April 4, 2016; Biloxi, Mississippi:
By Capt. Dave Lear
It won’t be long now. The Gulf thermometer is creeping steadily upward. The Loop Current is doing its thing, shoving and pushing eddies and rips. Bait is massing and on cue brawny marlin, chunky tuna and electric dolphin and wahoo are rocketing into the mix. The summer big-game tournament season is about to get underway.
In two short months the fleet will begin idling into the Point Cadet Marina in Biloxi. After topping off the tanks with hundreds of gallons of fuel, they’ll back into their slips and begin the elaborate preparations necessary to compete in a world-class contest like the Classic. Reels will be spooled and drags checked. Hooks finely honed to a penetrating point. Ballyhoo, mackerel and mullet will be flexed, rigged, brined and stowed into gaping coolers, ready for action. Lures and live wells are checked. Forecasting charts will be studied, pondered and debated. And studied, pondered and debated some more. Nothing is left to chance.
The first warm-up starts Tuesday, June 7, when a dock party sponsored by Miller Lite, Coors Lite and Louisiana Fish Fry Products serves up a delectable seafood feast. Sure, the mood will be jocular over cold beers and crawfish. But it’ll also be the Round One of gamesmanship. No one wants to tip their hand just yet.
The subtleties, mis-direction and blatant whoppers resume at the mandatory captains meeting Wednesday and continue as final preparations are made for running offshore. Plans and strategy, especially with million-dollar stakes, are guarded closer than a tattered Loran logbook filled with red snapper numbers.
But when the scales do open Friday night we promise to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the monster fish hitting the docks. We’ll also use social media—FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter and Flickr—to relay all the announcements, backstories and particulars. That’s how this particular game is played and it won’t be over until the fattest fish are finally carted away late Saturday night.
So if your team has what it takes to compete in the big arena, get registered today. Do it before May 1 for a chance to win the MGCBC Golden Opportunity Grand Prize Package. Because it won’t be long before that opening bell starts clanging.
