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00:00Here we are! Bay Point Billfish Tournament. It's the second year we're back at it.
00:09Around here the Bay Point Billfish Tournament is like the biggest event of the year. Tournament
00:16fishing is one million percent about time management. I've won every tournament that
00:21I've ever fished. I just ran out of time finding the Bay Point. We still got an hour really to
00:29say to fish to try to get on a bike. We lose generated power. I'm gonna have to get down
00:34there and try and fix this generator. Get it back going. You can feel the importance of this time
00:41every second. You just can't describe the feeling when you go from that level of
00:47intensity and pressure to the fish hitting the deck. I mean when you back into a stage
00:55and a crowd like that, that's like an adrenaline rush that most people will never get to.
01:07Yeah look at that!
01:11There he is!
01:12Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho! Yeah that's a good one.
01:16Chasing the Sun is brought to you by...
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01:39Here we are!
01:47Bay Point Bill Fish Tournament. It's the second year we're back at it. It's a little rainier this time.
01:54But we're packing it right again.
01:56I'm here with Captain Brennan and we're on the Fall Line. And the Fall Line is a custom boat that is owned by the Smith Family.
02:02And I know y'all know the Smith Family. Like Jonah Man over here.
02:07We've fished with them before. It's a family that I've really kind of grown up with.
02:12And I'm really honored that we get to come out here and film another Bay Point Bill Fish Open.
02:20Around here the Bay Point Bill Fish Tournament is like the biggest event of the year.
02:25And there's a lot of money involved. So this is going to be a completely different show.
02:29Because typically when we set out to film some fishing stuff, you know, filming, that's what it's all about.
02:35But this is totally different. So when you approach a tournament like this, what are you looking as far as preparation and planning?
02:42You know, in a tournament like this, and really for any tournament in the Gulf, I'm going to look at, number one is weather.
02:49You know, what's our weather going to be like? That's really going to depict on how far we can go.
02:54Looking at that weather and judging by, OK, well, like this tournament, it's going to be pretty rough conditions.
03:01That's going to cut a lot of where I'm looking to fish out.
03:04So I've got to start looking at our charts. There's a Roth chart. There's a Hilton's chart.
03:09There's a rip current chart. And what that shows us is, you know, it's showing altimetry. It's showing current.
03:15It's showing what the water color or really the water clarity is going to be, whether it's blue or it's brown.
03:21And I'm going to have to really zone into that area and figure out what's our best chance in this area to fish.
03:27Now that it's game time, everybody else has already left the dock for the most part and is lined up all up and down the beach, which is exactly what we want.
03:37It's a beautiful shotgun start. There's something magical about all these giant sport fishers just plowing to the southwest.
03:44But I got to say that you win the trophy for the planning award here.
03:48When every other boat heads out to the southwest, you turned and went north up through the bay.
03:55Well, the conditions that day were calling for at least six foot. And that's six foot inside coastal waters.
04:03We've got a great boat. We've got a really fast boat. However, our boat is not designed for rough weather.
04:09Well, we're getting ready to leave this first round of storms comes through.
04:14Some of this rain was intense.
04:18There's no way that I could have actually made it out of that slip safely.
04:24It was literally blowing so hard that I had one option.
04:28Like, oh, here we go. Like, we have three days of this.
04:39Captain Brendan made a great call this morning.
04:42So instead of heading out into this six, eight foot seas, we're going to run the intercoastal and just keep heading west.
04:48Like you said, we've got more storms ahead of us.
04:50And then what's cool is the way the Gulf works right here, we can keep running through the intercoastal waterway.
04:56And as soon as we get past the next round of storms, then we can cut out into the Gulf and get onto our fish.
05:02All along the Gulf Coast, you have all these different bay systems, and the government actually connected all those bay systems through the intercoastal waterway, which is basically just a man-made canal that ties all these bays together, but it protects us.
05:16When that Gulf gets rough and you don't want to run through it, we have this protected waterway we get to run through.
05:22That's what we call the intercoastal.
05:24Well, we just stopped to get some fuel because we're running down the intercoastal.
05:30And now we're about to cut out into the open Gulf.
05:33Once we've got our bay caught, we've got our tunas in the tuna tubes, we're now going to clear this deck of all of our bait fishing stuff.
05:41And it's time to play the game.
05:51There's like a little bit of anticipation as we nose up to these passes and look out in the Gulf out there.
05:57You know, I'm looking out there. I can tell it's still pretty dang rough.
06:00Both of those times that we looked out and we were like, yeah, this is a no-go.
06:05We're all ready to go. We're ready to get out and start fishing.
06:08But then there's also this little hesitancy because I don't care who you are.
06:12Nobody's excited about getting beat up like that.
06:14So I was pretty relieved when you were like, you know, yeah, that's pretty nasty.
06:18I say we keep taking the intercoastal.
06:20Yeah, that's it.
06:21Anytime that you round that corner at the pass and you look out there and it looks like a pasture of sheep,
06:27sheep being whitecaps, it's time to keep going if you have that opportunity.
06:31I've fished a lot of rough days in my life and none of them I care to go back and fish again.
06:36And not beating up your crew on day one is important because I've always,
06:41my buddy Fred Myers always says this when we used to fish redfish tournaments together.
06:45He said you can't win a two-day tournament on the first day.
06:48Well, we just stopped to get some fuel because we're running down the intercoastal
06:51and now we're about to cut out into the open goal.
06:54So before we do that, this is a great opportunity to top off the fuel tanks
06:58and that way we get to spend the rest of the trip out there and don't have to worry about fuel.
07:02So we can go wherever we want.
07:05Tournament fishing is one million percent about time management
07:08and how you're going to use that time to essentially win the tournament.
07:13And obviously, you know, you can't win every single time.
07:17But I heard a guy tell me once, he said, I've won every tournament that I've ever fished.
07:22I just ran out of time finding the biggest one.
07:31All right. I love this part of the day.
07:33It's getting later in the day.
07:35We're putting the trolling gear up and now we're catching some live bait.
07:38And this is totally different than what most people think of live baiting.
07:41This isn't stopping at the bait margin by cigar menace.
07:44We're actually catching blackfin tuna.
07:46And once we catch these blackfin tuna,
07:48we're going to put them in these tuna tubes and keep them alive.
07:51Now, most people, that would be their trophy is to catch blackfin tuna.
07:54But no, we're going to bridle them up and then put them back out
07:57and see if we can get a huge blue marlin or a yellowfin tuna to come eat them.
08:01Once we've got our bait caught, we've got our tunas in the tuna tube,
08:06we're now going to clear this deck of all of our bait fishing stuff
08:10and it's time to play the game.
08:20So we're set up. We're fishing now.
08:21And what we're doing, we're actually moving from one rig to another.
08:24We started off on a couple of rigs out here and actually marked a couple of blue marlin on there.
08:29And we couldn't get one to bite.
08:31So we're going to move to another rig.
08:33Well, on the way, we found this beautiful rift right here.
08:36You can see the water is neon green over my shoulder
08:38and then just rolls off into this beautiful blue water.
08:41What's neat is this rift is actually caused by the Mississippi River
08:45pushing out into the Gulf of Mexico.
08:47And it just provides habitat, provides an edge,
08:50provides a temperature change, a salinity change.
08:53All those things just create something that bait wants to be around.
08:57And then when you have all this bait around it,
08:59of course you're going to have bigger, better fish that are going to come try to use.
09:03You know, just so everybody understands how these tournaments work,
09:06we're entered in the tournament.
09:07So you're entered in the main money, the prize purse for the whole tournament.
09:12Everybody's competing for that.
09:14But then you have all these other divisions we call Calcutta.
09:17We've got tuna, wahoo, dolphin, marlin, catch and release.
09:21And so people may wonder, like, how do you kind of guess what fish you're going to try to put your money on trying to catch?
09:28For you, it's probably obvious.
09:29You all have a little system and a style of fishing.
09:32If you're going to fish with that style, what are your, like, most common species you're going to try to catch?
09:37Our most common species is obviously blue marlin.
09:40We're going to try for blue marlin every time.
09:42Yellowfin is really a bycatch to us at this point with the style of fishing that we're doing.
09:48However, we are lob baiting, and typically with the size lob baits that we're using,
09:53Yellowfin's being that bycatch, when we get a bite from one, it's typically a good one.
10:02Hey, if we don't get bit out of this, y'all, we're tying some plugs on.
10:07Nah, we're ready.
10:10We're ready.
10:11We're ready.
10:16I have known Jonah since the day he was born.
10:19I have watched that kid grow up.
10:20And let me tell you something.
10:21There is not many grown men out there that can hang with him when it comes to fishing.
10:28My number one rule, there's no yelling.
10:30There's no screaming.
10:31We're all going to play at Concord Collective because the real truth is we have nothing until that fish is in the back deck of the boat.
10:38With the development of tuna tubes, being able to catch these live black fin and smaller yellow fins and keep them alive,
10:56that style of fishing to me has kind of re-nourished my love of blue water fishing because it is so interactive.
11:03And that's what I'm looking for a lot of times.
11:05That's all we needed.
11:09It's, you know, catching new baits and rigging those baits.
11:12And then it doesn't matter how long it takes.
11:14Just that one bite.
11:16When you hear that thing in free spool.
11:18We're on.
11:19We're on.
11:20Come on.
11:21We're on.
11:22We're on.
11:23We're on.
11:24We're on.
11:25It's just such a neat way of fishing.
11:26That's why I'm glad to see y'all really focusing.
11:31There we go.
11:32We're good.
11:33We're good now.
11:34Hey, I had to unclip the safety line.
11:35Here, just.
11:37You know, one thing I love about this tournament.
11:38Obviously, I love taking kids fishing.
11:39I do it all the time.
11:40But when Ashley said Jonah was going to come with them and a lot of people might think,
11:56you know, well, this is serious, man.
11:59This is big money.
12:00This is hardcore.
12:01It's hardcore as fishing gets, right?
12:04Most adults are not going to bring one of their children with them on a tournament like this.
12:09But I have known Jonah since the day he was born.
12:13I have watched that kid grow up.
12:15And let me tell you something.
12:16There is not many grown men out there that can hang with him when it comes to fishing.
12:21I have watched him catch big tarpon on his own.
12:24I bet you he was only seven or eight years old and he would cast to him.
12:27He could fight him.
12:28He has probably caught more billfish than about 90% of the guys that own boats.
12:33out here at Bayform.
12:34He's back.
12:35He's back.
12:36You're good.
12:37He's back.
12:38He's back.
12:39He's back.
12:40He's back.
12:41He's back.
12:42He's back.
12:43He's back.
12:44He's back.
12:45He's back.
12:46He's back.
12:47He's back.
12:48When she goes, Jonah, she's kind of gives back and sets her weight into her, Jonah.
12:53As she's doing that, put your weight in her and let her know, like, hey, I'm tired.
12:58I'm tired, okay?
12:59He does not get tired like a lot of grown men.
13:02I know that sounds crazy, but, you know, face it, these younger guys, they got a lot
13:06more energy and especially a 13-year-old with that much drive and that much passion.
13:11And this kid's got it, man.
13:13You can feel the importance of this time every second.
13:22I think I was that big with them big tickles we saw, John, there.
13:25Every tailbeat of that fish, every time Chip adds a little extra pressure, it just keeps,
13:31as the fish is getting closer and closer, the pressure is building higher and higher.
13:35And to me, like, everyone's calm and cool and is through that time is so important.
13:39You have to look at it from this perspective.
13:48We're in a tournament.
13:50We've got this fish is on the line, and I think all of us there on the back of the deck know somewhere in our heart that this fish is going to be worse than mine.
13:58So if we get this fish up there and everybody does a great job and for whatever reason, the leader breaks, you know, she's chafed through it, the hook pulls.
14:08If I had you guys at this level and all everybody was excited, it's going to be really hard to ever get you back to that level and that fish breaks.
14:18But if we downplay this fish until it's on the back deck, then no matter what, you know, we can recover from that.
14:25All right, hit her, hit her, hit her.
14:29You're not in.
14:30Go again, go again.
14:31I got her.
14:32Go again.
14:33She ain't in the boat yet.
14:36Hold on.
14:37Wait till she's in the boat.
14:39My number one rule with my anglers and with my mates or anybody on the boat is there's no yelling, there's no screaming.
14:47We're all going to play at Concord Collective because the real truth is we have nothing until that fish is in the back deck of the boat.
14:53That's right.
14:54When he's in the back deck of the boat, I don't care what you do.
14:57You just can't describe the feeling when you go from that level of intensity and pressure to the fish in the deck of the boat.
15:04Ready?
15:05Are you all ready?
15:06One, two, three.
15:07Let's go.
15:08Oh my God!
15:11Oh my God!
15:12Hey!
15:13Oh my God!
15:15Let's go!
15:16Let's go!
15:17Let's go!
15:18Let's go!
15:19Let's go!
15:20Let's go!
15:21Let's go!
15:22Let's go!
15:23Let's play in the targets!
15:24When it does hit the deck, everybody's able to just really get excited at that point, and I think you see that in Joan's face and how excited he is.
15:33Yeah, boys!
15:35It's mid-morning.
15:37We're on the final morning of the tournament.
15:38It's bottom of the ninth.
15:40We've got two hours left to fish.
15:43All of a sudden, center-eater clip pops.
15:45I look back and all I see is the hole in the water
15:48and I think that I see the dorsal of the blue marlin.
15:52We lose generator power that afternoon.
15:55Now it's time to run in because we have fished away, so.
16:02Chasing the Sun has been brought to you by
16:05Minn Kota, Florida Water Sports.
16:10Get all you need for the water at fws.fish.
16:15Hummonbirds, simply, clearly, better.
16:20And by Pirates Cove Marina.
16:25You enjoy the gulf, we'll take care of the rest.
16:32So, we still got an hour, really, to say to fish
16:39to try and get a blue marlin bite or a big tuna bite.
16:42We've got the big tuna in the boat
16:43and we lose generator power that afternoon,
16:47probably sometime around 6.45, 7 o'clock.
16:50I know for a fact that I'm gonna have to get down there
16:53with my mates and try and fix this generator,
16:56get it back going again.
16:57Turns out that we actually had a main power drop on a wire
17:02on one of our mains going from the generator
17:05to the actual power board.
17:07And finding that pretty much took all night long.
17:14So, here we are, we're starting to run short on time.
17:17And we've tried to catch a blue,
17:19we've marked them on the sonar,
17:21but we haven't been able to get one to bite.
17:23And so, what is your new approach now?
17:26So, at this point, it's pretty much a Hail Mary.
17:29It's mid-morning, we're on the final morning of the tournament,
17:33it's bottom of the ninth.
17:34We've got two hours left to fish.
17:37Of course, you don't want anybody else to see this,
17:38but you're pretty much hitting the panic button upstairs.
17:41Like, here we are, we've fished this much time,
17:43we've gotta catch a blue marlin.
17:45We're gonna go for a reaction bite.
17:47Let's throw the lures out,
17:48I'm gonna put this thing at seven knots.
17:50All of a sudden, center ear clip pops.
17:53I look back, and all I see is the hole in the water,
17:55and I think that I see the dorsal of a blue marlin.
17:59So now we've got our blue marlin release.
18:05We can say we didn't break the streak.
18:06Now it's time to run in, because we have a fished away.
18:11So, it's time to put them throttles down,
18:13and let's get heading north.
18:15So now we've got our blue marlin release.
18:20We can say we didn't break the street.
18:22Now it's time to run in because we have a fish to weigh.
18:25So it's time to put them throttles down and let's get hit north.
18:33Once we make it back in Grand Lagoon is the fact that it's not just to go weigh in your fish and that's it like a lot of tournaments are.
18:40This is such a social and family oriented event.
18:43I mean, when you back into a stage and a crowd like that, that's like an experience and an adrenaline rush that most people will never get to experience.
18:51And I've got to say, you know, Bay Point, as far as a blue marlin tournament and as far as a venue, is probably one of the best, if not the best, put together venues and tournaments that I've experienced in the Gulf Coast.
19:04All right, hold on.
19:06All right, Jack, hit the scale.
19:08This weighs 158.9 pounds.
19:13One, five, eight, nine.
19:16Now, third place by about one pound.
19:22Good job, go down.
19:24I mean, after a big weigh in like this, getting it back in the slip at Bay Point and everybody's done fishing.
19:31So this is when the biggest party kicks off because everybody gets to relax.
19:35We don't have to get up at three o'clock tomorrow morning.
19:37And it's just so fun to see everybody.
19:40Like I always say, this to me is the biggest social event of the year.
19:43That's the other part of this big game, tournament fishing, that people probably don't see, is you have some of the most competitive people in the world doing this.
19:56But on the other hand, when everybody gets back to the dock, it is a brotherhood.
20:00It's just something that everybody shares because we're so, so much alike.
20:03That's right.
20:04I mean, it's, it's a tight, it's a tight knit community.
20:07I'm not sure that there's anybody down the dock that I can, that I can't walk down and know their name or know who they are.
20:14And, and I'm going to congratulate them and shake their hand.
20:18You get back, you get in the shower and if you close your eyes standing up, it's like you're still offshore.
20:23I don't know if you've experienced that or not.
20:25And so at this point, you know, instead of hanging out that night and seeing old buddies and captains and mates, guys we grew up with in this industry,
20:33I just wanted to go home and go to bed.
20:3413 years old, Jonas Smith and the crew, all in checkered time, $2050.
20:41All right.
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