Dr. Mike Henry submits top bid for tourney’s St. Jude Position

Dr. Mike Henry submits top bid for tourney’s St. Jude Position
It’s a yearly tradition when the Blue Marlin Grand Championship is sold out with 60 participating teams, everyone else goes onto an alternate list. But for those who really want a shot at the title, there’s another way.
The 61st entry is set aside as a VIP position known as the St. Jude Position, with special recognition throughout the tournament and even a prime boat slip included at The Wharf Marina for the week.
Participants are required to submit sealed bids (minimum bid $10,000) and highest bidder is awarded the VIP St. Jude Position.
The proceeds from this entry go directly toward funding St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is dedicated to finding cures for childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. After all the sealed bids were opened this year, what was most apparent was the generosity of every team that submitted a bid.
The top three bidders were Randy Pipe on the Pipe Dream, Wayne Mumphrey on Gunfighter and Dr. Mike Henry on the Sea Spray.
Henry’s winning bid of $20,612 (which was $10,612 more than the minimum bid amount) set off a celebration of Sea Spray tournament teammates from Tennessee to Ohio to Florida to Alabama and all the way to Alaska! The team always fishes with Capt. Bill Staff on the Sea Spray, according to Henry.
“We did not want to miss the 2017 Blue Marlin Grand Championship,” said a jubilant Henry. “To get the 61st Position while supporting St. Jude is already the highlight of the tournament for our team.’’
Bidding was closer than it has ever been before. Winning came down to $320, which was 1.5 percent higher than the next closest bidder. In fishing terms, that would be like weighing a 788-pound Blue Marlin only to be edged out by an 800-pounder!
Henry’s winning bid of $20,612 did strike tournament officials as a bit odd, not due to the size, but the actual amount. Why not $20,500 or $20,600?
“The number 612 has been significant throughout my life,” Henry said. “It started as the number of the first hotel room my wife and I stayed in together.
“Then when two of my best friends (they’re on the team) Chef Ty and Brian Kelley opened their first restaurant – bar in Starkville, they named it BIN 612. BIN after a wine bin and 612 is the restaurant address on University Drive.
“Then there’s the condo in Orange beach that my best friend Phil and I have rented for over 30 years – #612. We had 13 of our 15 grandchildren with us this year. There are other instances when that number has also come into my life, and now here it is again.’’
The 61st position is more than just being awarded a spot in the sold-out tournament, according to tourney director Scott Burt. “Every person who has ever learned what St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital does every single day for children immediately becomes engaged,” Burt said. “The spirit of giving among our tournament participants is at a very high level.”
“This year is quite special for us. Maybe some of the years we slightly took for granted, but not this year,’’ Henry said. “This year is really super special for us.”
If Sea Spray weighs in a 612-pound Blue Marlin in July, the cheers will be heard all the way to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.