By Capt. Dave Lear
June 9, 2019; Biloxi, Mississippi:
It could have been the set for an Arby’s commercial. The die-hard 25 teams who braved tough conditions in the Gulf hauled serious stacks of seafood to the scales Sunday afternoon. Meat fish including yellowfin tuna, wahoo and dolphin score a point per pound in the gamefish division and some impressive catches were hoisted aloft, especially considering the circumstances.
Long-time Classic participant Quick Time, with owner Robert Burroughs on the rod, whipped the largest yellowfin overall. Burrough’s fish weighed 142.87 pounds and was boated after a 45 minute fight Sunday morning. That tuna was fooled by a trolled blue and white MoldCraft lure off the mouth of the Mississippi River.
“We wanted to fish. That’s what we do,” Burroughs said after the weight was announced by host Scott Rossman. “We were going out if we were the only boat fishing. We came to fish, not complain.”
The wahoo leaderboard changed several times before Neal Foster and his team aboard Intense, a 39 Contender open center console, made it to the scales. Foster’s fish was the first weighed and it registered 59.68 pounds, good for second place. His team mate, John Collier, had the biggest ‘hooter, however. The silver bullet came in at 89.83 pounds, for the top wahoo overall.
“We ran about 800 miles,” a visibly tired Foster said afterwards. “It’s gratifying when you find the fish after all that.”
Andre Feucht, fishing aboard Split Decision, was the top dolphin angler for the 2019 Classic. Feucht’s bull weighed 33 pounds.
Relentless Pursuit, a 95 Jim Smith, took top catch and release honors with 1,800 points. Pullin Wire was second based on time, followed by Sancha, also with 1,200 points. No blue marlin were weighed, but the dock was buzzing about two big fish that got away from Easy Rider II and Done Deal.
With the adjusted schedule due to the weather, the awards ceremony is taking place Sunday evening at the weigh scale stage. A little over one half-million dollars will be split amongst the top teams.
