BY RICH HOLLAND
CABO SAN LUCAS — The second day of the 22nd running of the WON Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot kicked out winners in every category, including the two largest yellowfin, a panga wahoo winner and a ladies team that garnered two days worth of jackpots in the dorado category and the top prize for a catch by a team with at least two lady anglers.
A pair of large tuna lurked around the Marina del Rey Marina docks, although solidly enclosed in iced kill bags, well before the scales opened. The first fish to the weigh area was accompanied by Rocky Mountain Hookers team member Travis King (only one team representative was allowed at the scales at a time due to virus restrictions).
The tuna hung solid at 209 pounds, yet it was only a matter of minutes before Shea Sumner brought up a 210-pound yellowfin to claim the overall lead. Since his Reel Godz of Rodz team on the Ole Ole was entered in just the $500 daily pot, that left plenty of cash for an across the board (except for the $20K) for the Rocky Mountain Hookers.
The Win Team was the first to break the ice on the dorado jackpot, with Angel Garcia weighing in a 21.45-pound dorado caught on the Cheers 1 (the minimum was dropped to 20 pounds for the second day). That fish was surrounded before and after with a slew of 16-pound dorado that must have had the color of money when first landed.
Finally a wahoo showed up, but it was 5 pounds short of the minimum that stayed at 30 pounds for the ‘hoo.
It didn’t take long for Murray Roberts to really break the ice, as he accompanied a wahoo he caught on the Tres Amigos, a twin-engine panga captained by Francisco De LaPaz out of Dreammaker Charters/Gricelda’s Smokehouse. Murray’s wahoo was what turned out to be an unbeatable 34.5 pounds, earning him $47,600. “I have been fishing with Francisco for 27 years and this is my first tournament,” said Roberts. “Francisco gets half the jackpot.”
The $20,000 pot remained open and last year’s WON Tuna Jackpot Champion John Domanic on the Sirena brought up a solid 60-pound-class yellowfin as the day waned and the lines out time of 4 p.m. was a distant recollection.
This was another fish that wasn’t destined to lead for long, as for the second day Team Baja Jerky brought a qualifying tuna to the scale in attempt to score the open jackpot. This tuna more than did the trick and you could see boats waiting for an outcome motor away when it was broadcast that the fish Josue Morena brought up from the big center console Salsa Fresca tipped the scales to the 104-pound mark and sealing a payday of $51,000.
A fat tuna brought up from the Tail Chaser certainly looked like it had a chance, yet could only budge the digits up to 186 pounds.
The final excitement of the day came when TAG Team angler Trish Johnson brought up what was obviously a bigger grade of dorado than the steady parade of 12 to 16 pounders. It was, and at 22.5 pounds was worth a whopping $105,600! To top the serendipitous situation off, since Cristi Nelson was also aboard as an angler, they met the two lady angler minimum to qualify for the Accurate Gals Contest. So the big dorado, largest fish for any lady’s team, earned them 4 custom engraved Accurate Valiant two-speed reels!
With both Godz with Rodz and Rocky Mountain Hookers keeping their jackpot spot(s), Godz with Rods is the 2020 Tuna Jackpot Champion — too bad we can’t cue the music — so picked up $66,365 to add to their $19,000 in the $500 for a total of $85,365.
The Rocky Mountain Hookers won $311,200 in jackpot money ($1000, $2000,$3000, $5000, $10,000) and added $7490 for second in the overall jackpot. First day big fish of 202 pounds on the Curandero gets third place in the overall and 3,745 to go with the $84,000 they won the day before.
You can find all the numbers on CatchStat.com and look for stories in the next couple weeks’ issues of Western Outdoor News.