The Latest Catch

The Zorah Story

Felipe Valdez and the Boys

At 2:53 p.m. on Day One, the radio crackled to life. Felipe Valdez on Team Zorah reported they had hooked a huge Billfish and their location was approximately 40 miles south.

Their battle continued throughout the afternoon, with the Weigh Station receiving periodic updates until the "lines out" was called at 7:00 p.m. Soon after, the Team called in that they had the giant fish alongside and were attempting to get it into the boat.

However, it was not to be…

East Cape, B.C.S., Mexico – Bisbee Tournaments, presented by HDI Marine, began their 2024 season, 7/31/2024 - 8/2/2024, with a total Jackpot of $1,674,675 at the Bisbee East Cape Offshore at East Cape in Baja California Sur!  

On Friday, August 2, 2024, the East Cape Offshore fleet crowded the Start Line as Wayne Bisbee
counted down the final seconds until the start –“TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX, FIVE, FOUR,
THREE, TWO, ONE,” and the roar of the fleet’s engines going full throttle was deafening

Before noon on Wednesday, August 1, 2024, ECO Central was extremely busy with a steady stream of call-ins reporting hookups for blue marlin, striped marlin, yellowfin tuna, dorado, and boated and lost fish.

On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, for the twenty-fifth year in a row, the Bisbee Team opened for Registration at Spa Buenavista promptly at 3:00 p.m. 

Shortly after dinner Wayne Bisbee along with Trish and Clicerio Mercado assisted in the handing out of the Checks and trophies. After he took care of a few odds and ends including the “Early Bird drawing”. There were a total of 11 checks handed out in the following order. You can find the actual breakdowns for each award below the checks.

The radio remained remarkably quiet as those Teams searched for the right fish earning them the right to be on the Awards Stage on Saturday night.

The chatter on secret channels was all about the sea temps, which were in the high 80s. Many Teams elected to focus on the Gamefish Categories and Jackpots (Dorado and Yellowfin Tuna), while others chose to tackle Billfish in both Catch and Release Categories.  In the Release Category, all Billfish, including Striped Marlin, Sailfish, Spearfish, and larger Black and Blue Marlin required a minimum weight of 300 pounds. 

Bottom-line what Wayne dubbed the worst start ever evolved into one of the best single days in recent memory.

With a steady stream of all the species in the contest. Later after lines out at dinner Wayne, and Axel Valdez, the voice of “Radio Control” acknowledged it had been a memorable day at the scale.