In what has become a bit of a recent tradition that tournament organizers would be happy to see come to an end, the 26th Annual Orange Beach Billfish Classic had to adjust this year’s tournament schedule due to a forecast calling for rough seas. The originally scheduled final day of the tournament, Saturday, May 21st, was looking to be rather sporty offshore.
41 teams competing for $850,000 in prize money were happy to depart a day early and return for a one-night weigh-in celebration at The Wharf in Orange Beach on Friday, May 20th. With five boats reporting they were bringing a blue marlin to the scales, the large crowd was ready and waiting to see the first blue marlin weighed as soon as the scales opened at 6PM.
Amigo, a 68′ Viking from Port O’Connor, TX, boated their fish early on Friday morning, and Captain Brad Schoenfeld backed into the weigh-in slip, waiting for the scales to open. Angler David Denbow’s marlin measured 111″ inches and weighed 507.8 pounds, but he knew they were in for some anxious waiting with four more fish to be weighed. “We are so proud and excited about this fish. To bring one in during a tournament of this caliber is a special accomplishment. But there are some of the best teams in the world fishing this tournament, and we know it will be tough to hold onto the top spot.”
The next team to the scales was another Texas Viking, the 92′ High Cotton, with the longest fish of the tournament at 114″ inches. As the beautiful fish was hoisted to the scale, every onlooker immediately knew this would be the fish to beat with its most impressive girth. The ‘fat fish’ caught by angler Cole Ogden weighed an even 642 pounds to take over the top spot in the tournament, a position it would not relinquish.
