Cabo San Lucas, Mexico—On its 23rd anniversary, the Bisbee's Black & Blue Marlin Jackpot Tournament hit an awesome milestone by awarding its first place team a record shattering $1,165,230.00 for a 565 lb. tournament winning blue marlin. This is the tournament's largest individual payout ever!

Brady Bunte from Laguna Niguel, CA caught the million-dollar fish aboard Que Sera. Bunte was accompanied by team members David Kohler from Laguna Niguel and David Finkelstein from Houston, TX. The boat was captained by local Cabo Captain Nayo Winkler.

The previous Bisbee record was set in 2000 by After Midnight when they earned $989,910.00 for their 500 lb. blue marlin.

In addition to the cash purses, Team Que Sera has also won an invitation to participate in the World Billfish Series (WBS) Grand Championship Tournament held each December in Cabo San Lucas, where the top anglers in the world compete for the coveted WBS World Champion of Billfishing™ title, plus an invitation to the Rolex/IGFA's Offshore Tournament.

In all, 873 anglers on 163 teams from Mexico, the USA, Canada, Italy, Tahiti and Japan competed for $1,896,300.00 in cash prizes. Fishing was a bit slower than usual for this event, with two qualifying marlin being taken on day one, and no qualifying marlin being weighed on day two of the three fishing days. This caused the $431,500.00 daily jackpots of day two to roll into day three, putting the daily jackpots for day three at a record $863,000.

Fishing picked up tremendously on day three, when Bunte's fish was caught, along with three other qualifying fish. A total of 179 billfish were released giving this year's event a 95.2% release ratio.

"This was our absolute best tournament yet," exclaimed Tournament Director, Wayne Bisbee. "The tournament experience for everyone involved hit unprecedented heights due to the generous amenities of this year's host resort, the five-star Hotel Finisterra, and the beautiful grounds at the new Puerto Paraiso Shopping Mall, where the famous Ristorante Da Giorgio Sul Mare catered a fabulous awards banquet. "Participation from our sponsors was just fantastic," Wayne continued.

Another notable achievement for the tournament was the cash release division doubling in size from last year, allowing $100,000.00 to be awarded for released billfish. With the addition of this two-year-old division, teams who traditionally shy away from tournaments that are not all release can now take part in the Black & Blue by opting to only participate in the release division.

TOP FIVE TEAMS

1st : QUE SERA
Captain NAYO WINKLER
565 lb. Blue Marlin caught by BRADY BUNTE
$1,165,230.00
Note: BRADY ALSO WON IN 2001 2ND PLACE WITH A 470-LB BLUE
Anglers
Brady Bunte from Laguna Niguel CA USA
David Finkelstein from Houston TX USA
David Kohler from Laguna Niguel CA USA
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2nd : JACK POT
Captain JOSE SOCORRO LUNA RUIZ
484 lb. Blue Marlin caught by LEONARDO FELIX RUIZ
$108,945.00
Anglers
Roberto Balderrama from Los Mochis Sinaloa Mexico
Marty Davies from Mexico
Mauro Falaschi from Cabo San Lucas BCS Mexico
Leonardo Felix Gutierez from Los Mochis Sinaloa Mexico
Enrique Felix Ruiz from Los Mochis Sinaloa Mexico
Leonardo Felix Ruiz from Los Mochis Sinaloa Mexico
Jaime Lopez Chinchias from Mexico
Jose A. Ruiz Felix from Los Mochis Sinaloa Mexico
Alejandro P. Ruiz Torres from Los Mochis Sinaloa Mexico
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3rd : AFTER MIDNIGHT
Captain STEVE LASSLEY
444 lb. Blue Marlin caught by MIKE CROMER
$66,825
Anglers
Russ Armstrong from Avalon CA USA
Mike Cromer from Ojai CA USA
Pete Groesbeck from San Diego CA USA
James Kingsmill from San Clemente CA USA
Bob Miles from Ventura CA USA
Jose Luis Osorio from Cabo San Lucas BCS Mexico
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4th : SEÑOR MOMENT
Captain Steve Fuller
412 lb. Blue Marlin caught by STEVE ESRICK
$446,130.00
Anglers
Steven Esrick from Unspecified
Mark Matan from Frederick MD USA
Herb Skinner from Savannah GA USA
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5th : MUCHO LOCO II
Captain JUAN ALMANZA 371 lb. Blue Marlin
caught by BILL WILLIAMS
$ 9,720.00
Anglers
Rafael Marino Covarrubias from Cabo San Lucas BCS Mexico
Ron Kestler from Redondo Beach CA USA
Charles P. Logan from South Windsor CT USA
Bob Miller from Manchester CT USA
Tom Schmid from Newaygo MI USA
Billy Williams from San Antonio TX USA

CASH RELEASE DIVISION

1st : EL VATO
Captain BRUCE BURNS
3 Blue Marlin (on time) / 12 points
$ 64,643
Anglers
Andres Ignacio Benitez from Cabo San Lucas BCS Mexico
Lewis Feuerstein from Buttonwillow CA USA
Roberto Franco from Queretaris Mexico
Gabriel Holschneider from Mexico City D.F. Mexico
Javier Holschneider from Mexico City D.F. Mexico
Keith Ross from Cabo San Lucas BCS Mexico
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2nd : MOLLY ROSE
Captain MIKE DEANE
3 Blue Marlin / 12 points
$ 22,376
Anglers
Martin Castillo Gonzalez from Cabo San Lucas BCS
Jeremy Corea from Paso Robles CA
John Kennedy from San Diego CA
Patrick Sullivan from San Diego CA
Andy Weyrich from Paso Robles CA
David Weyrich from Paso Robles CA
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3rd : PREDATOR
Captain MORGAN NORTH
2 Blue Marlin / 8 points
$ 12,431
Anglers
Dan Mattausch from Tucson AZ
Bob Moreno from Tucson AZ
Patrick Murphy from Newport Beach CA
Andy North from Tucson AZ
Jose Pichurro from Cabo San Lucas BCS
Ricardo Reyna from Guaymas Sonora
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Bisbee’s tournaments are brought to you with the support of many great sponsors. We ask that when making your purchasing decisions that you first give our sponsors an opportunity to provide you with their quality products and services.

2003 SPONSORS
Hotel Finisterra, Puerto Paraiso Entertainment Plaza, Snell Real Estate, Penn Fishing Tackle, Eagle Claw, Yacht Path International, Villa La Estancia, Puerto Paraiso, Hatteras Yachts, Bertram Yachts, Mikelson Yachts, Innovative Sport Yachts, Knight and Carver, Black Watch, Pelagic, Kaenon Sunglasses, Sufix, Hi-Five Lures, National Car Rental, Natural Stone, Melton International Tackle, Release Marine, Precision Marine Hardware, Barela Fish Sculptures, Telcel, Cuervo Especial, No Worrys, Vertex Entertainment, Puerto Los Cabos, Drivemex.com, Senor Greenbergs, Caterpillar, Toes on the Nose, Da Giorgio Ristorante, RFA, Ford Motor Co. and Baja Life Magazine.