Blue Marlin Grand Championship weigh-ins July 11-12 at The Wharf
Blue Marlin Grand Championship weigh-ins July 11-12 at The Wharf
Public events related to the “Greatest Show in Sportfishing,” the Blue Marlin Grand Championship, are scheduled July 11-12 at The Wharf in Orange Beach, with fan friendly weigh-ins, hosted by Jim Cox and Kelly Finley, set for 5-7 p.m. on July 11 and 5-8 p.m. on July 12.
Weigh-ins will be held under the marlin on Main St. and a giant LED screens and, a concert-level sound system, the Flaming Marlin and champagne celebrations add to the ambiance.
Boats will depart The Wharf Marina at 11 a.m. on July 10 and proceed to Perdido Pass.
Last year, the 66 teams competed for nearly $1.7 million in tournament prize money. Including catch-and-release, the anglers caught 42 blue marlin, along with two white marlin and one sailfish. The tourney has raised over $220,000 to date for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. For more info, visit gulfcoasttriplecrown.com.
Big-game anglers will compete to catch the biggest Sailfish, Blue Marlin, Dolphin, Wahoo, Spearfish, Yellowfin Tuna and White Marlin.
The tourney debuted in 2012 at The Wharf and quickly became a must-fish event on the highly competitive Gulf of Mexico tournament circuit.
Wharf owner Art Favre’s A Work of Art team won the inaugural event with Kevin Courville in the chair for the first-place blue marlin, which weighed 665.4 pounds.
In 2023, eleven years later to the exact day, Courville and A Work of Art claimed the title again on Favre’s 92-foot Viking captained by Jason Buck.
His winning 597.4-pound (121 inch) blue marlin made Courville the first two-time champion in tourney history.
“So much has changed here at The Wharf in the past 11 years since we first won this tournament,” Farve said at the 2023 awards presentation. “But what hasn’t changed is the spirit of competition. There are so many great captains and crews that you have to compete against to win here, and we feel very fortunate to be back here at Marlin Circle celebrating.”
The tourney, billed as the Greatest Show in Sportfishing, is part of the Triple Crown Series along with the Orange Beach Billfish Classic and the Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic.
The 2024 Gulf Coast Triple Crown Champion Team Supreme, a 72′ Viking from Destin, released 42 Blue Marlin to capture its second consecutive Triple Crown title and the first team to ever win without scoring any points for a weighed Blue Marlin.
“It was an unbelievable year. I am so proud of everyone on this boat,” said Captain Chase Lake (representing owners Allen and Lisa Krake).
No team has ever won the GCTC Championship back-to-back-to-back. But Team Supreme has a chance to do just that in 2025.
