| 2010 BBC
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Central Abaco
Cape Eleuthera
Harbour Island
Boat Harbour
Treasure Cay
(Click BBC Logo for more details) |
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 30 Boats for Central Abaco?
There has been a flurry of Bahamas Billfish Championship registrations during the past several weeks and it looks like this year's Central Abaco Championship will have thirty teams participating in the season opener. According to the BBC's Brenda Fletcher, "Overall BBC registrations are running ahead of this time last year."
Central Abaco sponsor hosts Hatteras Yachts and Gulfstream International Airlines are geared-up to provide a fun-filled, action packed tournament. Watch for the next BBC e-Update for the final Schedule of events for the Central Abaco Championship. Remember, all tournament Entry Fees are due and payable 30-days prior to the start of each 2010 BBC tournament. The BBC Registration Fee is non-refundable. Tournament Entry Fees become non-refundable 30-days prior to the tournament start date.
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Crew Prize Drawings for 2010
As has become a tradition with the BBC, a drawing will take place each day during to the 2010 tournament series for crew prizes. These drawings are for 'crew' only. New to our crew prize collection, artist Rick Bogert has donated limited edition, signed prints from his collection that are inspired from his lifelong passion for sportfishing. Another passionate angler, Bobby Boyle, owner of RJ Boyle Studios, is contributing Blackfin rods, Moimois line, and other goodies from the studio in Lighthouse Point, Florida. Bobby is also the artist featured on the tournament tee shirts for 2010.
Tournament sponsor Gulfstream International Airlines has provided two round trip ticket vouchers for each tournament. Black Bart Lures continues with custom lure bags as prizes. LMR Custom Rods and Tackle provides $500 gift certificates at each tournament and IGFA and WBS have donated sunglasses to give away as crew prizes. Lewis Marine has donated two signed, limited edition prints for each tournament from various artists and Treasure Cay Services will award weekend getaways this year.
Be sure your crew is signed-up for the crew prize drawing during the angler registration at each tournament.
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2010 Forecast: Much Better Than 2009 By Mitchell A. Roffer, Ph.D.
Since 2003 we have been developing an objective method for forecasting the overall fishing action at all of the Bahamas Billfish Championship (BBC) tournaments. The  hypothesis for forecasting the seasonal marlin fishing action stems from the location and geographic extent of the bluer and often warmer water that occurs from the Cat Island - San Salvador Island area where it is presumed that the marlin concentrate before spawning. We have been calling this water "blue marlin water." We assume that the marlin are associated with this water and the more "blue marlin water" that exists in the Abaco Islands and Eleuthera Island areas, the greater the marlin relative apparent abundance will be in these areas.
During the last few years, the conditions were particularly favorable as early as January and February in terms of the presence of blue marlin water off Abaco and Eleuthera. However, due to the currents generated by relatively large eddy features located 60-90 miles northeast of Eleuthera, the "blue marlin" water was pulled away from the BBC tournament area. In these years there have been several days when some of this water moved into the tournament area and catch rates increased. Unfortunately, these favorable conditions were not persistent throughout the entire tournament season.
For more details on this year's tournament fishing which is expected to better than last year's fishing action please check out the complete article here.
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Lessons Learned From the Fish Expo
By Capt. Skip Smith
I had thought about the questions I would ask these Captains for six months. I had asked Captain Bobby Brown these same questions and listened to his answers to make sure they were not only valid, but that they were important questions that would make a difference in even my approach  to billfishing. We started off asking questions about Sailfish. We address the 30 lb leaders for the South Florida guys and the 50 to 80 lb leader for the Pacific guys. When asking Ron Hamlin what free jumpers meant to him, he answered, "Yes I like to know if you saw one and want to be in an area where they are; but I will not drive over to where one was seen." This is the opposite of what the boys do off South Florida.
We then went to White Marlin and we asked David Fields how the same boats seemed to catch most of the fish, even in the Northeast tournaments. The answer we got was "just look for the Spencer boats backing down and the black smoke."
The next highlight for me was when we had six of the boat builders in a session and they said that different boats raise more fish. So it was then suggested that everyone get a new boat every three years.
The Electronics segment was awesome, as Captain Steve Lassley explained the advantages of his Furuno side scanning sonar. With millions of dollars in winnings, he would not fish without it and it all added up that this system works really well.
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Bluefin Tuna Research
ROFFS has been involved in a research study the with NASA and NOAA-NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center on trying to develop a fishery independent index of the adult spawning stock of bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico.
As part of this research ROFFS is involved in two research cruises that will work in the Gulf of Mexico from April 01, 2010 until June 01, 2010. According to Mitch Roffer, "We need your help on locating bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas during this period. If you know of any bluefin tuna catches or sightings in these areas we would appreciate a telephone call (321-723-5759 or 800-677-7633) or email (fish7@roffs.com) indicating where (latitude and longitude or as best information you can obtain) and when (date) this occurred. Please get us this information as soon after the event as possible so that we can study the currents associated with the fish and look for spawning bluefin tuna. We will keep this information private."
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As The Propeller Turns ...
Treasure Cay Marina has successfully completed the electrical upgrades to three of the docks used most heavily during tournaments. Capt. Bill Diamond aboard Deguello reports steady, non-fluctuating power ... Capt. John Stark says to look for Kilcare to return for some of the BBC series this year ... Rumor has it around Treasure Cay that the Weekend Hooker will return to the BBC series this season ... The IGFA and TBF joined a coalition of marine recreational fishing, boating and conservation organizations calling on the Obama administration to take immediate action to address a crisis within the federal fisheries management system. Read the complete statement here.
Ever wonder why the BBC scores the release of white marlin and spearfish the same? "Scientists believe that round scale spearfish may make up about 27 percent of the billfish population that was once considered to be white marlin." (In The Bite - March/April 2010) ... Mitch Rofffer (who alerted the BBC of the preliminary findings of scientists studying white marlin in 2007) has delivered a very encouraging forecast for BBC 2010. Be sure to read the complete article in this issue of The Teaser ... Did Debbie Lambert and the crew of Reel Tight use the Miami Billfish Tournament as a warm-up for the Custom Boat Shootout and the Harbour Island Championship?
Catch the nice article about billfishing in The Bahamas and the BBC in Latitudes on your next American Eagle flight ... The Senior Junkanoo groups 'rushed' in Marsh Harbour with five groups competing. The Treasure Cay Explorers won this year, as they did last year ... Good to see Brad Arery and the crew of Smooth Finish back in the BBC after a year's absence ... Cape Eleuthera will host a wine tasting during the Cape Eleuthera Championship with a complimentary beer bar hosted by Sands Beer ... Recent registrations received from Bam Boo, Singularis and Miss Annie.
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Dolphinfish Research Newsletter
Which Way Did He Go?
On February 28, 2010, Todd Boring was out for a day of fishing off Miami, Florida, aboard his boat Connie Marie when he captured a nice 20-pound dolphin. Todd Morrow, captain of the boat, estimated the fish to be 40-inches in fork length (FL) and said that it was one of the fattest bull dolphin that he has seen. It was not until they arrived back at the marina that they realized that it was tagged.
The fish was originally caught and tagged in June 2009 off Marathon, Florida, by Don Gates fishing aboard his boat Killin Time. The then 17-inch 'schoolie' was one of seven fish tagged that day by the crew of the Killin Time.
The fish had been at liberty for 260 days before it was recovered. Surprisingly, the recovery site was only 89 miles northeast of where it was released. That would mean the fish had averaged traveling northward at 0.3 miles per day, if it had remained between these points. This would require the fish to survive exposure to the highest fishing pressure placed on dolphin anywhere off the U.S. East Coast for more than eight months. I doubt that a dolphin with its voracious appetite would be able to avoid a baited hook for that long in the Florida Straits. Read the complete Dolphinfish Newsletter ... Back to Top | |
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