1996 GOLD CUP RESULTS
By Tracy Ehrenberg

Steve Allison navigates some of the bumps and curves associated with operating the Gold Cup.

This year marks the 6th Cabo San Lucas Gold Cup, which was held October 19th and 20th. Hosted at the charming Hotel Hacienda, this is about the "classiest" tournament on the calendar. The setting, attention and service provided by Gold Cup was outstanding. A respectable 62 boats entered with a host of international teams. The first day of fishing produced alot of hook-ups, but no fish that could make the 300 lb. minimum weight limit. Thirteen blues and one black were released and two non-qualifying fish were boated October 19th. This made organizers a little nervous, but kept everybody's hopes high for the second day of fishing. Anglers had to contend with gusty winds and rough seas on the Pacific as we switched overnight from summer to fall, with a distinct change in the air temperatures. A little after 11:00am a fish was brought in aboard Mykonos that weighted in at 399 lbs. and was the first contender.

More hard work during the Captain's check-in and Registration.

After weighing their fish, this team headed out again and hooked up another blue less than an hour later, that was unfortunately lost. Radio reports began to filter back around 11:30pm that captain Randy Rozell on the Salsa had landed a "good one" and was on his way in to the scale. It was obvious that this fish was really something after it took 15 men to drag up the beach. After several attempts at clearing the bill from the floor, the fish was finally hung right and registered an amazing 797.5 lbs. - the largest in Gold Cup history and the 2nd largest Cabo tournament fish of all-time. Most people figured that this would be hard to beat, but the celebrating had to be put on hold until all boats that had boated fish had made it back to the weigh station. Three other fish were brought in towards the evening hours, the first a respectable 428 lb. blue aboard After Midnight, followed by a 319 lb'er from the Nobska. The final fish put up a determined fight and could not be boated until 8:30pm and finally made it to the scales a little after 9:00 o'clock for a weight of 367 lbs.

Hacienda Hotel "Wishing Well"
Anyone interested in using the fountain? ...Or is this the ultimate wishing well?

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