June 2008
Tournament Results Newsletter
Published
by comefishLa.com, Inc.
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; not too shabby in
this day and age.
Tuesday, May 27, the 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 and
Woodford 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 with
whiskey sauce. Couple this wonderful
southern food with our Open Bar and
Miller Beer, everyone seemed to
have a good time.
Thursday morning, our
TABASCO Bloody Mary 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” and circle hook
stories. The smallest boat in our
fleet, a 36’ Hatteras, the Escape,
found themselves in the lead with 2
Blue Marlin releases on Friday. With
calm weather most of the day on
Friday, our 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
Louisiana 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 Dennis Wilkerson
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.Ddolphin.
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,
oyster bar, fried catfish, and
again, topped off with that classic
bread pudding, along with a few more
adult libations.
We ended up with a three way tie for
first place with three boats having
2 Blue Marlin releases with 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 2nd
Place, 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,
Release Marine.
Team Escape took the C.R.
“Bob” Potter Memorial Trophy for Top
Boat, along with an invitation to
fish the I.G.F.A. Offshore World
Championship Tournament next May 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 a White Marlin. 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
Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic
