By Capt. Dave Lear
June 9, 2018; Biloxi, Mississippi:
It was the shortest fight among the four blue marlin weighed in this year’s Classic. But angler Chase Pate of Pensacola, Florida, Capt. Scooter Porto and the team on Reel Addiction made sure it was the sweetest. Pate took about 30 minutes to coax the wild marlin within reach where the gaff found its mark. The long 170-mile run back to Biloxi was definitely nerve-wracking, but once the fish hit the scales, the outcome was certain. The 796.9-pound fish was the biggest of the week.
“We hooked her at 7:30 this morning and got her on board at 8,” a happy Pate explained afterwards. “It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. She was real green when we boated her, but we were pushing the time limit so we had to do it. It was slick calm and beautiful out there. That fish never jumped, she just stayed down. When we got her on the wire, we could finally see how big it was. Everything went perfect. It was a total team effort.” Reel Addiction is a 56 Viking owned by Rocky and Laurie Jones based in Pensacola Beach, Florida. The team came in second last weekend in the Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic with a 545-pound blue.
Eighteen-year-old Patrick Haley, fishing aboard Skin Deep, took 7.5 hours to outlast the other blue marlin weighed on Saturday. It tipped the scales at 511.4 pounds. Skin Deep, a 63 Scarborough owned by Chris Haley of Orange Beach, Alabama, was soaking a live bait in the Green Canyon when the billfish struck. Haley said it was slick calm with blue, blue water.
“The fish jumped one time and we got her close and then it took off,” Patrick said. “We only had 150-pound-test leader and we couldn’t get it close enough for the gaff. It was only 100 feet from the boat but she wouldn’t give up.”
Johnny Moore and the crew aboard Alma-Ann certainly earned the new MGCBC dolphin record. The 57.2-pound bull took more than two hours to entice into eating.
“We caught that fish on a spinning rod loaded with 60-pound braid,” Capt. Nick Jones explained. “We threw everything at it—chunks, plugs, ballyhoo. We passed it trolling along a weed line on a north/south rip about 30 miles west of Devil’s Tower. We kept making passes for two hours, trying to feed it and about every 15 minutes it would swim out of a pocket but not eat. Finally we stuck a hardtail on a small circle hook, let it eat a long time and hooked up. It was a 35-minute fight and all the while we were hoping that hook wouldn’t pull loose.”
Kevin Berry (Dead Line) had the second place dolphin at 45.2 pounds, while Michael Burroughs on Quick Time came in third with a 44.6-pounder.
The tuna, wahoo and swordfish leaderboard changed throughout the evening as 39 boats among the 117 fishing brought catches to the scales. Robeau Whibbs, fishing on Swee Pea, a 50 Topaz from Pensacola, emerged triumphant in the tuna category with a hefty 182.3-pound yellowfin. That fish also ate a live hardtail bait near the Delta House and was subdued after a fight lasting 1.5 hours. Bennie Goldman Jr. on Reelentless boated a 172.8-pound tuna, good for second place, while 14-year-old Sawyer York, fishing aboard First Choice, outlasted his second-largest tuna, a 166.3-pound yellowfin, after a fight lasting more than three hours.
The top wahoo was boated by Jeff Dees on Lined Out (61.4), followed by Doug Lake aboard Seament (48.5) and Neal Foster on Intense (46.4).
Anthony Stouffer on Hay Ride was the top swordfish angler with a 144.1-pound broadbill. Matt Carpenter boated a 125.2-pounder on Long Straw, while Anthony Lopez, fishing on Titan Up, was right behind with a 123.5-pound swordie.
Catch and Release Judges Jimmy Taylor and Craig Martin were still reviewing video and scoring points in the close catch and release billfish division.
Tournament award money and optional cash prizes totaling $2.3 million will be presented at the 2018 MGCBC awards breakfast at the host Golden Nugget Casino and Hotel on Sunday morning.
