ATLANTIC

FINAL RECAP — Cape Fear Blue Marlin Tournament: OUTNUMBERED Wins with 920 Points on Two Blues and a White

June 18, 2026

Atlantic

Science of Fishing Editorial

Team OUTNUMBERED holds the $28,560 1st Place Level One winner check on stage at the 53rd Annual Cape Fear Blue Marlin Tournament awards party, Wrightsville Beach NC, May 30 2026.

The 53rd Annual Cape Fear Blue Marlin Tournament wrapped on Saturday, May 30 with local team OUTNUMBERED claiming Top Boat honors after a two-day release card that no other crew in the 24-boat fleet could match. Fishing out of Seapath Yacht Club in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, the all-release blue marlin event also handed OUTNUMBERED the 1st Place Level One purse of $28,560.00, presented on stage Saturday night.

Cape Fear is one of the oldest blue marlin tournaments on the East Coast and runs as a catch-and-release format in the Billfish Series mold, scoring 400 points for a blue marlin release and 120 points for a white marlin or sailfish release. Lay days Wednesday and Thursday lined up a steady weather window for fishing on Friday and Saturday, and the fleet ran offshore from the Wrightsville Beach inlet to push baits in the Gulf Stream off Cape Fear.

A sportfish heads offshore from Wrightsville Beach toward the Gulf Stream during the 2026 Cape Fear Blue Marlin Tournament — A sportfisher heads out the Wrightsville Beach inlet during the 2026 Cape Fear Blue Marlin Tournament. Photo: Lost Wave Media via capefearbluemarlin.com.

Top Boat: OUTNUMBERED, 920 points

OUTNUMBERED finished with 920 points on two blue marlin and a white marlin release across the two fishing days. The performance was enough to also sweep Level Four and take second in the Saturday Daily. Capt. James Breen ran the boat and was named recipient of the Capt. Eddy Haneman Sportsmanship Award; angler Lauren Sumerville received the Lady Angler Award for the team.

Runner-up: REBELETTE, 800 points

The Morehead City-based REBELETTE pushed OUTNUMBERED to the last whistle on Saturday before settling for runner-up at 800 points on two blue marlin releases. REBELETTE took home the Level 2 Winner-Take-All payout and swept both Friday Daily honors after coming out of the gate hot on the opening fishing day.

Team REBELETTE on stage at the 53rd Annual Cape Fear Blue Marlin Tournament awards party with their 1st Place Level 2 ($27,000) and 2nd Place Level 1 ($8,160) winner checks, Wrightsville Beach NC, May 30 2026 — Runner-up **REBELETTE** on the same 53rd Annual Cape Fear awards stage at Seapath Yacht Club, hoisting the **1st Place Level 2 ($27,000)** and **2nd Place Level 1 ($8,160)** winner checks alongside the team's trophy marlin replicas — the runner-up team's two-blue-marlin Friday Daily sweep is what kept OUTNUMBERED honest into Saturday's final whistle. Photo: Lost Wave Media via capefearbluemarlin.com.

Third place: GAUCHO, 640 points

Third went to GAUCHO with 640 points after a last-day Grand Slam — one blue, one white, and one sailfish — that vaulted the team onto the podium and earned Saturday Daily honors.

Meat-fish division

Top Dolphin: TAILWALKER — 28.6 lb
Top Wahoo: POSTAGE PAID — 30 lb

Looking ahead

Cape Fear has historically served as one of the first major tests of the North Carolina billfish season — a tune-up for the boats heading north to Big Rock and the rest of the NC summer circuit. With Big Rock now wrapped (Marlin Fever's 919.9-pounder took the $6.5M purse on June 14), the Atlantic fleet's attention turns to the next round of NC Billfish Series stops.

Final standings, individual awards, and meat-fish results above are official as released by the tournament. For the full leaderboard and the 2026 awards-party gallery, see capefearbluemarlin.com. Photos by Lost Wave Media via capefearbluemarlin.com.