Bobby Castellon's commitment to the sport fishing industry goes back to the days when he was an avid customer on San Diego's famous long-range fleet.

   (He helped gaffed Curt Wiesenhutter's 388-pound 12-ounce world record yellowfin tuna in 1977. He was also on the first San Diego long-range boat to Clarion Island, and he has gaffed two other world record fish.)

   Born in east Los Angeles in 1941, Bobby has a big love for Mexico and the Sea of Cortez, and he spends about eight months a year aboard his 87-foot panga mothership, the Celia Angelina, taking clients to fish the awesome Midriff Islands first popularized by Ray Cannon in the early 1950s. The Celia Angelia, a converted shrimp trawler, was bought and put into operation in 1987 by Bobby's company, Sea of Cortez Sportfishing. Since then, the boat has made hundreds of cruises to the Midriff Islands, while developing a reputation for good fishing, a friendly crew, and consciencious conservation practices.

   Unique among panga mothership operations, the Celia Angelina sails with both Bobby and a full-time skipper Crespin "Pin" Contreras Montes aboard, in addition to its regular crew of five, plus six fishing guides.

   Bobby is a strong and vocal proponent of sport fishing as a crucial ally to conservation in the Sea of Cortez. He feels that it is through conscientious sport fishing -- and the economic benefits that it brings to the people of Baja California -- that excessive commercial fishing practices can be controlled. Bobby recently demonstrated his commitment to sport fishing and the Sea of Cortez when he established dual citizenship in Mexico and the United States.