Dorado Derby a Huge Success in First Year
The first ever Dorado Derby at Marina Pez Vela was more than just a successful tournament, it was an ICONIC event that promises to become a legendary kick off to our Marina Pez Vela tournament series.
In its inaugural year, the Dorado Derby brought together a total of 42 teams of anglers which ranged from world class tournament fisherman to first time anglers just looking to get their feet wet with a fun introduction to the ocean and sport fishing. The Marina was bursting with energy the night of registration and teams were here bright and early on Saturday morning eager to get out and enjoy the amazing Dorado bite which has been on FIRE here!
The private and charter boats involved did NOT leave any doubts as to both the quality of our fleet, amazing vibrancy in our fishing waters, and talent of our captains, crews and competing anglers. The 42 teams weighed in a total of 2592 POUNDS of Dorado at the scales and based on the social media posts in the community, we feel confident that at least another 2500 pounds was enjoyed in ceviche, fish tacos, grill fish po boys, garlic butter mahi mahi, and a few dozen other Forest Gump inspired variations!
A special recognition has to mentioned to the AMAZING team from OFFSHORE LIFESTYLE who provided all of the white, blue and pink official Dorado Derby Angler shirts. Their high quality gear helped keep everyone protected from the sun and had us all looking sharp and had many of us picking up early holiday presents for ourselves or our friends. For those of you who missed out, check out their website, https://offshorelifestyle.com/, where you can pick up some AMAZING deals on the hottest gear.
We thank each and every participant for sharing in this inaugural event and hope to see each of you back, with a friend to make the 2019 Dorado Derby even bigger and better.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
First Place – Super Fly Third Place – Spanish Fly
Second Place – Pelagic Magic Fourth Place – Good Day
Tara Wins 9th Annual Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup
Oranjestad, Aruba: Led by Capt. Alex Mansur, the team fishing aboard Tara led this year’s Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup from start to finish. Along the way, the anglers released four blue marlin, two white marlin and five sailfish to walk away with first-place honors in this year’s ninth-annual event. This year was also a record-breaker, with the 16-boat fleet releasing a total of 109 billfish this year. This tops the previous event record, which was set in 2014. The fishing action continues to shine off this southern Caribbean nation.
In second place was Eric Mansur’s Alina team with 2,000 points. Mansur’s son Christian was the second-place angler in the Eagle Claw Grand Champion Angler Division with two white marlin releases. The team aboard Watashee placed third overall in the team division with 2,000 points.
The winner of the Eagle Claw Grand Champion Angler was Garrick Robles. Fishing aboard Tara, Robles scored 1,700 points. Rudolpho Ras was the third-place angler with 1,200 points, fishing on Ola. For the tournament there were 109 billfish releases: 13 blue marlin, 22 white marlin and 74 sailfish, all on 30-pound test line and non-offset circle hooks. As previously mentioned, this marks an all-time tournament record for the Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup.
This event has become one of the most prestigious billfishing events in the Caribbean, thanks to the tremendous support from the people of Aruba. The event offered its participating teams a full three days of fishing followed by afternoon cocktail parties, with a welcome party at Varadero Marina, snacks and cocktails with entertainment each afternoon at the newly remodeled Fish House Island Bar and Restaurant and dinner with awards presentation also the Fish House Island Bar. As with all Presidential Challenge events, the Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup provides financial support to the many conservation projects currently underway by The Billfish Foundation.
The dates for the 10th Anniversary Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup are October 17-20, 2019. For more information, visit www.preschallenge.com or contact event coordinator Joan Vernon, joan@preschallenge.com.