GULF

SFC STANDINGS UPDATE — Gulf Division: Third Coast Renegades Extend Lead as Mississippi Blues Surge Into Top 3

July 1, 2026

GulfSFC

Science of Fishing Editorial

SFC angler at the transom watches a blue marlin jump behind the boat during Bay Point Day 2

This is an SFC standings update for the Sport Fishing Championship Gulf Division as of July 1, 2026.

Third Coast Renegades extended their SFC Gulf Division lead to 1,100 points after taking the Bay Point Billfish Open on June 27, while the Mississippi Blues vaulted from sixth place on cumulative points into third with a runner-up 1,900-point performance in Panama City Beach. With three of six Gulf Division stops complete, the Renegades now sit two clean tournaments away from clinching a top-two Zane Grey Championship Playoff seed.

What Happened at Bay Point

The 2026 Bay Point Billfish Open, fished June 25–27 out of Point South Marina in Panama City Beach, Florida, hosted the third of six SFC Gulf Division stops on the 2026 calendar. All six Gulf Division angling clubs — Third Coast Renegades, Mississippi Blues, Gulf Coast Cowboys, Texas Lone Stars, West Florida Black Flags, and Louisiana Canyons — fished the event inside the larger 86-boat host tournament. SFC placement points were awarded on the club-vs-club release standings inside the host field.

Third Coast Renegades co-owner and angler Garrett Frazier and his son Dylan Frazier drove the Renegades' 2,025-point Bay Point performance from the opening bell. Dylan Frazier released the tournament's first blue marlin at roughly 6:00 p.m. on Day 1, catapulting the Renegades into first place with a 600-point cushion. On Day 2 the Mississippi Blues' Adam Davidson answered with two blue marlin releases before 8:00 a.m. and added a white marlin later that morning, pushing the Blues to 1,000 points and leaving them one sailfish short of a billfish grand slam and its 200-point bonus. The Renegades held off Mississippi's Saturday counterpunch — Davidson added another blue marlin release to trim the margin to 50 points — with a decisive sailfish that pushed the Renegades beyond the 2,000-point mark for the win.

Bay Point SFC Gulf Division Final Results

Third Coast Renegades Angling Club — 2,025 points
Mississippi Blues Angling Club — 1,900 points
Gulf Coast Cowboys Angling Club — 1,350 points
Texas Lone Stars Angling Club — 1,050 points
West Florida Black Flags Angling Club — 375 points
Louisiana Canyons Angling Club — 325 points

SFC Gulf Division Cumulative Standings (3 of 6 Tournaments Complete)

Third Coast Renegades Angling Club — 9,800 points
Gulf Coast Cowboys Angling Club — 8,700 points
Mississippi Blues Angling Club — 8,400 points
Texas Lone Stars Angling Club — 8,200 points
Louisiana Canyons Angling Club — 7,400 points
West Florida Black Flags Angling Club — 7,000 points

Two headline shifts on the cumulative board this week:

Third Coast Renegades extend their lead to 1,100 points over the Gulf Coast Cowboys after the Bay Point win. The Renegades now hold two of the three Gulf Division events run so far in 2026, having taken the SFC Key West Classic earlier in the season and finishing on the podium at Gulfport.
Mississippi Blues climb from sixth to third on the cumulative board, jumping the Texas Lone Stars and Louisiana Canyons after their 1,900-point runner-up at Bay Point. West Florida Black Flags slip out of the top five with a 375-point Bay Point.

Bay Point Billfish Open host winner Briar Patch with the 582.5-pound blue marlin at the Saturday-night weigh-in — The signature moment of the 2026 Bay Point Billfish Open: Destin-based Briar Patch weighed a 582.5-pound blue marlin on Saturday night — the only blue to make weight all week — the same session that reconciled the SFC Gulf Division release leaderboard behind Third Coast Renegades. Photo: Hayden Smith / WJHG.

What This Means for the Season Race

With three Gulf Division stops remaining — the Texas Billfish Open (August 14–16), Hurricane Hole Louisiana Open (August 28–30), and MBGFC Labor Day Invitational (September 4–6) — the Renegades' 1,100-point cushion means Gulf Coast Cowboys and Mississippi Blues both need at least one tournament win over the closing three-event stretch to have a realistic shot at unseating Third Coast at the top. The top two Gulf Division angling clubs advance to the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs October 17–18, where they will face the top two Atlantic Division clubs for the SFC title. The Renegades enter the summer stretch as the defending Gulf Division champion.

The Gulf Coast Cowboys' hold on second place is under real pressure. Cowboys and Mississippi Blues are separated by just 300 points on the cumulative board with three events left, and the Blues have already logged the higher single-tournament ceiling at Bay Point (1,900) than the Cowboys have at anything but Gulfport. Texas Lone Stars — the defending SFC Champion — trail the Blues by 200 points and are still very much in the top-two conversation heading into their home waters at Port Aransas in August.

Atlantic Division: No Material Shift This Week

The SFC Atlantic Division board is unchanged from the June 17 halfway-point picture — New Jersey Sea Birds (9,100), South Florida Sails (8,900), Lights Out Boston (8,700), East Coast Remix (8,400), South Carolina Outcast (7,600) — with no new Atlantic stop credited since the SFC Carrier Cup wrapped May 31. The next Atlantic Division event is the Cape Cod Invitational, July 17–19.