Team All In wins for SFC in Mississippi Billfish Classic

Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic © Luke Dusenbury

Sport Fishing Championship (SFC), the governing body of saltwater tournament fishing, announced the results for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic. Team All In won the competition for the SFC, which was held at Point Cadet, Biloxi.

Team All In began with a slow start losing a fish first thing on Day 1. On Day 2 they started in the same spot, but after dirty water moved in they relocated further south. From then on they found their groove and began releasing fish every few hours, overall going four out of six on blue marlin.

"Last year was one of our worst seasons we had," said Capt. Blake Bridges, Team All In. "There were plenty of times that we came up short, but you have to have bad tournaments in order to have those really good tournaments. That helps keep the humility in check. Now that the Gulf Division is back-to-back for the next few weeks, we don't have that lag between trips. Some of the guys that had great catches last week didn't do too well this week. Fish have tails and there are no fences, so they are always moving around. It's just the way it is."

In total, 73 billfish were caught in Biloxi this year, with 17 white marlin, 50 blue marlin and six sailfish released. To date, there have been 217 billfish released for the SFC. Of note, the next generation of anglers are on the board with 13-year old Tucker Wade on Team Bandito releasing the team's first blue marlin on Day 1 and 11-year old Tate Yancey on Team Miss Ma'am releasing the team's first blue marlin on Day 2. Both Wade and Yancey each released two blue marlin and one white marlin, all the fish caught by their teams this weekend. In the SFC Championship Fish Division, Dalton Benefield of Team Life Line scored a 41.4-pound Wahoo and Jaselyn Berthelot of Team Rising Sons landed a 32.7-pound Mahi Mahi.

SFC tournament points accrue based on a team's placement in the final tournament standings, with the first-place team earning 3,500 points, the second-place team 3,000 points, and so forth. Placements in the tournament standings are determined from tournament-only points based on species of fish caught and released, with the highest consideration given to blue marlin, then white marlin and spearfish, and finally sailfish and swordfish.

The results of the top three teams based on number of fish landed and species of fish:

• Team All In with four blue marlin for a total of 3,500 points
• Team Quantified with eight white marlin and three sailfish for a total of 3,000 points
• Team Rebecca with three blue marlin and one sailfish for a total of 2,800 points

The season's events thereafter include: the South Jersey Yacht Sales Offshore Showdown in Cape May, New Jersey, July 6-8; Oak Bluffs Bluewater Classic in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, July 12-15; Tri-State Canyon Shootout in Block Island, Rhode Island, July 24-27; Texas International Fishing Tournament in South Padre Island, Texas, August 4-6; and conclude with the San Juan International Billfish Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico, August 23-25.

To learn more about the Sport Fishing Championship or view the full 2023 season schedule, visit sportfishingchampionship.com.