For most of the weekend, the 2026 Hurricane Hole Louisiana Open, presented by Visit Jefferson Parish, belonged to the Third Coast Renegades, but what transpired on Championship Sunday was pure, sportfishing cinema.
The Gulf Coast Cowboys erased a massive deficit, caught three blue marlin and a sailfish on the final day, took the lead with just over two hours remaining before the tournament deadline, and then raced approximately 60 miles back toward Grand Isle.
At 5:36 PM, with 24 minutes to spare, the Cowboys passed underneath the Grand Isle Bridge and officially completed one of the wildest comeback victories in SFC history. A 75-point difference after three days of fishing.
The Gulf Coast Cowboys had to tie an SFC record for most blue marlin in a single tournament (7) to have a chance. And it took just about everything the Cowboys had to get there.
Garrett Frazier and the Third Coast Renegades entered Championship Sunday in complete control after one of the most dominant two-day stretches in SFC history.
Frazier released five blue marlin Friday, setting a new SFC individual single-day record. He added two more Saturday to tie Gregg Trenor's SFC record of seven blue marlin releases by an angler in a single tournament.
The Renegades entered Sunday with 3,150 points, holding a 1,350-point advantage over the Cowboys, but conditions offshore were deteriorating as a tropical disturbance developed off the Louisiana coast
At 10:29 AM, the Renegades made their decision.
“We are going to head to Hurricane Hole,” Frazier said via text message. “Thanks to this [disturbance] the record will stand.”
His individual record chase was over. At the time, the Renegades' tournament lead looked awfully safe too.
As we would learn later; it wasn't.
The defending SFC champion Texas Lone Stars opened Sunday's scoring when Raul Perez released a sailfish at 8:38 AM. The 75 points gave the Lone Stars an important separation in points as they look to secure a Zane Grey Championship Playoff berth.
Then the Mississippi Blues finally broke through, when Adam Davidson released a blue marlin at 10:28 AM. After losing another fish shortly after 11:00 AM, Davidson climbed back into the chair at 12:09 PM and completed his second blue marlin release four minutes later. Suddenly, the Blues had 900 points and were right in the middle of the fight.
What was already a wild weekend went completely off the rails after lunch time.
At 12:40 PM, the Mississippi Blues, Louisiana Canyons and Gulf Coast Cowboys were all hooked up at the exact same time.
For a moment, the Canyons appeared to have two blue marlin, when Jaselyn and Toby Berthelot both had rods in their hands. Jaselyn's fish looked to have broken off quickly. So did Davidson's for Mississippi. Toby's didn't.
At 12:52 PM, Berthelot completed the blue marlin release, moving the Louisiana Canyons to 1,350 points and into third place ahead of the Lone Stars. It was a critical moment in the playoff hunt as the fourth place points opened opportunities for the Gulf Coast Cowboys should they rally with the points deficit to the lead locked in place.
And it was at this point where the Cowboys began their charge to the top. Lori McDowell released a blue marlin at 1:09 PM, advancing the Cowboys to 2,250 points on the leaderboard. Sixteen minutes later, they were hooked up yet again.
Brian Kelley climbed into the chair at 1:25 PM and settled into a battle that lasted more than 15 minutes. The entire cockpit gathered around him as the fight continued, with the mates positioned on either corner of the transom and Dino McDowell over Kelley's shoulder. At 1:42 PM, BK got the release.
Cowboys: 2,700.
Renegades: 3,150.
One blue marlin separated them.
At 2:39 PM, Jordon Benefield released a sailfish to add another 75 points. It wasn't the blue they were looking for, but it changed the math. The Cowboys now had 2,775 points.
One blue marlin would win the tournament outright, but there was only one problem: They were roughly 60 miles offshore, and tournament rules required every boat to be underneath the Grand Isle bridge by 6:00 PM.
With time running out, the Cowboys made one last move.
“Twenty minutes left, we went into the rig, got one bait, one fresh bonita, and said, ‘That’s all we need, let’s go look around,’” Gulf Coast Cowboys mate Kyle Coker said.
One bait. One shot. One Opportunity.
“[We] hopped out and trolled for maybe eight to 10 minutes and Jordon finally marked it,” Andy Smith, the Cowboys’ media officer, said. “Blake set up on it about two or three different times and it finally [rose] up to a depth.”
The Cowboys had found what they were looking for, and opportunity was knocking.
“We dropped our one last bait,” Smith continued. “That fish hit. It swam all the way up to the long left. Nick came tight on it and Dino rode it in quick.”
At 3:39 PM, the call came in: Dino McDowell had delivered the fish that changed the entire tournament.
“I don't know how, but he always ends up with that one fish that we really need,” Gulf Coast Cowboys Captain Blake Bridges said. “That fish came up and literally ate the bait right behind the boat.”
Gulf Coast Cowboys: 3,225.
Third Coast Renegades: 3,150.
But they hadn't won anything yet. The Cowboys still had approximately 60 miles of Gulf of
Mexico between them and the finish line.
They packed up and pointed the boat toward Grand Isle.
“We left with about five to 10 minutes to spare to get back,” Smith said.
At 4:05 PM, the Cowboys were officially heading in. At 4:40 PM, the projected arrival was approximately 5:40 PM. But with deteriorating offshore conditions, nothing was guaranteed.
After three days and thousands of miles covered by the six Gulf Division clubs, the Hurricane Hole Louisiana Open came down to a boat racing toward the bridge.
At 5:36 PM, the Gulf Coast Cowboys passed underneath it.
Cowboys win.
The Cowboys had entered the day 1,350 points behind a Renegades team that had looked nearly untouchable for two days.
“This morning we had some catching up to do,” Cowboys co-owner Blake Bridges said.
Instead of settling, Bridges pushed his team to make another move.
“I told the boys, ‘Do not let me sit here. We have one more spot to check that we had fished the first day.’”
Approximately 30 to 45 minutes after the Renegades picked up and headed inshore, the Cowboys made their move. Once they arrived and made bait, everything changed.
“After about 15 or 20 minutes after making bait, it was one after the other,” Bridges said.
By late afternoon, Gulf Coast had put together six blue marlin releases and a sailfish for the tournament.
“We got six blues and a sail and I'm thinking, ‘Man, we're here,’” Bridges said.
Now with the win, Bridges and the Gulf Coast Cowboys are more than “here.” With the win, Blake Bridges is tied at the top of the SFC record books for most tournament wins by a captain with six, tying two-time SFC champion from the league’s previous open competition format, Justin Drummond.
More importantly, the Cowboys are back in control of their own destiny, sitting second in the Gulf Division Standings, setting up a head-to-head showdown with the Texas Lone Stars, with a Zane Grey Championship Playoff berth on the line.
Next week, after the Mobile Big Game Fishing Club Labor Day Invitational. One of the last two SFC champions is going to leave Orange Beach for Cabo, the other is going home.
Final Leaderboard
1. Gulf Coast Cowboys - 3,225 points
2. Third Coast Renegades - 3,150 points
3. Louisiana Canyons - 1,350 points
4. Texas Lone Stars - 975 points
5. Mississippi Blues - 900 points
6. West Florida Black Flags - 75 points
Garrett Frazier is two blue marlin releases behind Gregg Trenor for most all-time in a single SFC tournament.
Everything taking place offshore in the next to last stop of the Gulf season
Still everything to play for in the Gulf Division as the fleet enters the penultimate stop of their season
Where things stand with both divisions with three weeks left in the regular season
The Lone Stars climb to second in the Hunt for the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs with a near wire-to-wire win.
The hometown Lone Stars cash in the grand slam bonus to take a commanding lead.
