This years tournament featured over 220 boats, all in search of the huge marlin and enormous cash prizes.
This year's Bisbee Black and Blue Tournament kicked off on October 25th and ended on the 29th. Over $11.5 million in prize money was awarded. Below is some basic qualification to fish in this tournament.
- $5,000 basic entry ($2500 if in release category)
- Different buy in jack pots range from $500/day to $10k a day
- Cash prizes are awarded to up to 5 teams that qualify
- If no winners are announced during the first days, the totals roll in to the next day
- In total with the 6 optional jackpots, an "All-In" registration would cost $131,500
DAY 1
Day one saw the catch of a 344lb marlin by "Team RV Rental Housing". They bought into the tournament and scheduled a boat last minute, giving them only days to prepare. After the start, the team motored for 6 hours prior to receiving a strike. Their catch rewarded them with Day 1 jackpots as well as a current lead over all anglers in the billfish points. As always, the team gets interrogated after the fish is brought in in detail to assure no rule breaking/foul play has occurred (per tournament tradition).
(pic: @fishbisbees Instagram)
DAY 2
After a slower start to the opening day of the tournament, Day 2 showed even slower progression in the leaderboards. Not a single jackpot fish was weighed. In order to be weighed and count, the fish must be north of 300 lbs. Anything smaller must be released but may count for the release category. With conditions deteriorating offshore, the counts reflected low numbers of smaller fish caught.
With no new leaders crowned, the winners from Day 1 maintain their spot on the top and now have the chance at claiming the Day 2 and Day 3 jackpots, should the same situation occur the following day.
DAY 3
Day 3 was the day of winners. In total, another 2 fish were weighed and kept. The first was by team "El Mexicano" with a beautiful 461 lb Blue Marlin which they fought for over 2 hours. This fished outweighed the previous leader by nearly 120 lbs, bumping "Team RV Rental Housing" to second place, losing their chances at the rollover jackpots from Day 2 and 3.
(pic: @fishbisbees Instagram)
Later that afternoon, another team made their way to the scale. "Team Happy Ending" had battled a Black Marlin for over 2 hours and it topped off at 449 lbs. This was enough for second place, but kept them out of 1st by a mere 12 lbs. This was the final fish of the day.
(pic:@fishbisbees Instagram)
Results
- 1st place: Team El Mexicano with 461lbs Blue Marlin | $3,263,700
- 2nd place: Team Happy Endings with 449 lbs Black Marlin | $2,533,250
- 3rd place: Team RV Rental Housing with 344 lbs Blue Marlin | $1,590,975
- Release Category 1st place: Freebird |$114,920
- Release Category 2nd place: Karma | $39,780
- Release Category 3rd place: Chupacabra | $22,100
(pic: @fishbisbees Instagram)