A Late Grand Slam Keeps Lights Out Ahead of Sea Birds Heading Into Championship Sunday

Lights Out Boston entered Saturday with a commanding lead in Ocean City, but it was all but erased by lines out at 3:30 PM. Then the defending tournament champions found exactly the fish they needed.

A furious day two of Atlantic Division Championship weekend saw North Carolina Flare AC make a charge at the top spot, while the New Jersey Sea Birds soared from the bottom of the leaderboard into contention. Lights Out Boston completed a billfish grand slam to regain control of the tournament heading into Championship Sunday.

“We like to be the underdogs,” Captain Blaine Birch joked as The Flock returned to Sunset Marina on Saturday evening. “We focused on the MidAtlantic yesterday to try and kill a white marlin, which we were unsuccessful at.” 

For reference, the Sea Birds had already locked up $1.47 Million for Dave McKendrick’s blue marlin caught Thursday aboard their 62’ Viking named Taylor Jean. If the Sea Birds had found a white marlin that weighed more than 80 pounds, they would have gaffed an additional $1.35 million. 

“Today, we focused on the Atlantic Division Championship and did what we had to do,” Capt. Birch said.

While three clubs spent the day fighting for the tournament lead, another battle is playing out between the two clubs that qualified for the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs.

The New Jersey Sea Birds wrestled control of the Atlantic Division title race away from South Florida Sails, setting up a dramatic final day with both clubs' postseason berths already secured, but with the division crown still on the line. Whoever wins the head-to-head matchup will take it. 

After finishing Day 1 as one of only two clubs without a release, the Sea Birds wasted little time getting to work Saturday. New Jersey pushed off the dock as the first club to head through the inlet as it looked to make up ground on an old rival from 2025 sitting atop the leaderboard: Lights Out Boston.

Lines went in at 8:00 AM, but 20 minutes later, South Florida Sails struck first on Saturday morning. Alex Stanley released a white marlin at 8:20 AM to give the Atlantic Division leaders their first points of the weekend. With the release, South Florida moved into sixth and temporarily gained another fish's worth of separation from New Jersey in the divisional race.

North Carolina Flare AC picked up where they left off Friday. David Dressler released a white marlin at 8:53 AM, moving them into sole possession of second place with 300 points.

At 9:05 AM, the Sea Birds finally found their rhythm

Jay Brower went to work on a white marlin and secured the release four minutes later, putting all seven Atlantic Division clubs on the scoreboard for the weekend. More importantly, it brought New Jersey back even with South Florida on points. Because the Sails had released their fish first, however, they held the advantage on time.

While the Sea Birds and Sails began their head-to-head battle, North Carolina Flare started putting together one of the hottest stretches of the tournament.

Trey Baranyai released another white marlin at 9:17 AM, bringing Flare to 400 points and creating some breathing room over South Carolina Outcast.

East Coast Remix joined the Saturday action at 9:40 AM when Brent Feder released a white marlin. Feder, who fished with Remix earlier this season, made an immediate contribution in his return to the boat and moved the club into fourth place.

Griffin Moxley delivered another white marlin for South Carolina Outcast at 11:03 AM, bringing the Lowcountry Legends to 300 points as they attempted to keep pace with Captain Brian Dressler and the Flare.

Two minutes later, Brower struck again for The Flock. His second white marlin release of the morning moved New Jersey ahead of both the Rhode Island Breakers and South Florida Sails. The Sea Birds were climbing the tournament standings, but perhaps more importantly, they had moved in front of the Sails in the race for the division title.

The Sea Birds/Sails matchup had effectively become its own tournament within the tournament.

Two minutes after Brower's release, Flare answered yet again when Mark Dressler released a white marlin at 11:07 AM to bring North Carolina to within 250 points of Lights Out Boston for the tournament lead.

At 11:48 AM, Dressler added another white, cutting the gap to the leaders to 150 points. North Carolina Flare was now responsible for three of the previous six releases and had turned what began as a comfortable Lights Out advantage into a legitimate fight for the top stop.

As Flare AC chased Lights Out, New Jersey began making a charge of its own. Shortly after noon, Brower released his third white marlin of the day, moving the Sea Birds to 300 points and even with Outcast.

Captain Dressler and co. struck again. Baranyai released another white at 12:41 PM, bringing North Carolina to 700 points; just 50 behind Lights Out. Any additional fish would give Flare AC the lead

Instead, the next major swing belonged to the New Jersey Sea Birds, when at 1:09 PM, Dave McKendrick hooked into a blue marlin. 450-point fish. That 450-point release launched the Sea Birds from the middle of the pack to even with Lights Out, their Atlantic rivals from last season, atop the leaderboard.

And the Atlantic Division Championship suddenly had a fight for first featuring three clubs separated by only 50 points.

Lights Out sat at 750. New Jersey sat at 750. Flare sat at 700.

For more than an hour, the top of the leaderboard remained deadlocked. Then the defending tournament and division champions delivered. At 2:49 PM, Rob West released a sailfish for Lights Out Boston. Having already released a blue marlin and white marlin during the tournament, the sailfish completed a Grand Slam and triggered the league’s 200-point multiplier. 

The release and bonus pushed Lights Out to 1,025 points and restored a 275-point advantage atop the leaderboard.

“Crucial fish for us since it was the only one we found today,” said Captain Rob Carmichael of Lights Out Boston Angling Club. “Out of 1,000 fish caught in the White Marlin Open a couple weeks ago, only five were sailfish.”

Not only are sailfish rare in this region, but there have been sightings of Peter Miller’s favorite fish as far north as Nantucket in the last couple of weeks. 

According to Carmichael, Lights Out angler Spencer Talbot, a Maryland local, released his first sailfish offshore of Ocean City last year. That sailfish was actually released in an SFC tournament during their Atlantic Division title run last year. 

On day two of the 2025 HUK Big Fish Classic in Ocean City, Lights Out also recorded grand slam: several anglers, including Rob Carmichael, Ray Rosher, and Kyle Paparelli recorded white marlin releases. Tucker Carmichael released a blue marlin, and Spencer’s sailfish completed the boat’s slam that day.

After spending much of Saturday watching its Day 1 lead shrink, Lights Out Boston had delivered the biggest answer of the afternoon.

Then South Florida Sails got back into the scoring column when Mark McDevitt released a white marlin at 2:56 PM, bringing the Sails to 200 points and moving them ahead of the Rhode Island Breakers.

At 3:12 PM, Lee Albarty added another white for South Florida, pushing the club to 300 points and fifth place.

It was an important late rally, but New Jersey's 750-point day meant the Sea Birds would head into Championship Sunday with the upper hand in the race for the Atlantic Division crown.

“We want to win the entire thing, we can’t count the [Sails] out,” Birch said. “I guarantee you he’s going to go out tomorrow morning and catch a blue, catch a white, and he’s gonna jump us and then we are going to be fishing from behind. He’s done that all year.”

All year comes down to one more day: Tomorrow, the Atlantic Division regular season comes to an end with only the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs left for South Florida Sails, the New Jersey Sea Birds, and two clubs in the Gulf Division yet to be determined.

Day 2 Leaderboard
Lights Out Boston - 1,025 points
New Jersey Sea Birds - 750 points
North Carolina Flare - 700 points
South Carolina Outcast - 300 points
South Florida Sails - 300 points
East Coast Remix - 200 points
Rhode Island Breakers - 100 points