Palm Beach, FL—The King of the Hill Blue Marlin Tournament is a season-long jackpot for the largest blue marlin landed in a major tournament in the Gulf of Mexico, and this year was a real barn-burner.
First up was angler Douglas Fletcher, fishing aboard Breathe Easy. They weighed a 574-pound blue marlin in the Orange Beach Billfish Classic, the kickoff tournament for the 2016 King of the Hill. However, by the end of the tournament, a new leader would emerge: Sherry Polk, aboard Share-E with Capt. Mike Roberto, who would scale a 652.1-pound blue marlin to not only win the tournament but take the KOTH lead.
Moving into the next event, the Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic, it would be Wild Hooker with a threatening fish. Their 635.1-pounder fell just short of the mark though. All eyes now turned to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic, which produced the winning fish in last year’s King of the Hill. The leaders made it through unscathed though, as the fleet moved over to the Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic. Breathe Easy nailed down a new leader with an impressive 835.8-pound blue marlin, but even that would not be safe.
On the final day of the tournament, Rise Up came to the scales with a fish they thought would be in contention. Their 838.2-pound blue won the tournament and also took over first place in the King of the Hill for the Gulf of Mexico. Congratulations to Capt. Jason Hallmark and the Rise Up team on the 54-foot Viking Yacht, winning the 2016 King of the Hill in the Gulf of Mexico by just 2.4 pounds!
On the East Coast, the Viking 72 team won with their blue marlin landed during The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. Their fish weighed 564.1 pounds and was caught by Drew McDowell.
The King of the Hill aligns with the most prestigious events in both regions, where teams fish only against those who are entered in the King of the Hill and only within each region (East Coast and Gulf Coast). One entry fee covers a team for the entire season and there’s no additional paperwork or entry information required—just pay the entry fee and go fishing. It’s open to only blue marlin, and the tournament’s rules must be followed, especially in regard to qualifying lengths and weigh-in procedures. The King of the Hill is only for tournaments in the continental United States as well.
The entry is $1,500 per team for the entire season and is discounted to just $1,000 if paid prior to July 3, 2017. For more information, contact Robert “Fly” Navarro via email at fly@flyzonefishing.com or by phone at 561-310-9214.