Bay Point Invitational Billfish Tournament

26th Bay Point Invitational Draws Record Crowds
July 21, 2009

Braving rough water and even tougher fishing conditions, 35 boats ventured out to test their skill in the 26th annual Record crowds attended the 26th Bay Point Invitational.

Record crowds attended the 26th Bay Point Invitational.

Bay Point Invitational Billfish Tournament. One of the most eagerly anticipated tournaments of the year, more than 14,000 spectators descended upon Bay Point Marina from July 16-18 to enjoy live entertainment, abundant art, local food, sponsor displays and, of course, the promise of weigh-ins on Friday and Saturday night.

Traders Hill was named Tournament Champion with their first place finish in the Catch and Release category. Their one blue and one white marlin release totaled 850 points and was enough to fend off several challengers in the Catch and Release Divison.

Peter Bos aboard Legendary landed the single heaviest fish of the tournament with a 119.5 pound tuna, and easily captured first place honors in the Tuna division. Life Is Good angler Grant Nicholson brought in the winning wahoo with a 33 pounder, while August Redding’s 33.1 pound dolphin gave Dreams Wake II top honors in the dolphin category.

For the second year in a row, Life Is Good claimed the largest payout and took home a check for $204,284. The tournament featured a total purse of $481,967.

New this year was the addition of the 40/40 Shootout, which featured 30 boats fishing on Friday only for tuna, dolphin and wahoo. Fishing conditions for the 40/40 were less Kids have a great time watching the weigh-ins!

Kids have a great time watching the weigh-ins!

than ideal, and resulted in smaller than expected fish. Mark Crone aboard A-Loan Again brought in the only tuna and tipped the scales at just over 56 pounds. Wideopen anglers Jeremy Sprenkle and Mark Datelle brought in the first and second place dolphin, while Monty Ferrell brought in the biggest wahoo of the evening on board Just One More.

Event planners brought back two additional events from last year – the Al Hubbard Kid’s Fishing Experience and a special military tribute.

Appropriately named after local fishing legend Al Hubbard, the children’s fishing experience reached out to nearly 50 children ages 8 to 13 from the Boys and Girls Club of Bay County, the Anchorage Children’s Home and the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center. Sixteen local charter captains willingly donated their time and resources to take the kids fishing during an afternoon “tournament” before the Friday night weigh-ins. Capt. Brian Jacquay and the kids on his Team B&T won the friendly-competition.

In partnership with the Freedom Alliance, the Invitational also paid tribute to members of the Armed Forces by hosting several wounded veterans for a day of Gulf fishing. The soldiers, along with all those who had ever served in the military, were honored during the tournament with a video tribute. A special thank you goes out to Galati Yacht Sales for providing a 74’ Viking Sportfish and the crew.

The Bay Point Invitational Billfish Tournament has committed all proceeds from the 2009 tournament to the St. Joe Community Foundation. The Foundation in turn will distribute all funds to three local children’s organizations: the Boys and Girls Club of Bay County, the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center and Anchorage Children’s Home.

The Bay Point Invitational Billfish Tournament is hosted by the St. Joe Company and Bay Point Marina. The 27th Annual Bay Point Invitational is set for July 15-18, 2010. For more information, visit www.baypointbillfish.com.