Tournament
TUNA CHALLENGE
Wish Kid Travis fishing
T
he 2018 Make-A-Wish Tuna Challenge will be
angling for a good cause in San Diego with the
annual three-day tuna fishing tournament benefiting
Make-A-Wish San Diego. This event is the largest
tuna fishing tournament in the continental U.S.,
raising over $3.5 million to grant wishes for children with critical
illnesses in our community.
The Tuna Challenge’s humble beginnings date back to 1990 when
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it began as an intra-club tuna tournament. The Kona Kai Anglers
created the tournament to bring some friendly competition to the
organization with Frank Baptista and Jim Nicoletti deserving much
of the credit for founding the Tuna Challenge. Two years later, the
tournament became an invitational event with fishing clubs from all
over San Diego participating. In 1994, the Kona Kai Anglers decided
that they wanted to donate the proceeds of the tournament to a
charitable organization and Make-A-Wish San Diego was chosen as
the beneficiary.