FINAL RECAP — 2026 Montauk Canyon Challenge: Freedom Claims the MCC Stringer Crown With a 470.5-lb Bigeye-Yellowfin Haul
Nine days after the fleet first pushed offshore from Montauk, the 2026 Montauk Canyon Challenge closed its books Saturday night at Gosman's Dock with Freedom standing atop the tournament's marquee award. The Star Island Yacht Club event ran July 10–18 as a “Captain's Choice” format — teams picked their own fishing days inside the nine-day window to chase the best weather and the sharpest canyon bite — and when the last scale swung shut, it was Freedom's balanced bigeye-and-yellowfin haul that carried the week.
Across the nine-day window the Challenge drew a deep field — a fleet that grew to roughly 90 boats and more than 180 anglers on its busiest days — and the leaderboard reflected it, with hundreds of tuna crossing the scales and a handful of billfish releases mixed in. The scoring split into Sonar, No Sonar and Outboard divisions, so a single strong day could reshape several boards at once.
Freedom takes the MCC Stringer
The Montauk Canyon Challenge's signature prize is the MCC Stringer, an aggregate of a boat's two heaviest bigeye tuna plus its heaviest yellowfin. Freedom topped it at 470.5 pounds, holding off a fierce late-week charge from Pipe Dream (463.7) that came down to single-digit pounds. Blondie (445.1) and Mack Attack (425.2) rounded out the top of a board that never stopped moving through the final Saturday.
Freedom's win was no one-category fluke. The same boat swept the Heaviest 3 Yellowfin title at 230 pounds and took Heaviest Albacore at 47.8, making it the most decorated vessel of the tournament and the clear boat of the week.
A 210-pound bigeye leads the scale
The single heaviest fish of the Challenge was a 210-pound bigeye tuna that topped the Heaviest Tuna (All Boats) board — a genuine giant for the Northeast canyons and the standout of a bigeye run that defined the back half of the week. Freedom's best single bigeye of 188.4 pounds sat second on that all-boats board, ahead of Three G's (179.8) and Blondie (173.4).
Division races: No Sonar and Outboard
The Challenge splits its scoring across Sonar, No Sonar and Outboard & 42-Under divisions, and each produced its own winner. In the No Sonar ranks, One More claimed the MCC Stringer No Sonar at 407.6 pounds — edging RYFLY (403.2) and Click Bait (400.5) — while Three G's posted the heaviest No-Sonar tuna at 179.8.
The Outboard & 42-Under fleet belonged to RYFLY, which ran the table with the division's heaviest tuna (167.2-pound bigeye), heaviest yellowfin (70) and heaviest three-yellowfin stringer (199.6). It was one of the most complete single-division performances of the tournament.
Yellowfin, bluefin and the light-tackle winners
On the yellowfin boards, Alexa Ann weighed the heaviest of the tournament at 103.6 pounds to take the All-Boats title, while Reel American led the No-Sonar yellowfin race at 90. Rainbow Runner owned the Heaviest Bluefin board at 75.2 pounds, holding off JC's Mate (74.2) by a single pound.
The mixed-bag awards went to a familiar name: Click Bait doubled up with the Heaviest Wahoo (17.2) and Heaviest Mahi Mahi (28.6). Finisterra took Heaviest Tile Fish at 6.2 pounds.
More Time's billfish and swordfish sweep
Not everything came off the tuna grounds. More Time closed the week with a standout double, weighing the tournament's Heaviest Swordfish at 78.2 pounds and topping the Billfish Points board with 150 points on a blue marlin release — the kind of late-window swing that the Captain's Choice format rewards.
Junior and female honors
The next generation left its mark, too. Rohan Keogh took the Heaviest Tuna (Junior) award with a 156.8-pound bigeye, and Sam Perillo led the Heaviest Tuna (Female) board at 130.4 pounds — both fish that would have anchored any adult division on a slower week.
A canyon week to remember
Fished out of Montauk and the surrounding marinas, the 2026 Montauk Canyon Challenge rewarded teams that read the weather windows correctly and put in the long runs to the canyon edge. Bigeye tuna carried the marquee, yellowfin filled the coolers, and a scattering of swordfish, bluefin and billfish releases rounded out one of the deepest offshore leaderboards on the Northeast summer calendar. Awards were handed out Saturday evening at Gosman's Dock in Montauk, capping nine days of hard offshore fishing.
Full results via the official Montauk Canyon Challenge leaderboard on Reel Time. Source: Reel Time Apps live tournament scoring.
