ATLANTIC

DAY 4 RECAP — 2026 Montauk Canyon Challenge: Pipe Dream's 172.4-lb Bigeye Becomes the Heaviest Fish as the Tuna Board Explodes

July 13, 2026

Atlantic

Science of Fishing Editorial

A sportfishing convertible backs into the weigh station at the 2026 Montauk Canyon Challenge as crew wait on the dock

The tuna finally showed up in force at the 2026 Montauk Canyon Challenge. A leaderboard that held just 17 catches when the weekend ended has swelled to 62, as the fleet's Captain's Choice boats hit a wide-open bite in the canyons — and posted a new heaviest fish atop the board in the process.

That fish belongs to Pipe Dream, which weighed a 172.4-pound bigeye tuna — the single heaviest fish of the tournament and the leader of the Sonar division. It outweighs One More's 169.4-pound bigeye, the pace-setter in the No-Sonar division, by just three pounds — the kind of margin that can flip again before Saturday's scale closes. One More still owns the big-money MCC Stringer, its two bigeyes and a yellowfin totaling 375.8 pounds.

Heaviest Tuna — Sonar division

1. Pipe Dream — 172.4 lb
2. Volzatility — 72.8 lb
3. Pescador — 68.0 lb
4. Stella Maris — 64.8 lb

In the No-Sonar division, One More's 169.4-pounder leads, while Reel Addiction tops the Outboard division at 69.6 pounds.

A spread of bigeye and yellowfin tuna laid out on the dock beneath the Montauk Canyon Challenge sponsor backdrop — Bigeye and yellowfin on the dock at the Montauk Canyon Challenge, where yellowfin made up 48 of the tournament's 62 catches. Photo: Montauk Canyon Challenge.

The story of the day was volume. Yellowfin tuna accounted for 48 of the 62 catches logged tournament-wide, with bigeye (6), a lone bluefin, an albacore, a wahoo, two mahi and a tilefish rounding out the scales. Pescador leads the Heaviest 3 Yellowfin stringer at 199.4 pounds and the Heaviest Mahi at 7.4; Freedom tops the No-Sonar three-yellowfin stringer (230 lb), the Albacore board (47.8 lb) and the Trifecta (135.6 lb); and Reel American holds the heaviest single yellowfin at 90 pounds. JC's Mate leads the bluefin board at 74.2 and Wharf Rat the tilefish at 4.6. The release board stayed quiet — just two marlin let go all week, one blue and one white.

The Pescador, an 80-foot Bayliss sportfishing boat out of St. John, USVI, docked at the 2026 Montauk Canyon Challenge — Pescador, the 80-foot Bayliss out of St. John, USVI, holds the Heaviest 3 Yellowfin stringer lead at 199.4 pounds. Photo: Montauk Canyon Challenge.

Plenty of window left

The MCC is a Captain's Choice event: its 89 boats can still pick their own weather window through Saturday, July 18, when Reel Fest and the awards dinner at Gosman's Dock close out the week. With a prize pool near $1.24 million and the heavy-tuna divisions separated by a handful of pounds, the boards that just came alive have several days left to be overtaken.

Standings are cumulative and unofficial, drawn from the tournament's live Reel Time leaderboard (reeltime.app) as of Monday, July 13. Results may shift as catches are reviewed; contact tournament organizers for official results.