Tournament History

2007 Tournament Awards $1,225,000 Cash Payout Blue Marlin 1st - 531.1 lbs Jeff Ashbrook - $105,000 "Sunset" 2nd - 358.8 lbs Casey Jones - $52,000 "Bounty Hunter" 3rd - 352.5 lbs Ronnie Daniels - $26,000 "Bushwacker" Tuna 1st - 97.6 lbs 2nd - 97.2 lbs 3rd - 93.2 lbs "Bounty Hunter" Logan Bleakley $23,000 "Done [...]

72 Boats The Billfish Classic represented the 1st national event to be held in Biloxi since Katrina and it did it in style.  Joel Broussard on the “C-YA” took first place in the Blue Marlin Division with a 722.8 pounder.  David Finkelstein on the boat “Team Galati” took second place with a 666.2 lb. Blue [...]

70 Boats With tropical storm Arlene in the Gulf, 70 Boats remained from a field of 100 to complete another success story for the ninth consecutive year.  John Bleakley aboard the “Bounty Hunter” took 1st place in the blue marlin division with a 463.5 lb. fish.  Since there were no other blues caught, the “Bounty [...]

106 Boats - Classic exceeds $1,000,000 The Classic continued as the Premier Billfish Tournament for the eighth consecutive year.  Cash and prizes exceeded $1,000,000.  Jerry Pyron aboard the “Miss Celeste” captured first place in the Blue Marlin Division with a 631.7 pounder.  Chris Ayo on the boat “Petite Marie” took second place with a 610.7 [...]

110 Boats Another great year for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic.  Russell Lockhart  aboard the “Delta Cat” took 1st place in the Blue Marlin Division with a 531.4 lb. fish.  Sam Camriotes on the boat “Dataman” out of Pensacola, Florida took second place with 416.5 lb. blue; Donnie Ford aboard the boat “P.J.” took [...]

106 Boats Bill McLellan, the Classic’s Tournament Coordinator since its inception in 1997, founder of Marlin Magazine and a man of vision in the sportfishing industry died after a lengthy battle with cancer.  Eleven months after the Gulf of Mexico’s blue marlin record was broken by Conrad Hawkins at Bay Point, Barry Carr on the [...]

100 Boats Another state record!  Rob Landingham fishing aboard the boat “She’s The One” landed a 205.8 lb. yellowfin tuna and set the new Mississippi record.  Landingham’s record yellowfin dropped to second place in the tuna division when Gerald Granger fishing aboard the boat “Mollie” weighed in a 445.4 bluefin tuna to capture first place.  [...]

96 Boats The “Early Bird” registration incentive was added.  One ticket for each month  before June went into a $5,000 drawing.  The tournament purse reached $800,000.  The legal limit for blue marlin set at 100”, one inch above federal guidelines.  Harris Garner aboard the “Summer Breeze II” took top honors with a 562 lb. blue [...]

85 Boats This year the Classic became a qualifying event for the World Billfish Series and the IGFA Invitational Rolex Tournament of Champions.  The total purse increased to $700,000.  Damon Chouest with his 572.1 lb. blue marlin joined his brother, Dino, with a back-to-back win for the boat “Freedom.”  Dino won the classic in 1998.  [...]

74 Boats The total purse increased to $500,000.  New federal guidelines increased the blue marlin’s legal limit to 96”,  Dino Chouest’s 379.8 lb. blue marlin caught aboard the boat “Freedom” was the only one weighed in during the tournament.  Since it was the only blue, it took the top three cash prizes in the marlin [...]