Texas Legends
2008 Results!
69 Boats - Total Prize Money over $746,000!
Top Boats
AKELA Tournament Champion
5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE 2nd Place
HIGH COTTON 3rd Place
FAMILY TIES 4th Place
Top Captain & Mates
AKELA
Boat Pool Winners
AKELA 1 Blue Marlin, 2 White Marlin 700 points
5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE 4 Sailfish, 1 White Marlin 550 Points
HIGH COTTON 1 Blue Marlin 400 points
FAMILY TIES 1 Blue Marlin 400 points
NEREUS 1 Blue Marlin 400 points
MECHANICAL MAN 1Blue Marlin 400 points
CLEAN SWEEP 1 Blue Marlin 400 points
WHEN BOATS ARE TIED FOR POINTS, THE BOAT WITH THE EARLIEST RELEASE TIME WINS
ALL BLUE MARLIN, WHITE MARLIN AND SAILFISH WERE RELEASED!
Fish Pools
Largest Tuna - BRAND NAME 115 lbs.
Largest Wahoo - THUNDER 59.5 lb
Largest Dolphin - TICO TIME 34.2 lbs
Largest Swordfish - REEL INSANITY 45 lbs.
Crew
Captain’s Pool - AKELA
Mate’s Pool - AKELA
1st Blue Marlin Released - Captain/Mate – HIGH COTTON
Mate’s Award - Largest Blue Runner – MOJO
Billfish Caught
Boats Blue Marlin White Marlin Sailfish Swordfish
69 8 6 13 2
Next Year’s Texas Legends will be held August 6-9, 2009
August 13, 2008
Texas Legends Billfish Tournament - August 7 -10, 2008
AKELA wins the 3rd Annual Texas Legends Billfish Tournament
The Legends, held August 7-10th in Port Aransas, Texas was a great success with 69 boats fishing for over $746,000 in total prize money. A total of 8 blue marlin were released along with 6 white marlin and 13 sailfish in the two-day event. The top four boats were:
Place Boat Owner Fish Caught
1st AKELA Ed Bass 1 Blue Marlin, 2 White Marlin
2nd 5 O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE Tim Lange 1 White Marlin, 4 Sailfish
3rd HIGH COTTON Allan Grimes 1 Blue Marlin
4th FAMILY TIES Dan Parrish 1 Blue Marlin
The largest yellowfin tuna went to Bruce Rogers on BRAND NAME, top Dolphin to Dennis Wilkerson’s TICO TIME, the largest Wahoo to the McRay Brothers on THUNDER and top Swordfish to John Kiszkiel’s REEL INSANITY.
Founded by tournament directors Bobby Byrd and Capt. John Cochrane, the Texas Legends Billfish Tournament is dedicated it to all Texas fishermen, past and present, who have made a difference in big game fishing. Their goal in creating this tournament is to honor old friends, catch some great fish and celebrate our big game fishing heritage.The top boat of the tournament will receive the prestigious Bob Byrd Memorial Trophy in honor of Bob Byrd, Sr., who was on one of the pioneers of billfishing off the Texas coast in the early 1960’s. A Texas Big Game Fishing “Roll Call” was created in memory of those who have passed on in this sport. This tournament is unique in that contestants can depart from any Texas port. The Captain’s Party and Final Registration were on August 7th at the Pelican Club, next to Fisherman’s Wharf in Port Aransas. The weigh-in and memorial dinner party was at Virginia’s Restaurant on August 9th and the winners were awarded on Sunday morning at the Awards Brunch. Another unique feature of the Legends is the concept of a video release format with points awarded for blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish. The point system is designed to promote releasing all blue marlin under 400 lbs. and all white marlin and sailfish. The Port Aransas weigh-in and awards allows fishermen easier access to the nearby rocks and rigs that this area is famous for.
Another organization that Byrd and Cochrane has founded is the Texas Saltwater Fishing Hall of Fame. It includes not only Texans who have contributed greatly to big game fishing, but to all segments of saltwater fishing. The Hall of Fameis dedicated to promoting and preserving Texas’ saltwater fishing heritage through recognition, research and education. Each year several inductees will be voted into the Texas Saltwater Fishing Hall of Fame and the big game fishing inductees are recognized at this tournament annually. This year’s inductees included a who’s who of Texas fishing legends and they were presented their awards during Saturday night’s Memorial Dinner Party (-See Hall of Fame Flyer e-mailed earlier.)
