DAY 3 RECAP — 2026 Edisto Invitational Billfish Tournament: Rascal's Closing-Day Surge Steals the Overall Lead
The 2026 Edisto Invitational Billfish Tournament — the season finale of the South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series — came down to the final day at The Marina at Edisto Beach, and it was Rascal that stole it. After sitting in the opening-day logjam at 800 points and laying out Friday, the crew unloaded on Saturday, releasing a blue marlin and four sailfish for a 1,400-point day that vaulted them to 2,200 points and the top of both the Billfish Release Points and Overall Outstanding Boat standings as lines came out.
The move edged the two boats that had been deadlocked atop the board — Sportin' Life and Mister Pete, both tied at 2,000 points and both already out of fishing days under the captain's-choice, fish-two-of-three format. Sportin' Life's pair of blue marlin over Thursday and Friday still held the standalone Blue Marlin Release Points lead at 1,200 points, while Mister Pete reached 2,000 on ten sailfish. Showtime! and Geddy Up shared the next rung at 1,800, with Game On, WellDunn and Claytime stacked at 1,600.
Saturday belonged to the blue marlin. Four came tight across the fleet: Pistol raised the day's first at 9:18 a.m., followed by Legal Holiday at 9:37, Rascal's title-swinging release at 12:55 p.m., and Showtime!'s Kelly Kirkpatrick at 2:31 p.m. Every billfish at Edisto was released.
Kirkpatrick's closing-day work — a blue marlin and a pair of sailfish — locked up Top Lady Angler honors with 1,200 points, while Isla Wyatt aboard Sola Fide took Top Junior Angler at 1,000. The meat-fish boards held their early leaders through the final weigh-ins: 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 Saturday, where the biggest late entries were a 17.9-pound wahoo and a 17.8-pound blackfin across Chawdeen and Pistol.
With the tournament closed, attention turns to Saturday evening's awards at Edisto Beach — and to the year-long Governor's Cup, decided across all five legs. Rascal came into the finale as the series points leader, and its finale win puts the program in prime position for the season crown. We'll confirm the official tournament results and the Governor's Cup season champion in our final recap.
Standings are unofficial and reflect live Reel Time scoring as of the close of Day 3; please refer to tournament officials for official results. Source: Reel Time live leaderboard; South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series.
