The 2019 Master’s Angling Tournament Recap & Stats
The 56th Annual International Master’s Angling Tournament
Excellent fishing, the best boats, a great venue, and good friends kicked off the 56th annual Invitational Masters Angling Tournament held March 31-April 4, 2019. For the third year ever the Master’s tournament was held in Los Suenos Costa Rica, for great fishing in search of Pacific Sails and Striped Marlin. Twenty-four anglers participated in the 2019 competition, with a total of 263 fish in 3 days!
About the Master’s Angling Tournament
The International Masters Angling Tournament is genuinely a unique sail fishing competition founded in 1963 by John Rybovich and a group of friends. It is often described as the ultimate test of an individual’s angling skills, much like the Masters of Golf. This event rewards anglers, men and women, for catching fish quickly and penalizes them for pulling too hard and breaking lines. Throughout the years the Masters has forged lasting friendships among anglers. Not only is the format of the tournament an ideal platform for a true test of skill, but the social side of the Masters is equally as pleasant. While anglers are out competing during the 3 days, spouses/guests get together and enjoy each other’s company. Activities include casual dining, excursions, shopping time, spa dates and pool time.
Rules & Scoring
The tournament contains three out of four days of fishing, weather permitting, with one lay day. Two anglers fish on each boat. Under standard trolling conditions, each angler fishes with a flat line behind the teaser and forward of his rigger bait and a long rigger. Anglers then change sides of the boat every hour. This is a dead boat tournament, with scoring as follows; 100 points for the first 30 seconds of a fish hooked. After that, the score for catching the fish drops by 5 points with the elapse of every 30 seconds. At the end of 10 minutes, the fish is considered “overtime” and receives 5 points with no penalty for breakoff.
View The 3-Day Overview and Stats...
Specials:
Day One – Double by Serena Wilson aboard Crush Em
Double by Miles and Karen aboard DA Sea
Day Two – 2 Doubles by Pat and Carmine aboard Open Fly
Double by Scott Rickert aboard Machushla
Double by Dale and Eric aboard Spanish Fly
Day Three Double by Myles and Tommy on Machushla
Double by Frank Bongiorno on Crush Em
Double by John and Scott on Dealers Choice
Odds and Evens Captains: Eric McDowell and Pat Healey
Odds and Evens donation will be made to support the building and outfitting of local schools through the Los Suenos Resort School Project Foundation
Odd points 8215 Evens points 14,160
Boat Awards
Last Fish Boats –
Day One – Dragin Fly (Rodger Comstock at 3:53)
Day Two – Dealers Choice (Shon Craig at 4:08)
Day Three – Dealers Choice (John Temple at 4:00)
Daily High Boats-
Day One – Spanish Fly with 14 Fish
Day Two – Crush Em with 13 Fish
Day Three – Spanish Fly with 12 Fish
High Boats Overall plus Costa Glasses for Mates
Third High Boat– Crush Em Capt Luis Hernandez 25 fish
Second High Boat– Vaquero Capt Lance Hightower 28 fish
Top Boat Overall– Spanish Fly Capt Simon Gonzales 37 fish
High Captain (trophy) – Capt Simon Gonzales
Rybovich Achievement Awards
Bronze (20 – 34 points) – Scott Rickert +11 = 21,
Frank Bongiorno +11 = 21, Lach Cheatham +14=24,
Eric McDowell +10=22, Carmine Galati +13=27,
Rodger Comstock +9=21
Silver (35 – 49 points) – Sam Peters +16 = 40
Diamond (175+ points) – John Temple +13 = 185
Rybovich Category Awards
Bronze (20 – 34 points) – Lach Cheatham
Silver (35 – 49 points) – Sam Peters 16 points
Gold (50 – 99 points) – Chase Offield 20 points
Platinum (100 – 174 points) – Dale Creamer 9 points
Diamond (175+ points) – John Temple 13 points
Grand Master – Event Number 142 at 11:07 AM on Day Two of the 56th International Masters Angling Tournament was a sailfish released in 4min 33 seconds by Pete Boinis. His 250th Masters fish.
High Freshman Angler – Dennis Coleman with 14 fish and 845 points
Fastest Fish (Pete Boinis Award)
Dennis Coleman (freshman) at 49 seconds aboard Spanish Fly on Day Three
High Daily Angler
Day One – Shon Craig (freshman) – 8 releases for 480 points
Day Two – Chase Offield – 8 fish for 490 points
Day Three – Sam Peters 7 fish for 570 points
Most Fish Overall
Chase Offield with 20 fish
High Angler Overall
Third High Angler – Carmine Galati 955 points
Second High Angler – Sam Peters with 1100 Points
Master Angler 2019 – Chase Offield with 1275 points
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The Winners Circle
Big congratulations are in store for all of the award winners throughout the 3-day tournament. When all was said and done though, the Master Angler award was presented to Chase Offield with a total of 1274 points. This is the third time Chase has taken home “The Old Man and the Sea” trophy and Navy Tournament Jacket, making him the first person to win this tournament a total of three times. Second place was awarded to Sam Peters with 1100 points and Carmine Galati Sr. took home third overall in the Master’s tournament this year, with an overall score of 955 points. This is the 4th year Carmine Galati Sr. fished the invitational tournament. The second-year angling the Master’s back in 2017, Carmine took home 1st place, scoring a tremendous come from behind victory on the last day.
Fishing the Masters
The Invitational Masters Angling Tournament is open only to anglers who have been approved by the Membership Committee. Anglers desiring to enter the tournament must be sponsored by a current or past participant and seconded by two additional current or past participants. To learn more visit the official Masters Angler Tournament page here.
