By Capt. Dave Lear
June 8, 2019; Biloxi, Mississippi:
Two boats christened the weigh scales at the 2019 MGCBC, yet both were bill-less. Doctors Orders and Gunnslinger weighed a hefty yellowfin tuna and a pair of wahoo, respectively, Saturday evening as on-lookers cheered them on. Those early entries represented two-thirds of the eligible game fish division. Dolphin or mahi mahi are the final species in the trio. If there was a theme this evening, it was Rough, Rough and Rough. The two dozen boats competing in this year’s event had to contend with big seas and stiff winds in the central Gulf of Mexico after departing early Friday morning.
“It was rough, rough out there,” says Capt. Thomas Brown, skipper of Doctors Orders, a 57 Gillman based in Orange Beach. “There were a lot of fish out there, though. We caught that tuna on the first day on a rip between Na Kika and Blind Faith [rigs] on a ballyhoo behind an Islander on 80-pound test. It was about a 20-minute fight.”
Boat owner/angler Deb Hebert is no stranger to the Classic, having landed the winning blue marlin in 2014 while fishing aboard Iona Louise. Her yellowfin weighed 137.16 pounds and is worth $5,800 if it holds on to first place. When the fish was later dissected by researchers from the USM Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, a baby mahi was found in its stomach.
Twelve-year-old Clarke Adams was on the rod for the pair of wahoo Gunnslinger, a 52 Southern Cross owned by his father, James Adams, weighed. The biggest registered 33.56 pounds on the digital scale.
“It was rough and the waves were big,” James explained from the weigh slip. He said they were fishing inside Na Kika and pulled off two blue marlin before catching a half-dozen wahoo. Adams said there was a lot of bait around but the waves were getting worse instead of better, contrary to the forecast. Seas didn’t improve until they were 40 miles from Biloxi.
“I’m glad we went though. We got him a couple of fish,” the proud father added.
Several blue marlin were reported released so far, including two by Relentless Pursuit. Boats have most of Sunday to fish but must be back to the designated channel markers by 5 pm for scores to count. Releases are verified by three judges (Jimmy Taylor, Craig Martin and Bill Haffner) to determine species and proper handling. All three judges are International Game Fish Association certified observers, trained to distinguish billfish.
“We look for several elements in the release videos,” Haffner explains. “We need to see the angler fighting the fish, the daily indicator or tournament designator, which is usually a wrist band, and the date and time stamp from the GPS, which is used for a tie-breaker. It’s gotten a lot easier to judge lately with the camera and computer sophistication if there’s a question.”
“Technology has really helped,” adds Martin, who has been working big-game tournaments in the Gulf for 30 years. “We’re here to qualify fish and better cameras on-board and Go-Pros underwater have really helped with the species ID. But every year we’ll have to deal with at least one video malfunction or a question about whether a fish is a blue or white marlin. They score different points—blues count more—so then we have to start looking at the pectoral fins and other special characteristics to make sure we get it right. Sailfish are easy to tell apart and every few years we’ll see a spearfish. Identifying the different marlin is the toughest part of the verification process.”
Scales open at 3 pm Sunday and all boats in line by 5 pm will be scored. The actual fishing this weekend may have been rough and more rough. But the finish should be slick and smooth.
