With approximately 90 boats converging on Panama City Beach for three days of competition, the Bay Point Billfish Open was a memorable tournament for all involved, including the six boats as part of SFC’s Gulf Division.
Day 1 began with a boat parade up the coast before the 10:00 AM shotgun start, but the tournament's first major storyline came before the boats left the inlet.
Gulf Coast Cowboys struck something, severely damaging one of their propellers and forcing the team back to the marina. Four of the propeller's five blades were bent. While the Cowboys worked on shore to get the propeller over to a local machine shop, the Texas Lone Stars wasted little time getting on the board.
Bryan Richter released the tournament's first billfish, a sailfish, to establish the early lead before the Third Coast Renegades answered later in the afternoon with Garrett Frazier's sailfish release.
The Renegades chose to fish closer to shore compared with others in the field.
“We knew a lot of these boats packing 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of fuel, and knew we didn’t have that capacity or range,” said Third Coast Renegades co-owner and angler Garrett Frazier. “Drake (Sawyer) came up with a plan to work some current and some chlorophyll and find some good water.”
Around 6:00 PM, Dylan Frazier released the tournament's first blue marlin, catapulting the Renegades into first place. Garrett Frazier later added another sailfish, extending the Gulf Division leader’s advantage to 600 points by day's end.
“We had a plan C in case that didn’t work, and at just about the time we were going to go to Plan C, we caught a blue on the second day.”
Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast Cowboys finally left the dock at 9:14 PM more than 11 hours after the tournament began.
Friday was for the Mississippi Blues.
Adam Davidson released two blue marlin before 8:00 AM, sending the Blues into the lead. The momentum continued when Davidson added a white marlin later that morning, pushing the Blues to 1,000 points while leaving them just one sailfish away from completing a billfish grand slam and earning a 200-point bonus.
The Renegades counterpunched when Dylan and Garrett Frazier combined for three sailfish releases, keeping pressure on the leaders while positioning themselves one white marlin away from their own grand slam opportunity.
Elsewhere, the defending SFC Champion Texas Lone Stars continued stacking sailfish, chipping away at the leaders 75 points at a time. After opening Friday with a triple-header, Bryan Richter and David Blackbird later released a pair of white marlin to remain firmly within striking distance heading into Championship Saturday.
Meanwhile, nearly 18½ hours after leaving the marina following Thursday's repairs, Brian Kelley released the Gulf Coast Cowboys' first blue marlin of the tournament. Dalton Benefield followed with another blue marlin later that evening, completing an incredible comeback that vaulted the Cowboys into third place.
With only 175 points separating first and second place entering the final day, Championship Saturday quickly turned into a heavyweight fight.
The Louisiana Canyons opened the scoring when Jaselyn Berthelot released a sailfish before 8:00 AM, putting the team on the board after two difficult days.
The tournament's biggest swing came less than two hours later, with Garrett Frazier releasing a sailfish while Dylan Frazier added another blue marlin to take the lead for good.
The Blues immediately answered.
Adam Davidson and the Mississippi Blues released a blue marlin of their own, trimming the Renegades' advantage to just 50 points.
In the battle for third place, Bryan Richter's steady stream of sailfish briefly moved the Texas Lone Stars ahead of the Gulf Coast Cowboys before Lori McDowell answered with another Cowboys blue marlin, swinging third place back in favor of the hometown club for good.
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, the other prop began to give them trouble after backing down on a fish Saturday morning, resulting in them spending the rest of the day running home to make it back by the 8:00 PM deadline.
The Renegades, meanwhile, continued adding insurance.
Another sailfish pushed the defending Gulf Division champions beyond the 2,000-point mark, giving them just enough breathing room to withstand any late surge from Mississippi.
The Lone Stars continued piling up sailfish throughout the afternoon, while the West Florida Black Flags and Louisiana Canyons battled throughout the day for fifth place. Donnie McMahon continued leading the Black Flags, while Jaselyn Berthelot added a white marlin to put the Canyons within one blue marlin of earning a grand slam bonus.
The Mississippi Blues looked for a hail mary to win in the closing hours.Having already released blue and white marlin during the tournament, the Blues needed only a sailfish to complete the billfish grand slam and collect the tournament's 200-point bonus, which would have been more than enough to leapfrog the Renegades for the win.
The team spent the final hours working closer to shore in search of that elusive sailfish, but it never came.
After seizing the lead on opening day, surviving Mississippi's furious comeback on Friday, and answering every challenge on Championship Saturday, the Renegades took their second of the three Gulf Division events this season, with the home waters of Port A next on the calendar.
Final Standings
Third Coast Renegades - 2,025 Points
Mississippi Blues - 1,900 Points
Gulf Coast Cowboys - 1,350 Points
Texas Lone Stars - 1,050 Points
West Florida Black Flags - 300 Points
Louisiana Canyons - 250 Points
Third Coast Renegades return the favor and mount their own comeback win. Defending Champion Lone Stars knocked out of Zane Grey Championship Playoffs .
Lone Stars cash in the grand slam bonus, but two afternoon blue marlin have the Gulf Coast Cowboys on top heading into Championship Sunday
Renegades eye Gulf title, Lone Stars looking to rally tomorrow in ZGCP hunt.
Every fish matters this weekend in the hunt to the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs
Playoff scenarios and outlook for the regular season finale
Dino McDowell released the last fish of the tournament, which ultimately became a walk-off blue marlin.
