Greetings fellow watermen!
After a tumultuous spring semester, I’m enjoying a few full weeks off before summer classes start up. I wanted to shoot a quick, informative newsletter out to everyone concerning tournaments. We have several large billfish tournaments here in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Most are open to the public, of all boats and skill levels. While not everyone is on the same playing field as far as resources, boats, fuel and range, etc., all teams are subject to the same rules and time constraints. Most depart on a Thursday at noon, and you have until 7pm Saturday evening to return to the dock. Depending on conditions, some boats travel as far as 300+ miles from the tournament origin in search of a money fish. There are five main divisions in each of these tournaments: blue marlin (kill), dolphin, tuna, wahoo, and catch and release (any billfish that doesn’t meet the minimum length standards for that particular tournament). Some of them also have a swordfish division.
Night shot of the battlewagons at Golden Nugget Casino for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic
Prep Work: The preparations for a tournament begin weeks before the actual weekend. Assuming your boat is ready to roll, probably the most important thing a crew can do is begin watching satellite imagery websites such as Hilton’s Realtime-Navigator to begin noticing trends, temperature breaks, rips, color changes, currents, etc-even comparing them to conditions the year before for the same dates and areas desired to fish. Going offshore without prior consulting Hilton’s is just stupid. If you don’t have a subscription, get one. The last couple of days leading up to a tournament involve catching bait, rigging lures and ballyhoo, checking drag on reels, making sure fresh line is on reels, stocking the boat with groceries and fuel, etc. It’s a lot of work. Once you’ve gotten all of the important stuff done, several of these tournaments (Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic, Emerald Coast Classic) have golf tournaments that are fun to participate in before the real competition starts.
(We here at Woods Offshore can handle 100% of any prepwork for you, the boat owner; so all you do is show up and step on board and you are ready to roll-even if you choose to use your own crew)
Captain’s Meeting and Dinner: This is generally held the night before the first day of the tournament. The dinner is a great place for crews and families to enjoy a great meal before heading offshore. Information regarding rules, tournament designators, filming your catch, weigh-in procedures, tournament minimums for each respective fish species, etc. are discussed here. One member from each team (doesn’t necessarily have to be the captain) must be present at this meeting and sign out at the culmination of the meeting. This is also where the transactions for the Calcutta take place.
Calcutta: This is where all the big money is won in each of these tournaments. While some of them do have “guaranteed money” (for example, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic offers $20k, $15k, and $10k prizes respectively for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in any given meat fish category (dolphin, tuna, wahoo). For blue marlin, they offer $100k, $50k, and $25k for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd), the general principle is that if you don’t bet, you’re not going to win any money. Now for those who love pride and bragging rights, more power to you. But the guy who won 3rd place blue marlin but was across the board in the Calcutta is going to be laughing all the way to the bank with his $500k+ cheque. My tens of thousands in student loans tell me I’d rather be on a boat that bets. Everyone has their own reasons for fishing a tournament-it’s just more fun when there’s millions of dollars for grabs. To each their own.
How to bet the Calcutta: This needs to be discussed beforehand with your crew. Determine what you are best at, or what you are wanting to target. If you’re committed to livebaiting for blue marlin all weekend, then it doesn’t make much sense to put money into the dolphin or wahoo calcuttas. A large yellowfin tuna can suck down a small blackfin or large hardtail intended for a blue marlin, so it’s never a bad idea to also bet the tuna category even if you’re hellbent on marlin fishing. If you’ve decided you want to fish a beautiful weedline that has been stacked up for a week, then it would be safe to put money into every category, as all species hang out on a good rip or weedline, particularly dolphin.
For any given Calcutta, there are separate divisions for each category (mentioned above)-usually something along the lines of $100, $300, $500, $1000, $2500, $5000, and $10000. The prize money is usually split, 50/30/20. Here is a scenario-let’s say you bet just the $100 in dolphin and sure enough, win 1st place dolphin-nice job! If 99 other boats also bet the $100 category for dolphin, that means there is $9000 up for grabs after the tournament takes their 10% of all bets (standard). 50% of $9000 is just $4500. If you’re in a large sporty, that doesn’t even cover your fuel, let alone your entry fee. Stay with me…
Now, let’s say you bet the $1000 for dolphin (same scenario) but maybe only 49 other boats also bet this division. 50% of $45k is $22,500. You see where I’m going with this? As you climb higher in each tier, there are less boats, which also increases your odds of winning. Not to mention considerably better prizes.
How to pick your crew: At this point, if you already have a $4million dollar plus sporty, there is a strong chance you have a captain and mate. While many crews are composed of family members, some are composed of the owner’s clients, as many of these operations are used to entertain business clients and customers. While that is fine, there is something to be said for the same crew that fishes together week after week. Some of the gulf’s most successful tournament teams, such as Done Deal, Conundrum, Breathe Easy, fish with the same crews week after week, often year after year. Many of these crewmembers are interchangeable-the mate can drive on fish if the captain is sleeping after driving all night long, the captain can come down into the pit and wire and gaff fish, etc. If you’re fishing with different anglers of varying skill levels each week, it is laughable to think you will be able to pull off a successful bait and switch operation with dredges and teasers, so you might want to rethink your tactics. There are even some teams that fly in anglers and mates from all over the world, from top billfish destinations such as Hawaii or Costa Rica. And why not?! When you’re used to catching multiple blue marlin in a day, you’re much better equipped for the 3-5 shots you might get a day here in the gulf. As a captain or owner, you have the choice to hire a green mate who is working his summers to pay for college and likely doesn't have a lot of experience other than working on a bottom fishing boat. You can hire him cheap, and what he lacks in experience, he often makes up for in eagerness to fish, stay up late and drive, etc. You can also go the other route and hire someone who maybe has done some traveling, fished places like Costa Rica or Guatemala where he has encountered dozens of sails or blues in a day, all on the pitch, making him a very keen observer of spreads and likely quick on his feet. The downside is that he might not be receptive to the way YOU want things done (for better or worse). A good mate is worth at least $300/day as well. There are pros and cons to hiring a young, green mate versus a seasoned mate with plenty of billfish (and BIG fish) experience. Most of your top crews have two mates in the pit AT ALL TIMES, as well as a designated angler. If you think you can stay inside the salon all day long and play playstation and hope to just luck up "dragging and snagging," good luck. This is also another part of fishing that separates a top crew from an amateur-the ability to entice another bite when a blue swings and misses (and loses interest) on a bait.
(We here at Woods Offshore can assemble the finest team money can buy, so if you have the boat and want a seasoned crew with hundreds of blue marlin releases under their individual belts, give us a call)
What tournaments are out there? The big five which make up the Gulf Coast Triple Crown circuit are, in chronological order:
1. Orange Beach Billfish Classic (Orange Beach, AL- May 16-20)
2. Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic (Venice, LA- May 31-June 2)
3. Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic (Biloxi, MS-June 7-9)
4. Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic (Sandestin, FL-June 21-23)
5. Blue Marlin Grand Championship (Orange Beach, AL- July 12-14)
These five tournaments are definitely the most prestigious, and also most expensive to enter, to the tune of $5-6k per tournament. Then there’s the Calcutta to look forward to on top of that. Also, the Mobile Big Game Fishing Club puts on several great tournaments each year, including the Memorial Day and Labor Day Invitationals. These are much easier on the wallet, usually $250 per angler to enter (4 angler minimum), but still offer the chance at some very large paydays, as they too, offer the same big money calcuttas. The MBGFC also offers the $1,000,000 prize for anyone who breaks the Alabama state record blue marlin in either of their Memorial or Labor day tournaments. And with the number of blue marlin over 700 that have been hitting the docks the past few years, it’s just a matter of time before the existing state record gets toppled.
While there are some of the most skilled teams in the world fishing our tournaments here in the Gulf, on any given weekend, there is definitely some luck involved. Sometimes you’re just at the right spot at the right time, with baits in the water. Please understand that there are a LOT of big fish hooked here in the gulf-only the best teams can consistently seal the deal and get these fish to the boat. We would love to help you become one of these teams and put you on the top of the podium with a fat cheque in your hands.
http://www.woodsoffshore.com/tournaments/
Please visit the following links for more information on the aforementioned tournaments:
www.gulfcoasttriplecrown.com
www.orangebeachbillfishclassic.com
www.comefishla.com
www.mgcbc.com
www.fishecbc.com
www.mbgfc.org
www.bluemarlingrandchampionship.com
www.hiltonsoffshore.com
Sponsors: Please support our sponsors!
www.pelagicgear.com
www.seaguar.com
www.jmtackle.com
www.mustad-americas.com
fish.shimano.com
www.realtime-navigator.com