June 9, 2021; Biloxi, Mississippi:
By Capt. Dave Lear
Twenty-five years is a significant milestone. A lot can happen during those years. And if you look specifically at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic, that’s certainly the case. The event, staged at the Point Cadet Marina in Biloxi, has endured storms, an oil spill and a global pandemic during that time frame. Yet, it has been the stage for many significant benchmarks as well. Multiple records, including the all Gulf of Mexico marlin catch at 1,054.6 pounds, has been set here, along with millions of dollars in prize money awarded. The field routinely includes teams from across the Gulf, representing some of the top anglers and crews in the sport. So with this as a backdrop, it only seems appropriate to share some comments as registration gets underway…
“I’ve seen this tournament grow and grow. We’ve had a couple bad years with storms to contend with, but it always bounces back,” says Tim Wold, a long-time volunteer and president of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Big Game Fishing Club. “Right now what I’m seeing resembles the 2018 edition. We’ve got a lot of boats, good weather on tap and a lot of prize money on the line. People unfamiliar with the sport underestimate the impact on the local communities. Go to the local grocery stores and you’ll see people carrying 15 to 20 cases of food and beverages out to their vehicles to load on to the boat, multiplied by the number of boats. There is money spent on local transportation, restaurants and at the Golden Nugget casino. All that really has a tremendous impact on the local economy.”
Capt. Myles Colley is a veteran skipper who is running Done Deal for this year’s Classic. He has been fishing the tournament for 20 years.
“This is always one of the bigger tournaments with good competition,” he says. “We’ve had good luck here with some great catches and we’ve won a bunch of money. So I always enjoy coming back.”
Thomas Hale, a mate aboard Bandito, a 65 Jim Smith co-owned by Bobby Wade and Chad Solomon, is experiencing the Classic for the first time. The wide-eyed young man was looking forward to this week’s action offshore.
“This is awesome. I really like it so far. But I don’t know what it will take to win it,” Hale commented. “I work the chair, so I just keep quiet and do my job.”
Jack Beal of Seabrook, Texas, is competing for the second year in a row. He owns the Bertram Sea Dollars.
“All the best boats in the Gulf are here and the guys I fish with wanted to come back. So here we are, trying to get ready.”
Tim Jones, president of Gulf Coast Yacht Group, the Hatteras dealership based in Orange Beach, Alabama, has been involved since the beginning.
“Co-founder Bill McLellan was a rock in this industry and this tournament is a big part of his legacy,” Jones explains. “It is the culmination of true sportsmanship, camaraderie and conservation. These guys love to compete. And look at the technology they have to work with these days. The sport is better now than it has ever been.”
Spanky Hill, the Gulf Coast representative for Galati Yachts, has seen his share of changes over the years, too.
“I started out with Ron and Vic Starling. We had one Viking fishing the Classic and everyone looked at us. Now there’s more than 40 Vikings out there in those slips. It’s exciting. This tournament is one of the biggest we do and it might be the Super Bowl of billfishing, especially this week.”
Twenty-five years. One-quarter of a century. That’s a tanker of diesel fuel, tons of ice and plenty of memories. A new chapter is ready to be written. It all begins Wednesday afternoon.
