Tournament History

2004 Tournament

2018-02-14T15:26:23-06:00

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 [...]

2003 Tournament

2018-02-14T15:25:59-06:00

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 [...]

2002 Tournament

2018-02-14T15:25:10-06:00

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 [...]

2001 Tournament

2018-02-14T15:24:56-06:00

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.  [...]

2000 Tournament

2018-02-14T15:24:22-06:00

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 [...]

1999 Tournament

2018-02-14T15:23:33-06:00

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.  [...]

1998 Tournament

2018-02-14T15:23:05-06:00

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 [...]

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