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The Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series is heating up—and one team is undeniably on fire. Following a dominant win at the 2025 Kona Throw Down, Tantrum, the 41-foot G&S led by Capt. Nick Durham and angler Jeffrey Stafford, struck again at the prestigious Skins Marlin Derby just one week later. With both victories, Tantrum not only secured a massive, combined payday of nearly $720,000, but also cemented themselves as the team to beat in the 2025 Hawaii Marlin Tournament Series (HMTS) and a frontrunner in the Marlin Global Challenge.
At the Kona Throw Down, Tantrum stole the show amongst the 22-boat fleet with two monster blue marlin—a 715-pounder and a 417-pounder—earning them $329,270 and the tournament title. That 715-pound blue marlin also launched them to the top of the Marlin Global Challenge leaderboard with eyes on the guaranteed minimum $100,000 payout, surpassing the previous mark of 654.6 pounds held by Southern Charm.
Tantrum’s momentum carried into the 2025 Skins Marlin Derby, where Stafford weighed a 566.5-pound blue marlin on the final day to claim the event’s biggest fish out of the 25-boat fleet. The team also amassed 896.5 total points through a combination of weight and release, securing first place in the overall points category as well. With victories in numerous side pots—most points, biggest marlin, top three marlin, and more—Tantrum walked away from the Skins Derby with an additional $390,588 payout, bringing their two-week total to nearly three-quarters of a million dollars.
While Tantrum dominated the scales, other top teams made their mark. At the Kona Throw Down, Pursuit, captained by Capt. Jason Holtz, landed a 538.5-pounder on Day One to finish second overall and earn $175,368. Finishing third in overall release points, Capt. Tracey Epstein and Last Chance put up 495 points from three blue marlin releases.
At the Skins Marlin Derby, Capt. Rob Elyn and the crew aboard the 55-foot Rybovich Lightspeed released five blue marlin over the three days of fishing to finish second in overall points, earning them a payout of $18,375. Last Chance, led by Capt. Tracey Epstein, rounded out the top three on overall points with 660 from four blue marlin releases. With just three events left in the HMTS and the Marlin Global Challenge running through October, all eyes are on Tantrum. Their back-to-back wins and leaderboard-topping fish have made them the benchmark for both circuits. Tantrum currently holds a commanding lead atop the HMTS standings with 3,978.5 points, followed by Last Chance (2,575), Five Star (2,410), SNAFU (2,055), and APEX (1,420).
