Capt. Ricky Spikes and the team on the 62-foot Viking Yachts Free Spool released six blue marlin in the three-day tournament to bring home more than $105,000 and the perpetual trophy in this year’s Custom vs. Production Shootout in the Bahamas.
Spikes’ team started their tournament out right by releasing three blues to win the daily money as the top boat on Day One. Still productive on Day Two, with one blue released, the team came out swinging, determined to put the other competitors on the defense. Day Three resulted in the team’s second daily of the tournament, releasing another two blue marlin to secure the top spot on the leaderboard.
In second place, the 61-foot Garlington Yacht, Reel Lax, came to the podium with a total of six billfish releases (three blues, one white and two sails), four of them credited to the tournament’s top angler, Will Tomlinson. And in third, Brooks Smith’s Uno Mas also made it to the stage for their six billfish releases, four of which were white marlin. The event’s top female angler was Andrea Angel on the Bob-Along, who landed all three of the team’s blue marlin.
A total of 87 billfish were released over the three-day period by a fleet of 30 participating teams.
