Records Fall in 30th Orange Beach Billfish Classic
62 Boats, $1,593,050.00 in Total Prize Money, 222.4 Yellowfin Tuna All Tournament Records
Set A Course Tournament Champion, A Work of Art Top Catch & Release Team
Summary
The 30th Anniversary of the Orange Beach Billfish Classic was a record-setting affair for participants, prize money and the heaviest Yellowfin Tuna ever weighed in the tournament. 62 boats competed for nearly $1.6M this past week at The Wharf in Orange Beach.
The first Blue Marlin to come to scales on Friday night was a 491.6-pound fish caught on the Double J, a 42’ Freeman from Baton Rouge, LA. Angler Andre Leblanc and Captain JJ Tabor boated the 110.5” fish early Friday morning, 290 miles from Orange Beach. The large Friday night crowd also got to see the first of two Bluefin Tunas weighed during the tournament. Diane Kay, a 55’ Viking from Destin, FL, fought their 591.2 Bluefin for over ten hours, which would be the largest tuna of the tournament.
The final weigh-ins on Saturday night saw two additional Blue Marlin and another Bluefin delight the spectators and online viewing audience. The first Blue Marlin of the night was 475.40 pounds from Block Time, a 64’ Viking from Orange Beach. Angler Thomas Boothe and Captain Nick Knoepflein’s fish would end up placing third in the tournament. The eventual tournament-winning fish came from Set A Course, fishing their first tournament on their 64’
Viking from Panama City. The angler was owner David Pearson, with Captain BJ Teems and his father, ‘Captain Emeritus’ Billy Teems, on board. “Such a great moment and weekend. First tournament for Mr. Pearson, having my dad as part of the crew, none of us will ever forget the 2026 OBBC!” said the winning Captain.
2024 OBBC Champions, A Work of Art, a 96’ Jim Smith from Orange Beach was the top catch and release team with five Blue Marlin releases along with one White Marlin. Captain Jason Buck said once again, it’s always an honor to win any category against the competition in the OBBC. “So many great teams fishing this tournament. Even when we jumped in front, we never felt comfortable because I knew the teams that were right behind us were all capable of catching multiple fish quickly!”
Metal Masher, a 72′ Viking from Orange Beach, released four Blue Marlin for a second-place Catch and Release finish, and another 72’ Viking from Orange Beach, Never Surrender, also had four Blue Marlin releases coming in third.
The second-place Tuna came from Never Settle, an 80’ Viking from Destin, weighing a 556.6 pound Bluefin Tuna, and Panhandler, a 63’ Hatteras from Pensacola, set a new OBBC record with a 222.4-pound Yellowfin to take third place.
Never Settle also claimed the top Dolphin category at 31.8 pounds, Runnin’ Late, a 36’ Miller from Panama City, FL, finished second at 27.6, and Crawgator, a 61’ Viking from Venice, LA, was third at 27.0 pounds.
Only one Wahoo was weighed from Easy Trigger, a 64’ Viking from Panama City, at 32.2 pounds taking the top spot.
The Orange Beach Billfish Classic is the world’s largest tournament donor to The Billfish Foundation and will return to The Wharf in Orange Beach in May 2027 for its 31st year of competition.