DAY 3 RECAP — Bay Point Billfish Open: Briar Patch Weighs 582.5-lb Blue Marlin as It Just Takes Time Locks Release Crown

This is the Day 3 recap from the 2026 Bay Point Billfish Open in Panama City Beach, Florida, where the Destin-based Briar Patch ran to the scale late Saturday with the only blue marlin weighed all week — a 582.5-pound fish — and Orange Beach's It Just Takes Time locked in the catch-and-release crown as the release leaderboard was reconciled at awards night.

Briar Patch Lands the 582.5-Pound Blue Marlin

The signature fish of the 2026 Bay Point Billfish Open came late Saturday afternoon, June 27, when the Destin-based Briar Patch crew crossed the bridge with the only blue marlin to make weight all week. Junior angler Brantley Adams fought the roughly 116-inch fish for four and a half hours before the crew brought it to the scale at Point South Marina, where the traditional Saturday-night dock crowd had gathered for the final weigh-in of the event.

The blue tipped the official scales at 582.5 pounds, enough to claim the heaviest billfish division and a payout of approximately $559,770 for the Briar Patch program. Captain Corey Hurst of Briar Patch took home the Tommy Browning Captains Award.

"It took me four and a half hours. It was a hard fight. Thanks to the crew and everybody helping me out. It means a lot."

— Brantley Adams, angler, Briar Patch (via WJHG at the Bay Point scale)

Adams told WJHG the 582.5-pounder was the first kill fish of his angling career.

Gamefish: Set a Course and C'mon Man Trade the Tuna Record

The Saturday scale also produced the tournament's two biggest gamefish moments. Bay Point local Set a Course — an Orange Beach connection that traces back to the Set A Course program that took the 2026 Orange Beach Billfish Classic in May — brought in a 199.2-pound tuna caught by angler David Pearson, briefly setting a new Bay Point Billfish Open record for heaviest tuna. That record didn't hold long: later in the same weigh-in window, Christian Theis aboard C'mon Man ran a 236.5-pound tuna to the same scale, breaking Set a Course's fresh benchmark and claiming the heaviest-tuna prize for the tournament.

It Just Takes Time Locks the Release Crown

The catch-and-release division was decided as the release leaderboard was consolidated and confirmed at awards night. Orange Beach–based It Just Takes Time finished the three-day event at the top of the release leaderboard and walked off with a payout of approximately $210,285 in catch-and-release prize money, per tournament director Bert Merritt's awards-night totals.

The Pratt family program on It Just Takes Time also swept the top-angler individual honors: Leah Pratt took Top Lady Angler and George Pratt took Top Junior Angler with the Pratt kids fishing the event alongside their father Nick Pratt.

Tournament-wide, roughly 190 fish were caught and released across the three competition days — a new Bay Point Billfish Open tournament record for release total.

SFC Gulf Division Placement — Bay Point Points

Sport Fishing Championship placement points for the Bay Point Billfish Open — the third Gulf Division event of the 2026 season — reshaped the Gulf Division cumulative leaderboard heading into the summer stretch.

Bay Point 2026 — SFC Gulf Division Final Placement

1. Third Coast Renegades Angling Club — 2,025 points
2. Mississippi Blues Angling Club — 1,900 points
3. Gulf Coast Cowboys Angling Club — 1,350 points
4. Texas Lone Stars Angling Club — 1,050 points
5. West Florida Black Flags Angling Club — 375 points
6. Louisiana Canyons Angling Club — 325 points

SFC Gulf Division Cumulative Standings (3 of 6 Tournaments Complete)

1. Third Coast Renegades Angling Club — 9,800 points
2. Gulf Coast Cowboys Angling Club — 8,700 points
3. Mississippi Blues Angling Club — 8,400 points
4. Texas Lone Stars Angling Club — 8,200 points
5. Louisiana Canyons Angling Club — 7,400 points
6. West Florida Black Flags Angling Club — 7,000 points

Third Coast Renegades hold a 1,100-point cushion at the top of the Gulf Division with three regular-season tournaments still to fish: the Texas Billfish Open (August 14–16), Hurricane Hole Louisiana Open (August 28–30), and MBGFC Labor Day Invitational (September 4–6). The top two clubs in each division advance to the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs on October 17–18.

Day 3 Quick-Look

• Heaviest blue marlin: Briar Patch (Destin) — 582.5 lbs — angler Brantley Adams — Capt. Corey Hurst (Tommy Browning Captains Award).
• Heaviest tuna: C'mon Man — 236.5 lbs — angler Christian Theis (broke Set a Course's 199.2-lb Bay Point record set earlier in the same session).
• Catch-and-release division winner: It Just Takes Time (Orange Beach) — approximately $210,285.
• Top Lady Angler: Leah Pratt, It Just Takes Time.
• Top Junior Angler: George Pratt, It Just Takes Time.
• SFC Gulf Division Bay Point winner: Third Coast Renegades Angling Club (2,025 points).
• Tournament release total: approximately 190 releases — new Bay Point Billfish Open record.

Sources

• WJHG — Destin-based crew "Briar Patch" brings in the heaviest blue marlin (Hayden Smith, June 27, 2026).
• WJHG — 2026 Baypoint Billfish Tournament wraps up with $1.8 million purse (Hayden Smith, June 29, 2026).
• Sport Fishing Championship — 2026 Standings & Live Scoring.
• Sport Fishing Championship — Bay Point Billfish Open event page (Jun 25–27, 2026).
• InTheBite — The Countdown is On: 2026 Bay Point Billfish Open.
• @baypointbillfishopen — Congratulations to Brantley Adams and Briar Patch (Instagram, June 30, 2026).