It takes a big fish to catch a big fish
The annual Bisbee's Black & Blue sportfishing tournament attracts competitors wealthy enough to shrug off a $70,000 registration fee, or drop $1 million on a gold-encrusted lure. Dan Grech has more.
The boat team from "Bad Company" wins a record-breaking prize of over $3.9 million at the Bisbee's Black & Blue tournament, 2006. (Bisbees.com)
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Scott Jagow: It's called the world's richest team sport. Not soccer or basketball or baseball. It's fishing.
The annual Bisbee's sportfishing competition is taking place in Cabo San Lucas this week. The money at this thing is unbelievable. From the Americas Desk at WLRN, Dan Grech reports.
Dan Grech: A hundred sixty-seven boats. A $70,000 registration fee. A five-day search for the tournament's biggest marlin.
Bassam Al-Sarraj covered Bisbee's Black & Blue tournament last year for Rich Guy Magazine:
Grech: Are you a rich guy?
Bassam Al-Sarraj: I thought I was a rich guy, until I started meeting some of the people at some events around the world.
Like the guy with a million-dollar lure, encrusted with gold, platinum, diamonds and rubies. Or the two 30-somethings from California, who didn't realize they needed to bring their own boat to the tournament.
Al-Sarraj: And instead of going back home, they spent a million and a half, $2 million buying a boat, just for the three-day experience. And then I realized, yeah, I got a long way to go.
Last year, the tournament set the world record for the single-largest payout in sportfishing history: $3.9 million, to a boat called Bad Company.
I'm Dan Grech for Marketplace.
