Fishing tournament starts today

PANAMA. The George F. Novey Jr. fishing tournament starts today in the waters of the Las Perlas archipelago. The event brings sports fishermen from across the continent to Panama, and will be followed three weeks later, on July 4, by the renowned Presidential Challenge Tournament.

The prime organizer behind the annual famed fishing tournament is George Novey, grandson of the man who initiated the championship.

This year, there are over 70 participating groups of four or more people per boat.

Prizes are worth more than $75,000, with the grand slam prize being an Audi-A4 car worth $40,000.

The boats will leave Panama City today at 5:30 a.m. and from Isla San Jose at 7:30 a.m.

Among the tournament rules are that no harpooned fish will be accepted for any of the prize categories, and fish can only be entered in one category.

There are 15 categories altogether, most divided by fish type, one for children, and one for women.

According to organizers, one of the purposes of the tournament is to preserve the billfish (which includes marlins), which is why all of the captured billfish will have to be set free back into the ocean, with a series of pictures taken with a disposable camera to serve as proof of capture.

Other fish included in the competition are halibut, goldfish, snapper , sawfish, tuna, and others.

The tournament will continue tomorrow.

Catches will be weighed in today and tomorrow from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m. at Hacienda del Mar in Isla San Jose.

George Novey is deputy administrator of ARAP (Panama’s maritime waters resource authority), who was introduced to fishing by his grandfather, and for whom it has become a lifetime passion. He is also president of the Chamber for Sustainable Tourism in the Las Perlas archipelago.