BigBendFishing.Net

The 2016 Blue Marlin Grand Championship at The Wharf in Orange Beach, AL, is underway. The 61 boats are churning deep into the Gulf and many will run 300+ miles one way. At stake are bragging rights and a lion's share of $1.4MM purse.

I was pressed into extra duty as a judge for the Miss Billfish contest again last night. Guess I'm going to have to renegotiate my contract for more money.

There will be live streaming on the site Saturday and if you're in the area, stop on by for the Greatest Show in Sportfishing. There will also be live TV broadcasts in the Panama City, Destin, Pensacola, Mobile, Biloxi and Nashville markets.

Here's the link if you'd like to follow along. Posting daily blogs and photo galleries. www.thewharfmarina.com/bmgc

And I didn't forget to include some special pix this time. I was too busy scoring (the contest points) to take many. Mark Worden of Lightwave Photographs captured the really sharp ones.

Don't work too hard

I don't see no blue marlin in those pictures ... just hot tuna!

We've got a couple blues coming to the scales tonight, including a 128-inch fish (lower jaw to fork length) on You Never Know! That boat has been hot this summer and with that length, the fish could easily be in the 850-pound range.

Will be an exciting night.

You Never Know decided to stay out and continue fishing. They'll bring in their marlin Saturday night. Four boats are bringing in marlin to weigh, though, all exceeding the 101-inch minimum.

You Never Know! came in with a fish that I was convinced was easily over 900 pounds, let alone a new state record. But in this strange season for blues, it only weighed 806.8 pounds. Fat tail stump, fat belly, but not thick enough. It was still good enough for the top fish of the week and the team will have to settle for about $365,000 as a consolation prize.

We did break a new tournament record with a 182.4-pound yellowfin. Some more nice tuna were weighed, along with a 45.2 bull dolphin.

A great week with some outstanding anglers and crews. But I'm ready to get back on the water myself and chase some redfish.