FISHING CABO TOURNAMENTS

YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A RICH MAN TO FISH CABO TOURNAMENTS

Since you're reading this article, you probably have some level of interest in tournament fishing in Cabo San Lucas. You may have already tested your skills in a tournament. You may have just read about them and heard of the huge amounts of money being awarded and thought to yourself, I'd like to try that! Most likely, you're in the latter group... someone who would love to fish a tournament but think it's strictly a rich man's game, and you're not a rich man. Pochos Charters can show you the way to fish Cabo San Lucas tournaments on a budget, and we're not just whistlin' Dixie. Pochos Charters won a total of $1,253,412 in cash awards for our tournament charter clients in just one 4 year stretch alone! (2005-2008)

It's true, competitive saltwater fishing tournaments can and do attract some of the biggest boats with some of the biggest names carrying some of the biggest wallets. Come October, a flock of private jets take part in a southerly migration that brings them to Cabo San Lucas. From within those sleek and sexy birds appear some of the wealthiest people you're ever likely to meet. You'll see them on registration day plunking down piles of cash to enter "across the board" – often dropping $60,000 or more in entry fees and calcuttas (daily jackpots). You'll see them boarding multi-million dollar fishing yachts loaded with every electronic option created by man stocked with so much top-of-the-line gear you'd think it was a floating tackle shop. And each one of those boats has a crew to match. Toss in the fuel bill, dock fees, hotel rooms and such and the tab breaks into 6-figure territory real quick. Daunting stuff, no doubt.

So, how the heck does a 'regular' guy afford to do it, and, more importantly... how the heck do they think they have a chance of winning? Truth is, it's the 'regular' guy that's won more tournaments in Los Cabos than the high-roller.

HOW CAN I COMPETE EFFECTIVELY IN FISHING TOURNAMENTS

Well, if this was a exposé on the ins and outs of tournament fishing techniques, it would run for dozens of pages. For purposes of exploring just how you can enter competitions without breaking the bank, we'll focus our attention on how to enter events where your chances of taking home a check are not pipe-dreams but realistic endeavors.

First, pick tournaments that attract more 'regular' guy anglers. By that I mean enter events that provide reasonably priced entry fees and calcuttas and have historically shown that the 'regular' guy can win. Fortunately for you, the prospective tournament angler, Cabo has more than it's fair share of such events. Some of those are on the horizon with many landing in the months of October and November.... peak season for tournament angling in Southern Baja.

Second, take a hard look at tournaments where you and your team's skills offer you the greatest potential for rewards. If you're a hard-core tuna fisherman, enter those events that have a dedicated tuna division that includes daily jackpots for that division. If you're an avid dorado angler, same thing. Look for events that award cash and prizes for that particular species. Most important, invest your money in divisions that give you the oppportunity to fish for species that you've always targeted and concentrate your efforts on that species.

MAKE THE MOST OF CALCUTTAS

Calcuttas are daily jackpots for the largest fish in each division, each day of the tournament. After paying your entry fee, you have the option of buying into a wide variety of calcuttas. Biggest tuna, biggest dorado, biggest wahoo, biggest billfish... they're all available. Nowadays, every tournament out there has some sort of minimum weight requirement. In the world of calcuttas, if no qualfying fish is weighed in any given division on any given day, the jackpot money rolls over to the next day.

About the worst thing that can happen is that you entered some days, but not all. The first day comes and goes with no qualifier. The second day comes and goes with no qualifier. The last day comes and a couple of qualifiers come to the scales and you're fish is bigger than them all! But, you only entered day one and two.... you didn't enter all three and you just watched a check fly out of your hands along with your chance to stand in the winner's circle. Bottomline, if you enter calcuttas, it's better to enter one division across the board than to enter all divisions for a single day. Sure, you might get lucky and win on the one day, but in all reality, it happens so infrequently that luck is about all you've got going for you. Mix a little luck with skill and forethought and your odds of winning improves dramatically.

OKAY, SO WHICH TOURNAMENTS ARE BEST FOR THE 'REGULAR' GUY?

Well, that's a matter of opinion but one thing for sure, it's my article so my opinion matters most here. For me, there are three such events that take place in October and November and all three offer a chance at fame and fortune.