The Islamorada, Florida Keys' (USA) team held the same position -- fourth place ??? for three days. But the steady paced fishing of team members John Timura, Robert Collins and Taylor Walsh, all of Islamorada, along with Scott Salley, Naples, Fla., and Ken Longaker of Seattle, Wash., plus a little karma in the final day of fishing, paid off as they captured the IGFA Offshore World Championship title in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Four teams which had been in close contention atop the leader board the previous three days ??? from Italy, Australia, Croatia and the Sultanate of Oman -- found the final day less forgiving as each went scoreless.

Despite a "slow bite" for most of the 63 teams of anglers in the fourth and final day, the five men representing their win in the Outdoor Channel Offshore Classic in the Florida Keys released two marlin and a dorado as a weight fish to total enough points to win.

The ninth annual event sponsored in part by the Secretaria de Turismo de Baja California Sur, hosted competitors from 27 nations on six continents, the single largest contingent of international teams to compete in a fishing competition.

Collins said the team which has fished numerous occasions together, also took advantage of two practice days in Cabo, enough time to put mistakes behind them.

"We fished near perfect for the conditions presented to us," said Collins. "On day two the boat we drew for that round had engine troubles and we weren't able to back down on the fish or maneuver properly, but we still overcame those problems and did well."

Collins, Timura, Walsh, Salley and Longaker had an unbroken chain of days in scoring: Day 1 with three marlin ??? 900 points; Day 2 four marlin and a sailfish???1300 points; Day 3 with four marlin -1200 points and the final day two marlin and a 25 lb 6 oz dorado for a weight fish as insurance equaling 625.6 points for a four day total of 4025.6 points.

"We just fished steady," said Collins. "Every one of the team members gets along great and that's part of the success; our personalities are pretty much easy going. In general we all have great karma," he laughed.

Collins, who has Florida homes in both Islamorada and Naples, is also a two-time winner and current defending champion of the IGFA Inshore World Championship, an annual event held this year from June 29 ??? July 2, testing many of the best in fly and light tackle fishing for five species in the Florida Keys.

Coming in second in Cabo with 3900 points were Day 3 leaders the 9th Int'l Big-Game Sportfishing Tournament team from Jezera, Croatia. Members included Dario Marijan, Davor Pliso, Jakov Begovic, and Vinko Radetic who the previous day surged into contention with 10 marlin releases, but went zero in the final round.

Finishing third, also with 3900 points based on last fish caught first was the team from Porto Santo Stefano, Italy. The team representing the YCSS-IMD Fishing Tournament fished steady gathering 1200 points in the final round. Anglers included Stefano Desideri, Paolo Viscogliosi, Domenico Scopelliti and Sandro Onofaro. (For the complete story see the IGFA web site http://igfa.org/2008_Offshore/Day_4/Day_4.asp

###