SERVING YOU SINCE 1979

Goose's Edge Takes Dirty Dozen
by Jim Rizzuto-West Hawaii Today

9/28/2009- The very popular "Dirty Dozen" fishing tournament has run on a Saturday every two months for 25 years.

After nearly 100 tournaments, the event faced a challenge that threatened to end it. The State Division of Land and Natural Resources has begun requiring tournaments like this one to carry insurance. Because the event has intentionally maintained a low entry fee, the cost of insurance became intolerable for tournament director Donn O'Brien.

Al Gustavson, skipper of Topshape, chief executive officer of Goose's Edge, Inc. and owner of Queen K. Tesoro came to the rescue.

"We are very happy to be able to continue this Kona fishing tradition," Al said. "the cost to us is about $5,000 a year. We are not changing much but putting some gloss on the events."

Al will continue to maintain a $100 entry fee but will increase the frequency of tournaments to be the first Saturday of every month, even if there is another tournament scheduled.

The events will count toward the Queen K Cup, a new annual competition sponsored by Goose's Edge. The Queen K. Cup combines points from many local tournaments and costs nothing to enter and offers a $10,000 prize to the winner.

"We are trying to put all the elements into these that big time tourneys have but just on a smaller scale and for sure have fun," Al said. "These tournaments are a great way to learn to compete and not feel embarrassed if you do something wrong. We are there to teach you. Jungle rules still apply."