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Fishing Adventure of A Lifetime
The IGFA Rolex 2001Tournament team includes (l-r) Mr. David Alberga, Mr. Chris Briggs,Mr. Al Panton and Mr. Charles Ebanks.
On opening day of last year's Third AnnualCayman Islands International Fishing Tournament (CIIFT), Mr. CharlesEbanks reeled in a 97 pound 10 ounces yellowfin tuna on Run Things,under Captain Mr. Nick Hydes.
That catch was the 'heaviest eligible fish'of the tournament and won Charles the US$5,500 CIIFT HeaviestEligible Yellowfin Tuna prize. He also won the CICO/AVIS prizefor the heaviest fish caught by an angler participating in the29 April Bimini Start and the CIAC US$3500 prize for CIAC Member,heaviest eligible fish. This tuna was the heaviest yellowfin sinceCIIFT began three years ago and the heaviest yellowfin in anyCayman tournament in over 10 years.
But that big yellowfin was also Mr. Ebanks'ticket to Hawaii and an invitation to one of the world's mostprestigious tournaments, the 25-31 March 2001 Second Annual Rolex/International Game Fish Association (IGFA) Invitational Tournamentof Champions (ITOC) in Kona, Hawaii.
By catching CIIFT's heaviest eligible fishMr. Ebanks also won the right to represent the Cayman Islandswith a team of four anglers in this exclusive IGFA internationalfishing event.
This year's Cayman team includes Mr. Ebanks,Mr. David Alberga, Mr. Chris Briggs and Mr. Al Parsons, who leftGrand Cayman on 22 March for Kona to participate in this fishingadventure of a lifetime.
This is IGFA's second sponsored tournamentseries and, like the first event in March 2000, it is attractingworldwide attention. The Cayman team is taking it very seriously.
"We're going to give this tournamentour best effort, not only as anglers, but as ambassadors for theCayman Islands. The timing is ideal for us to promote this year'sCIIFT and Cayman's sport-fishing to an elite, very upscale groupof anglers. Whether or not we win, we're going to tell that innercircle of top international sportsmen about Cayman and everythingwe have to offer," said team Captain, Mr. Ebanks.
While the team won the enviable IGFA invitation,they are responsible for all of their expenses, from airfare andaccommodations to daily boat charters. Coming up with the fundsto cover their trip on short notice seemed an almost impossibleobstacle. But thanks to support from the Cayman Islands AnglingClub and Cayman's private sector, the team is now competing inKona.
Sponsors included CIAC, Bodden Beverages,BPC Limited, Burger King, Caribbean Marine Services, CICO CarRentals, Crighton Properties, Divers World, Flowers Bottled Water,Foster's Food Fair, Hobbies & Books, Lone Star Bar & Grill,Mike's Air Conditioning, Red Sail Sports, Safe Guard, TortugaRum Company Ltd and The Wharf Restaurant.
"We owe a big thanks to all of oursponsors. None of this would have been possible without theirkind support and donations," Mr. Ebanks said.
"We'd also like to thank Tortuga RumCompany for their generous donation of Tortuga Rum Cakes and TortugaRum to be used as gifts at the tournament. Being able to showa little Caymanian hospitality will help to represent and promotethe Cayman Islands," he said.
According to IGFA, the event has attracted55 teams from 22 countries and 10 US states - representing closeto 300 of the world's top anglers. The tournament headquartershotel will be the Hotel King Kamehameha on the waterfront in Kailua.
During the four-day tournament, teams willcompete for the Team Most Points Grand Prize of Rolex watchesand trophies. To make the event as challenging as possible, teamsfish on a different boat every day with boat assignments selectedat random.
Eligible Pacific species include blue marlin,black marlin, striped marlin, spearfish, sailfish, wahoo, dolphinand yellowfin tuna. Scores are on a point system based on linetest, with release points only for all billfish and points basedon line test for weighed fish. Only 80, 50 and 30-pound test linesare allowed.
According to Mr. Ebanks, Cayman's team iseven taking its own tackle to be sure they can comply with theserules, since on many Kona charterboats, 130-pound test is standard.
Kona, Hawaii is one of the world's legendaryfishing destinations. With 1000-pound marlin caught every month,many of the greatest captains in sport-fishing history have launchedtheir careers in these waters.
The unique IGFA prize invitation was a specialfeature in last year's CIIFT. The CI Angling Club officials andCIIFT organizers arranged participation. IGFA announced plansfor the second annual ITOC and invited select international tournamentcommittees to apply for eligibility as qualifying events.
The winners of these tournaments will beinvited to bring a team of up to four anglers to compete in theKona championship. CIIFT Tournament officials recognized the valueof such international recognition and applied.
Last year, Cayman's five-man fishing teamreleased billfish, reeled in accolades, made media headlines atthe IGFA/ Rolex tournament - and proved they rank among the world'sbest anglers.
The team of Mr. Kurt Christian, Mr. DavyEbanks, Mr. Jay Newsome, Mr. Mark Tomkins and Mr. Adrian Ebanksfinished ninth out of 38 international teams.
Angler Jay Newsome tagged and released thefirst Pacific Blue Marlin of the tournament on opening day, anhour after leaving Kailua Pier. Jay's catch was worth 350 pointsand boosted the Cayman team into the lead for a short time. Hisfeat also won media attention for Cayman, including mention inthe 7 March West Hawaii TODAY, the local edition of USA TODAY.
Then, only an hour before the tournament's11 March close, Mark Tomkins tagged and released a Pacific short-billspearfish worth another 150 points. They finished with a perfectrecord - those were the only two fish they raised during the four-dayevent.
Cayman's team's 500-point total won them ninth place overall amongthe ITOC Top Ten which read like a Who's Who of internationalsport-fishing.