Raul Serna. President of the Puerto Vallarta Fishing Club

Q- Can you give us a brief wrap-up of this event from the first edition to date?

A- Our fishing club is 49 years old and was founded by a bunch of anglers from the province of Guadalajara-Jalisco and the city of Puerto Vallarta as a way of, you know, hanging out with relatives and friends and drawing in sport tourists to this location.

We hold an annual sailfish and marlin fishing tournament that’s attended by anglers from the U.S., Europe, South America and other parts of the country. This is no doubt the most important sport and social event in town, both because of the tradition and the massive turnout we have every year in terms of participants, spectators and the entire population of the seaport city as well. It’s the most important event of its kind organized by Mexicans, and that’s something we’re very proud of. Some of today’s members are the offspring of those first anglers that founded this club 49 years ago. As a matter of fact, we’ve got new members coming in every year.

Q- How do you rate European attendance to the tournament?

A- A couple of years ago we had a dozen Dutchmen, but we’ve also seen people from Spain, England and so on. In addition to Europeans, last year an Australian-American won the tournament, and we’ve confirmed the participation of fishers from Cameroon this time around. They come from everywhere around the world.

Q- What’s the average number of participants and how many will come this year?

A- The number (of participants) is in the neighborhood of 150 or 180. For this year’s edition we’ve launched a huge campaign in the media, I mean, radio and TV stations, magazines and the press, so we hope to see 200 to 250 anglers in November.

Q- Prizes are much better this time around. Can you tell us what they’ll be?

A- Prizes have been up 200 percent from last year thanks to the sponsorship of local authorities and the private sector. All utilities are reinvested in the tournament in an effort to make the value of sweepstakes climb and have more people coming in each year. We’ll be giving away five new cars, trips to Las Vegas and Los Cabos, a 26-feet-long speedboat and many other sweepstakes.

Q- Any plans in store to celebrate the 50th anniversary next year?

A- We’re working on that. We want to celebrate that 50th anniversary because, you know, 50 is a magic number, not 49 or 51. All of us are working hard to put together an unforgettable celebration. In time we’ll let you know about all the surprises.

Q- When does the registration deadline expire and how can anyone sign up?

A- Signup will remain open until November 17 at the Sheraton Hotel. On the Internet, you can visit our website at www.fishvallarta.com, send us an email to http://info@fishvallarta.com, or give us a call at 01 322 225 54 67. Our website contains all the necessary information to make banking transfers.

Q- What difference does Puerto Vallarta make compared to other tournaments?

A- Puerto Vallarta offers its people, its town, its nature and its warmth. We hold a series of festivals, like the Gourmet Festival, the Movie Festival and the Golf Tournament. You’ll see that in the case of the fishing tournament, not only the tournament itself counts, but also the closing gala and the spectacular award ceremony, bringing all families together.