Sport Fishing Championship

Despite battling equipment issues before lines-in, the Atlantic Division leaders turned another dominant performance into a commanding advantage atop the leaderboard, finishing Day 2 with 1,875 points and nearly tripling the score of their closest challenger, the South Florida Sails

As the Sea Birds made their run offshore in the morning, they discovered an issue with their gyro stabilizer system. Fishing without the gyro meant rougher conditions and an uncomfortable ride throughout the day, but thankfully for them, the conditions subsided from the day before. East Coast Remix replaced a water pump that cools their gyro after Day 1, but the Sea Birds had no opportunity to diagnose the problem before competition began.

The first move of the day belonged to the South Florida Sails. Brantley Gwin released a blue marlin, worth 450 points, vaulting the Sails into second place overall. Combined with their pair of sailfish releases from Friday, the catch pushed South Florida to 600 points and briefly established them as the primary threat to the tournament leaders, sitting just 300 points behind the Sea Birds.

Then at 9:44 AM, Dave McKendrick released another blue marlin for the Sea Birds, extending their total to 1,350 points and restoring a comfortable cushion over the field.

Just over an hour later, Steven Melchiorre added yet another blue marlin release. The additional 450 points pushed the Sea Birds to 1,800 points before lunchtime and effectively transformed the tournament into a race for second place.

Through two days of fishing, nearly every point accumulated by the Sea Birds came from blue marlin releases, which is always a winning strategy given the point discrepancy for the most prized species in the league.

While the Sea Birds continued to build separation, Lights Out Boston started racking up sailfish. Ross Nasin started the rally with a sailfish release before Casey Carmichael and Kyle Paparelli teamed up for a double release that brought the team back into contention.

Rob West added another sailfish before noon, and legendary captain Ray Rosher contributed a fourth sailfish release later in the afternoon.

The four-fish surge produced a 375-point day and moved Lights Out from sixth place entering the morning into the middle of the leaderboard battle.

South Carolina Outcast continued to represent the hometown crowd well when Steven Lackey released a sailfish shortly after 1 PM, moving the team ahead of North Carolina Flare.

The biggest celebration outside of the leaders' camp belonged to the Rhode Island Breakers.

After a difficult opening day that featured missed opportunities and a painful break-off, the Breakers finally found their breakthrough at 2:18 PM thanks to a blue marlin from angler George Barrett. Capt. John Bowen and the crew completed their first blue marlin release of the 2026 season. The catch instantly transformed their tournament.

One blue marlin release vaulted Rhode Island into a tie on points with Lights Out.

The Sea Birds added one final exclamation point late in the afternoon when Jay Brower released a sailfish worth 75 points.

While small compared to the team's blue marlin haul, the additional points provided even more breathing room.

New Jersey Sea Birds – 1,875 Points
South Florida Sails – 675 Points
East Coast Remix – 525 Points
Lights Out Boston – 450 Points
Rhode Island Breakers – 450 Points
South Carolina Outcast – 225 Points
North Carolina Flare – 150 Points

With three blue marlin releases in two days and a 1,200-point advantage over the nearest competitor, the New Jersey Sea Birds enter Championship Sunday in complete control of the SFC Carrier Cup.