MEXICO REPORTS

U.S. team takes the gold at the World Black Bass Sport Fishing Championship BY ROBIN WADE/WON Staff WriterPublished: Nov 17, 2009

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MAINLAND MEXICO REPORTS Mexico hosts CIPS event at Lake Cuchillo MONTERREY, MEXICO --The fifth annual World Black Bass Sport Fishing Championship was held just outside China in northeastern Mexico this past weekend. Located about an hour's drive from Monterrey, Mexico and 65 miles southwest of McAllen, Texas on the Rio San Juan, the International Angling Confederation (CIPS) sanctioned event hosted 10 countries including the United States. Winners the gold metal U.S. team included Gary Yamamoto and son Derrick from Palestine, TX, Mark Lassagne from Martinez, CA, Charlie Weyer from West Hills, CA, Tom Mann Jr. from Buford, GA, and Todd Faircloth from Jasper, TX. The three-day competition against six teams from nine other countries comprised of three 2-man teams, pitted teams against each other for Individual Team honors, and then their combined team points were tallied for total scores. Aside from helping the U.S. win the overall event, Tom Mann Jr. and Todd Faircloth, fishing together for the first time, also took the gold medal for the Individual Team competition. Attending his "first ever," U.S. Team member Mark Lassagne said the magnitude of the event was much larger than he had anticipated. "This multinational event had capacity crowds with 1000s of people, hundreds taking pictures, TV, videos, autographs, it was truly amazing," Lassagne said. "There have been other bass tournaments where different countries competed from around the world, but no one in the U.S. ever really hears about them. So it was a nice surprise when they (Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits) asked me to be part of the team. It was a wonderful experience meeting anglers from around the world. Working to communicate in several different languages was interesting but you get fishermen together and no matter where they are from, there are universal terms and gestures used," he said. Fishing both the lake (man-made) and incoming river waters, Weyer and Lassagne managed black bass limits from the lake each day and then went up the river to cull up. "The limits we caught in the lake were mostly on outside structure and drop-offs near a river or creek channel. On the deep spots, we caught fish on Strike King crank baits and also on Texas rigged Senkos with a 1/2-ounce bullet weight," he said. Their best baits included Yamamoto's 6-inch Senko in watermelon red and the Strike King fat-free shad in shad color. "Our big fish were caught on the drop-offs and also in the shallows in the river on trees." Mann and Faircloth caught most of their fish on a 12-inch Yamamoto Curly Tail worm. The rest came on deep-diving DT16 and DT20 Rapala crankbaits. The world bass competition was added to CIPS 5 years ago. The 10 countries competing this year included the USA, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Swaziland, Russia, Venezuela, Germany, and Romania, finishing the event in that order. A 13.33-pound Mexican "golona" (monster) bass was caught by the Swaziland team on day-one of the competition. More Mainland Reports • CANCUN TO COZUMEL: According to the Fleet Manager, Armando Gutierrez Hurricane Ida kept the port closed at Puerto Morelos for most of the week, making sportfishing almost non-existent for the anglers throughout this area. While there was no damage reported for the Puerto Morelos area, the El Cid Resort, or the Marina El Cid, the winds and rain were just not conducive to any serious sportfishing efforts. "The potential for problems was there, but when the storm blew by and all was said and done, everything was just fine and we were back up and fishing again," Gutierrez said. The overall fish counts for the 5 boats that fished over two days accounted for 7 Atlantic barracuda, 2 red snapper, 5 bonito, 1 yellowfin tuna, and 2 king mackerel for their efforts. Sea temperatures held steady at 83.5 degrees with light easterly surface winds of 8 to 12 knots and almost no swell at all. • IXTAPA-ZIHUATANEJO: The 84-degree blue water is still on the beach and the fishing remaining very good. Each boat in the fleet is averaging about 3 sailfish a day. Even though the dorado are not here in the numbers we had last few weeks, they are still being taken by most of the boats. "Paul Phillips and his wife, Doris Alexander are fishing almost every day. This is Doris' first time for fishing here. Fishing with Santiago on the panga Gitana, she is after different species. She catches a couple of fish and they are back at the dock by 10:00 a.m. She has taken sailfish, dorado, and at 7 miles out she got a small 10-pound yellowfin tuna off a large pod of porpoise," said fly-fishing guide Ed Kunze. Bob Becker of British Columbia also fished a day with Santiago, taking a sailfish and a dorado on the fly. "Russ Weaver of Corvallis, OR fished one day with Arturo on the panga Janeth and got 3 sailfish. Weaver fishes here almost every year and is graduating from using heavy gear and letting the deckhand set the hook to using light line, and the bait and switch method with Arturo. Today we fished Vicente Guerrero and got 2 roosters about 30 and 35 pounds, 2 jack crevalle of about 13 and 15 pounds, and 2 dorado of about 12 and 14 pounds. We ate dorado tonight, and will have it for lunch tomorrow," Kunze said. Reporting for the Independent Sportfishing Fleet Larry Edwards said Capt. Temo Verboonen reported excellent fishing during the past week, both inshore and offshore as more anglers are coming into the area. "He reported in for just 3 super pangas, including his own Secuestro de Amor, reflecting a combined total of 7 sailfish, 9 yellowfin tuna, and 13 dorado for offshore waters starting at 4 miles out," Edwards said. Inshore numbers included 120 sierra, 36 jack crevelle, 11 roosterfish, and 13 bonito. • MAZATLAN: Larry Edwards reporting for the Aries Sportfishing Fleet said the area saw another great week of sportfishing and fun-filled fiestas at the Marina El Cid. "The fishing has picked up considerably, especially for sailfish, and even with a few handfuls of yellowfin tuna. Aries VIII released the only blue marlin for the week, and the Aries I was high billfish boat with 5 sailfish for one day," Edwards said. According to Marina and Fleet Manager Geronimo Cevallos, boats had many opportunities at the billfish but fish were they were not overly eager to snap at the rigged baits, lures, or even live baits. "Even with the stubborn bite, the boats managed to eke out a near 1 billfish per boat average, which is the best so far this season," he said. "The overall fish counts for a combined total of 63 charters totaled 1 blue marlin, 6 stripers, 48 sailfish, 36 yellowfin tuna, and 118 dorado." Sea conditions continue to be near excellent. "From the shoreline out to 10 or so miles, surface water temperatures were at 84 degrees and falling to 82.5 degrees from there on out. There have been very light surface breezes and very little swell conditions either." The better bite was out to the south to southwest of the marina, 20 miles or so, but good fishing was found over a wide-spread area all the way out to 30 miles. "Rigged trolling baits were best for the billfish, and the dorado, while the yellowfin were biting the tuna feathers best," Edwards said. • PUERTO VALLARTA: The 54th Pez Vela Torneo or 54th Sailfish Tournament in Puerto Vallarta took place this past week but results were not available by press time. The timing of improved conditions was perfect for the event, as the fishing grounds came alive with action. "The Bank (El Banco in Spanish) continued to be the place to be for big fish. Marlin running in the 400- to 700-pound range have been hanging in there steady for the last couple of weeks. Several boats have also been successful in the area between Corbeteña and El Banco," said Master Baiter's Sportfishing owner Stan Gabruk. Yellowfin tuna have been running anywhere from 60 to 200 pounds. The bait is running large as well right now; try 40-pound bonito all over the bay! "Large bait equates to larger fish or so goes the theory," he said. Corbeteña, the other popular location for visiting anglers has also been doing very well. "They’ve seen more blue and striped marlin this past week here, as well as yellowfin tuna running in the ranges we mentioned at El Banco. Sailfish are everywhere, as well as dorado. There are lots of tournament anglers in this area," he said. El Morro and the Marietta Islands are still alive with fall fishing action for bonito, sailfish, dorado, jack crevalle, and the occasional roosterfish as well. "There are plenty of bait in the waters to insure these conditions should continue for weeks to come. Those looking for a shorter day, this is the area to visit, and perfect place to go in a super panga." Readers: To have your reports included in the Mexico report, send photos and e-mails to baja@wonews.com. MEXICO HOSTS WORLD BLACK BASS SPORT FISHING CHAMPIONSHIP—Team USA took top honors and are this year's Black Bass World Champions! From left to right, Tom Mann Jr., Mark Lassagne, Charlie Weyer, Todd Faircloth, and the Yamamotos, Gary, Beverly and Derek. PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK LASSANGE.