About the Zane Grey

The Riviera Zane Grey Invitational Marlin Tournament is the most exclusive fishing tournament in California.

Zane Grey, a classic literary writer famous for his most popular book Riders of the Purple Sage, arrived in Catalina for the first time in 1918. Zane not only proved to be a fantastic writer, but quite a fisherman also. He developed a passion for "Big Game" fishing and became a legend in California sportfishing for his angling accomplishments. Tuna, Marlin, Swordfish and Sharks were among some of his record-breaking catches that led him to develop tackle and design the first "sportfisher".

This tournament was designed to memorialize the great writer and to acknowledge his leadership role in modern day sportfishing. Being that his passion and his home were in Catalina, it was only natural that we name the tournament after him. Limited to a maximum of 45 teams, participants represent the best marlin fishermen in the West. Boasting a cash purse over $350,000.00, anglers engage in friendly competition over the four day event.A modified release format rewards points for released marlin and fish weighed over our minimum weight. The tournament has achieved a 75% release rate of all marlin in the past seven years. The Riviera Zane Grey Invitational Marlin Tournament is the first marlin tournament in California to award major cash prizes for released marlin.