Well, our 2008 Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic is in the record books. A total of 38 sportfishing yachts, ranging in length from 36’ to 80’ fished for an available purse of $445,908.00.
Tuesday, May 27, our festivities started with our Dock Party, hosted by the Butler brothers, owners of Venice Marina at Crawgators Bar and Grill. The Butler brother’s BBQ was the theme of the evening along with Tommy Bahama Rum andWoodford Reserve batch Bourbon, along with lots of Southern Comfort, all from our good friends at Republic National Distributing.
Wednesday, May 28 was our Official Registration Day, along with our Captain’s Meeting. But, the true fun and good times were had by all at our Kick-Off Party, co-sponsored by LeBeouf Brothers Towing and Southern Recycling. Our friends at Acme Oyster House shined again with their oyster bar, an incredible crabmeat and shrimp pasta, red beans and rice, along with their world-famous bread budding and whiskey sauce. Couple this wonderful southern food with our Open Bar and everyone seemed to have a good time.
Thursday morning, our TABASCO BloodyMary Bar, featuring Mako Vodka started a little slow, probably due to the good time everyone had at the Kick Off Party; as a result, there were many coffee drinkers.We continued that fine Louisiana tradition of the “blessing of the fleet” with Father Jerry of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Port Sulphur blessing our fleet for safe journeys and good fishing.
The Swordfish bite was a little slow with only the 56’ Viking, Done Deal, fresh from a trip to the Costa Rica and the Cocos Islands calling in the 1st Sword of the early morning, followed by the 40’ Cabo, Mariposa calling in a release of an estimated 200 lb. Swordfish just before daylight. As daylight rolled in, the Blue Marlin started showing up with numerous boats calling in hook-ups, but many fish lost, not too mention a lot of “window shoppers.” Team Escape, found themselves in the lead with 2 Blue Marlin releases on Friday.With calm weather most of the day on Friday, the fleet stayed offshore for the evening.
Saturday morning, the Blue Marlin bite continued, with numerous boats reporting releases, including the brand new 68’ Blackwell, C-Ya reporting their 2nd release, along with Top Gun, our third local boat with their 2nd release of a Blue Marlin. When all was said and done, with lines out of the water at 4:00 pm, and boats reporting back to Venice Marina before 7:00 pm, Capt. Kleo Blue of the Faux Pas, a 46’ Bertram, with angler Kyle Strander weighed
in our 1st Place Tuna at 156.6 lbs; 2nd Place Tuna went to Capt. Mike Hester of the Tico Time, a 65’ Hatteras, with Owner/angler DennisWilkerson weighing in at 123.4 lbs, with our 3rd Place Tuna going to Capt. Lee Leblanc of the Miss Regal, a 47’ Breaux with angler Kyle Fredrick. Our Dolphin division was won by Capt. Jimmy Gele of the Mariposa, a 40’ Cabo , with angler Louis Todd weighing in a 43.9 lb. dolphin. Capt. Terry Stansel of the Patriot, an 80’ Monterrey, on a fresh return from Cabo San Lucas, with 12 yr old angler Alex Chouest taking 2nd Place with a 39.3 lb. dolphin, followed closely by the Miss Regal, with angler Jeff Landry weighing in a 38.3 lb. dolphin.
Taking 1st Place in our Wahoo division was Capt. Ron Woodward of the Conundrum, a 61’ Viking, with angler Kevin Leftwich weighing in a nice 66.1 lb Wahoo. 2nd Place went to Capt. Kevin Harper of the Contigo, a 54’ Bertram, with angler Deano Merrigan weighing in a nice 57.1 lb Wahoo, with Capt. Jim Kortright, of the Sultrap, a 61’ Viking weighing in at 38.8 lbs.
Following our Saturday evening weigh-in was another scrumptious feast by the good Acme Oyster House crew featuring boiled shrimp, creole jambalaya, fried catfish, again, topped off with that classic bread pudding. We ended up with a three way tie for first place, with three Louisiana boats having 2 Blue Marlin releases. The smallest boat of our fleet, a 36’ Hatteras, the Escape, Captained by Marshall Barnes won our Tag/Release division on time, followed by the 68’ Blackwell, C-Ya with Capt. Laine Landry taking 2ndPlace, with the 54’ Bertram, Top Gun, with Captain/Owner Lee Adams taking 3rd Place. All of our Tag/Release winners received wonderful custom teak step boxes provided by our Diamond Level Sponsor, ReleaseMarine.
Team Escape also took the C.R. “Bob” Potter Memorial Trophy for Top Boat, along with an invitation to participate in the 2009 I.G.F.A. OffshoreWorld Championship Tournament nextMay in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Top Youth Angler went to Grayson LaBorde for the 2nd year in a row, fishing with Capt. Todd LaBorde, aboard the 40’ Cabo, Zephyr. Together, Team Zephyr tagged and released aWhiteMarlin. Grayson received a lovely trophy along with his 2nd Sony portable Playstation, along with numerous new games provided by Sony Entertainment.
Our Top Female Angler went to Cynthia Passentine, fishing onboard the 60’ Hatteras, First Choice, with Capt. Mike Roberto. Cynthia weighed in two Yellowfin tuna for a total weight of 78 lbs. Cynthia received both the Top Female Trophy along with a TABASCO gift bag from our friends on Avery Island.
Each of our Base Entry Winning Captains received a gift bag from comefishLa.com with Maui Jim Sunglasses Gift Certificates and numerous other gifts provided by comefishLa.com, Faux Pas Prints, and Republic National Distributing. Additionally, each winning captain received a large gift bucket from the good people at TABASCO stuffed with various Tabasco products.
As no Blue Marlin were weighed, we ended with 16 Blue Marlin releases, 2 White Marlin releases, 2 Swordfish releases, and 1 Sailfish release.
A big thanks go to both all our participants and especially our loyal sponsors, the Best of the Best; please support them as they truly represent the finest manufacturers and products available. In closing, remember, our tournament is always the weekend after Memorial Day—see you next year!
Tight Lines,
Steve Thomas
Tournament Director
