EAST CAPE BISBEE'S TOURNAMENT POTENTIAL WINNING
FISH COMES UNBUTTONED FOR VISTA SEA SPORT BOAT

Aug. 7, 2004, Mark Rayor, Vista Sea Sport, East Cape, Bisbee's, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

FIRST DAY: No cigar today. Trolled with live tuna all day. Had a blue take about a 12 pounder. He was on for about 10 minutes then came unbuttoned. We never got a good look at the fish. It took the bait and stayed down. It never got excited or ran. Toward the end I could feel it shaking it's head and start to turn. Then POW! I had a ton of pressure on 100# line and it just came off. Manana! No fish weighed so the pots doubled up. Now we are fishing for 100K.

SECOND DAY: Made good bait this morning. Had a nice 10 pound yellowfin, a skip jack about the same size and a smaller scad. Started slow trolling about 8:15. At 11:15 a shark bit the tuna in two and the scad had died. The skippy is still frisky so we kept slow trolling and added a dead tuna to the pattern. About 2 in the afternoon a HUGE blue swims through the pattern, smacks the tuna goes over and sucks down the skip jack. Set the hook and I am on. 80 wide 100# line I'm solid! Earlier a 386 was weighed but we have no doubt about this fish. It is a winner with margin. I'm into it about 15 minutes and same as yesterday it comes unbuttoned.

LAST DAY: I have to admit the whole team is frustrated. We have been in the right place doing the right thing. We have been on the right fish both days. Nobody has messed up. Haven't had luck on our side. Just need to keep doing what we are doing and fish through this tough streak. We made bait right away in the morning. Trolled 2 nice tuna and a small dorado all day. Never had a sniff.

Guess that is fishing. We had 2 legitimate shots. Don't think a guy can expect more than that. Just wasn't our day.

I thought the Spa, Buena Vista Beach Resort, worked great. Hope they continue to host.