The Avalon Billfish Classic is an all-release striped marlin tournament that is part of the California Billfish Series presented by COSTA. The Avalon Billfish Classic is fished simultaneously with the Catalina Classic, and runs from September 23-25. The tournament is set in the beautiful town of Avalon on historic Catalina Island. Over the years, the Avalon Billfish Classic has become one of the top marlin tournaments on the West Coast.
As the Avalon Billfish Classic is an all-release event, and the Catalina Classic is a big-fish tournament, many teams fish these two events together at the same time. In the Avalon Billfish Classic, a striped marlin release is awarded 100 points, and when the bite is good, those points can rack up quickly. The cash entry is only $800 for a team, but the cash purse can get big and fat thanks to the optional jackpot categories that range from $250 to $2,000 per day. The three teams that accumulate the most points will take home some nice hardware and if they decide to enter the optional jackpots, they can take home some fat cash prizes as well.
Other activities include a casting competition, vendor village, knot-tying competition, cocktail parties and one of the nicest award’s banquets in California in the historic Casino building.
The Avalon Billfish Classic is a 100-percent, catch-and-release striped marlin fishing tournament. Awards are given to the first, second and third place teams that score the most points during the course of the event by catching and releasing the most marlin. This tournament is fished simultaneously with the Catalina Classic, which is a winner-take-all, big-fish tournament. All registered teams are encouraged to fish in both the Catalina Classic and the Avalon Billfish Classic. There is a discount to those teams who do decide to fish in both events.
The Avalon Billfish Classic is part of the California Billfish Series, which is under new management and will now be run by the founders of www.BDoutdoors.com who purchased the events in 2011. The new tournament committee has vowed to continue California’s marlin legacy and make sure that all of the tournaments and parties are even better than before. The tournament committee is always open to ideas on how it can improve upon these prestigious tournaments and welcomes any feedback. For more information, contact tournament director Ali Hussainy at ali@catalinaclassic.com or 858-560-5525.
The 2012 Avalon Billfish Classic is scheduled to take place from September 23-25.
