DAY 2 RECAP — 2026 Edisto Invitational Billfish Tournament: Sportin' Life's Blue Marlin Surge Ties Mister Pete Atop the Release Board
The release board tightened exactly as promised on Day 2 of the 2026 Edisto Invitational Billfish Tournament, the season finale of the South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series, as Sportin' Life ran down the leader with a blue marlin and three sailfish on Friday at The Marina at Edisto Beach.
Sportin' Life's 1,200-point Friday — a released blue marlin (600 points) plus three released sailfish (200 apiece) — vaulted the crew out of the Day-1 logjam at 800 and into a 2,000-point tie with opening-day leader Mister Pete, which added three more sailfish to reach ten for the tournament. Under Gov Cup scoring the two boats are deadlocked, with Mister Pete holding the Outstanding Boat lead on the time tiebreaker. Sportin' Life's pair of blue marlin — one each day — also gives it the standalone Blue Marlin Release Points lead at 1,200.
The fleet released 49 billfish on Friday — 44 sailfish, four blue marlin and a rare spearfish, released aboard Sea Tiger at 9:47 a.m. — pushing the two-day tournament total past 120 billfish, every one of them released. The sailfish bite opened early, with Bull Pen raising the day's first at 8:15 a.m., before the blues showed after lunch: Game On, 56 Freeman, Sportin' Life and Bull Pen each released a blue marlin in a tight window between 2:07 and 3:08 p.m.
Behind the co-leaders, Geddy Up sits third at 1,800 points, with Game On, WellDunn and Claytime stacked at 1,600. The most dangerous boat, though, may be one that never left the dock Friday: Retriever, whose six-sailfish Thursday is worth 1,200 points, laid out Day 2 and still holds a fishing day in hand. In the captain's-choice, fish-two-of-three format, both co-leaders have now used their two days — so Saturday's title fight belongs to the crews still holding a card, Retriever chief among them.
The meat-fish boards held their Day-1 leaders: Bad Becky's 64.4-pound dolphin, Hay Fever's 46.8-pound wahoo and Sea Tiger's 25.1-pound blackfin tuna all survived Friday, where the biggest challengers were a 43.4-pound wahoo aboard Bird Dogg and a 35.4-pound dolphin aboard Holy Mackerel.
Saturday closes both the tournament and the Governor's Cup season, with the year-long series championship on the line across all five legs. Awards follow Saturday evening at Edisto Beach.
Standings are unofficial and reflect live Reel Time scoring as of the close of Day 2; please refer to tournament officials for official results. Source: Reel Time live leaderboard; South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series.
