, barely get the stuff out and more fish were in the spread. This was full contact high energy fishin. Full head bangin. Boats all over the bank. I would get a clear area with no boats, a spot that I knew was holding, we would get there catch a couple and here comes the fleet. Then you gotta get out and find some more. There were several times I was afraid of a fish jumping in the boat and taking someone out. You have a fish with it's head stuck out of the water trying to rid it's self of the hook and we are charging back at high speed trying to grab the leader. Seems like somebody gets speared this way every year somewhere, it's always on your mind. Anyway, the first day we caught 20 , Wilcatter had 21 and Tiger Spirit had 19. We were tied with the Wildcatter on points but ahead on time , by 7 minutes, The only reason we were ahead was because of the bonus points for being the top seeded boat in the tournament. We caught fish off the teasers, feeders, a tailer......just about every way you could think. We lost several fish, but the killer was we got stuck on 4 fish for over an hour each. Ruined us. Not that we did anything wrong, just too big a grade of fish. Wrapped one up. What hurt is how many fish there were the first day and we were stuck in the mud for half of it......killed me. Listening to the radio and all the hook ups was torture. Painful really. Wildcatter released 5 while we were on one fish. Wanted to shut it off but had to listen to know where we were.
Second day was a repeat of the first as far as the action went. Luckily, the fished wanted to bite one of the techniques we had tweaked. We ended the day with 21. Wildcatter had 18, C-Bandit had 19 Tiger Spirit had 14.
We had 41 in 2 days and first place. It was a special win as we had won the California Championship in September then we won the Mexico Championship here. Someday we are going to be too old to compete at this level, I keep thinking, well maybe this is it...............not this year. I have to be honest though, this style of fishing we did wore me out. I told Anthony it was the most tired I have ever been at the end of a tournament. Maybe the most fun too!
Good fishing, beautiful weather, great camaraderie. Really a good group of guys. All these guys are becoming more and more like family all the time. I like and respect them all
Day one sunrise reflections
KNOT FOR RENT and lands end.
TJ on the Bottom Line. They had an awesome year, just finished a big win with the tuna tournament
Baja Cantina committee boat
SEA CALL and GAMBLER on moorings in front of the new Hacienda project
The new C BANDIT. She is a beautiful yacht.
Camera man on board, taping for an ESPN show.
Like the name says. TIGER SPIRIT. These guys are Tigers!
WILDCATTER, class acts. Owner John and captain Enrique.
We finished with 20 for day 1
Jimmy and Pete on a double. it's "tips" together, not Hips.
Rigger rider on CBANDIT
We got a triple on this feeder show. tight area.
All smiles before the tournament award dinner. Thank you Billy for taking the pics.
Defending Champions WILDCATTER. Great team that's getting better each year.
Pete and I fly in on Monday. We have 3 days to pre-fish and try to figure out where all the Marlin are and how best to catch them. Our Team is going to consist of Myself, Anthony, Ron, Pete, Jimmy, Chad and Eliseo (Andy won't be fishing the tournaments with us anymore, they are going to be doing more trips with the Mirage operation, we will miss him)
As soon as we land we tear into the tackle. Swapping out rod and reel combinations to fit some special needs. New line on everything and Eliseo is tying leaders, lots and lots of leaders. Last year the top 2 boats had over a 100 fish each, not that kind of volume this year, but..........you never know.
We depart early the next morning. Start looking at all the places that hold bait and Marlin. Taking notes on everything. We are pulling up on the bank and there are Birds, Whales, Seals and Marlin are jumping everywhere, everywhere.
For weeks I have been talking about ways to get separation from the other competitors, techniques that are new or with a twist to them. We can't just slug it out with these local guys, they would kick our ass. WILDCATTER and TIGER SPIRIT have some of the best local crew members around. When I say local, it is only a reference to the area, they would be good anywhere they went. These guys grew up casting at Marlin, in these waters. They are good at it. We have to have something different just to stay close. So we spend 3 days trying it all and then some. The problem is, every day we fished the fish changed. No pattern. Everyday was different. Show at a different time of day, react different, current would switch everyday or pulse( Bisbee flashback). Oh boy.......
Shotgun start the first day and we are the first one on the bank. We hook our first fish in about 3 minutes of getting there. Already about 15 - 20 boats there and nobody hooked up, guess the pre-fishing worked out. That first day we were raising fish every 2 - 3 minutes. Release a fish or 2 or 3, barely get the stuff out and more fish were in the spread. This was full contact high energy fishin. Full head bangin. Boats all over the bank. I would get a clear area with no boats, a spot that I knew was holding, we would get there catch a couple and here comes the fleet. Then you gotta get out and find some more. There were several times I was afraid of a fish jumping in the boat and taking someone out. You have a fish with it's head stuck out of the water trying to rid it's self of the hook and we are charging back at high speed trying to grab the leader. Seems like somebody gets speared this way every year somewhere, it's always on your mind. Anyway, the first day we caught 20 , Wilcatter had 21 and Tiger Spirit had 19. We were tied with the Wildcatter on points but ahead on time , by 7 minutes, The only reason we were ahead was because of the bonus points for being the top seeded boat in the tournament. We caught fish off the teasers, feeders, a tailer......just about every way you could think. We lost several fish, but the killer was we got stuck on 4 fish for over an hour each. Ruined us. Not that we did anything wrong, just too big a grade of fish. Wrapped one up. What hurt is how many fish there were the first day and we were stuck in the mud for half of it......killed me. Listening to the radio and all the hook ups was torture. Painful really. Wildcatter released 5 while we were on one fish. Wanted to shut it off but had to listen to know where we were.
Second day was a repeat of the first as far as the action went. Luckily, the fished wanted to bite one of the techniques we had tweaked. We ended the day with 21. Wildcatter had 18, C-Bandit had 19 Tiger Spirit had 14.
We had 41 in 2 days and first place. It was a special win as we had won the California Championship in September then we won the Mexico Championship here. Someday we are going to be too old to compete at this level, I keep thinking, well maybe this is it...............not this year. I have to be honest though, this style of fishing we did wore me out. I told Anthony it was the most tired I have ever been at the end of a tournament. Maybe the most fun too!
Good fishing, beautiful weather, great camaraderie. Really a good group of guys. All these guys are becoming more and more like family all the time. I like and respect them all
Day one sunrise reflections
KNOT FOR RENT and lands end.
TJ on the Bottom Line. They had an awesome year, just finished a big win with the tuna tournament
Baja Cantina committee boat
SEA CALL and GAMBLER on moorings in front of the new Hacienda project
The new C BANDIT. She is a beautiful yacht.
Camera man on board, taping for an ESPN show.
Like the name says. TIGER SPIRIT. These guys are Tigers!
WILDCATTER, class acts. Owner John and captain Enrique.
We finished with 20 for day 1
Jimmy and Pete on a double. it's "tips" together, not Hips.
Rigger rider on CBANDIT
We got a triple on this feeder show. tight area.
All smiles before the tournament award dinner. Thank you Billy for taking the pics.
Defending Champions WILDCATTER. Great team that's getting better each year.
7 Responses to "Bisbee Cup Review, Steve Lassley" 
Author/Admin)|
said this on 08 Dec 2008 11:48:57 AM PDT
Wow! Sounds like a grate time to me... Love the reports.
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said this on 08 Dec 2008 3:20:01 PM PDT
Exciting, thanks for the report. It's hell getting old, but you and your crew will still be beating them after your collecting SS checks, why didn't Billy come out and play? Congratulations on another legitimate Release Tourney win, not some hook, chase, and pop rodeo circus.
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said this on 08 Dec 2008 4:46:30 PM PDT
Nice going guys. Either Pete's red shirt was reflecting in his face at the table, or he needs a sunblock sponsor. That looks painful!
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said this on 08 Dec 2008 5:40:56 PM PDT
Pete is just bashful, shy guy that he is.. Actually, Alleve or Advil should be the new sponsor. We take that stuff like Gatorade.
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said this on 09 Dec 2008 9:25:56 AM PDT
Hey Steve,
Congrats to Team Bad Company ( again! ) on an excellent job done! Was there Oct. into November and got into the striped marlin bite on the Golden Gate while doing some filming aboard Angel and the Badman II.... what incredible water and the stripeys just kept piling up on bait balls with the Minke and Pilot whales, not to mention the furbags!! Thought you might like to watch the video as Horace Barge, Alex Edwards and Rich Mott on the Badman have competed with you boys in past Bisbees. Here's the link: http://cabotournament.com/2008_tournament_video.html Turn up the volume and I hope you enjoy the show! One of these days, would love to have the opportunity to film you and the boys on the Finger Bank.... is that bite going off yet? Please pass along my best to Ron Ashimine and the rest of the crew. Best regards, Richard Chudy http://www.IGFAAnglersDigest.com 818 702 0876 |
