The 30th annual Orange Beach Billfish Classic took place last week as a record fleet of boats and crews from across the Gulf competed for nearly $1.6 million in tournament prizes.

The tournament serves as the beginning of the billfish season each year, with this year's 62-boat fleet being the largest field in the tournament's history. It also serves as a major fundraiser for the Billfish Foundation, an organization dedicated to billfish conservation. Since its inception, the Orange Beach Billfish Classic has helped raise more than $1 million for the Billfish Foundation and other conservation groups.

It all kicked off on the morning of Thursday, May 14, with the shotgun start, where boats raced from Perdido Pass into the Gulf at high speeds as the tournament began, seeking the biggest billfish they could find, along with tuna, wahoo and dolphin, also known as mahi-mahi.

Jim Cox with the Orange Beach Billfish Classic said ahead of the tournament that they could see large catches in the tuna category as bluefin tuna season is still open in the Gulf. He also said this year's calm, sunny weather during the tournament opened up more places to fish, adding that a good night's sleep is key after fishing for 14 hours.

"It's not like just me and you and our buddies going out and drinking a bunch of beers and fishing for a day," Cox said. "These guys are professionals. They work hard, huge long days, and getting huge rest is a big part of what makes it much easier on a weekend like this."

After catching their fish, each team then brings its catch to The Wharf in Orange Beach, where it is weighed in front of a live audience. The first two fish to be weighed came on Friday, May 15, with Double J boating an 11-inch blue marlin and Diane Key landing a bluefin tuna, a rarity in the Gulf because of its size along with there being a very small quota available to be harvested.

Diane Key led the tournament until Set A Course brought in a blue marlin the next day, May 16, weighing a whopping 595.8 pounds, finishing first and taking home $221,500 in prize money. In the tuna category, Panhandler set a tournament record for yellowfin tuna, weighing theirs at 222.4 pounds and finishing third in tuna.

RESULTS

BLUE MARLIN:
- 1st: 595.8 pounds - Set A Course - David Pearson

CATCH AND RELEASE:
- 1st: A Work of Art
- 2nd: Metal Masher

TUNA:
- 1st: 591.2 pounds - Diane Key - Pat Tierney
- 2nd: 556.6 pounds - Never Settle - Jim Murdica
- 3rd: 222.4 pounds - Panhandler - Timothy O'Brien

DOLPHIN:
- 1st: 31.8 pounds - Never Settle - Dylan Doubleday
- 2nd: 27.6 pounds - Runnin' Late - Jason Erickson
- 3rd: 27 pounds - Crawgator - Mateo Jaramilla

WAHOO:
- 1st: 61.4 pounds - Easy Trigger - Haywood Sanders

TOP LADY ANGLER:
Pam Lay - Lay Days

TOP JUNIOR ANGLER:
Baker Tinney - Metal Masher