Orange Beach, Alabama – If you are a betting man (which any tournament angler is) it is highly doubtful you had your money on the Gulf of Mexico to win the Blue Marlin World Cup in 2017. With the reports leading up to the annual July 4th Tournament, it appeared the winner would come from one of the more typical big fish fisheries. There are plenty of big fish caught in the Gulf, so weighing a nice fish is by no means unusual, but given the competition in both locations and crews,  you just have to be a little lucky.  For the guys on the Done Deal, it had to have been some good luck, skill and no doubt some hard work for them to cash in on the nearly $1,000,000 record purse. Team Done Deal is lead by Captain Jason Buck with Victor Lott, Wilks Hammock and Christopher Marshall. These guys are in no way a rookie crew either, with multiple Tournament wins to their names and Capt. Buck the winner of the 2015 In the Bite Captain of the Year (Gulf Division).

If you were not in the Gulf of Mexico on July 4th, it was a pretty tough day. There were only two qualifying fish weighed, the second of which was also out of the Gulf on the Gunnslinger (556 lbs.). Heavy favorites like Madeira, Cape Verdes,  Bermuda and Kona could not produce a qualifying fish, which if our reports are accurate, is near impossible given the fishing of late. But, thus is fishing, and thus is the way it goes sometimes in the World Cup. It was the first time since one of the “Big Four” had not produced the winning fish since 2001. It was the first time since 1999 that a U.S. mainland boat has won the World Cup and not since 1989 had a fish in the Gulf of Mexico won the Tournament. In the 32-Year History of the Tournament, only three (3) boats from the mainland U.S.  had won the World Cup, making this a historic fish for the Gulf.

Congratulations to Team Done Deal, the 2017 Blue Marlin World Cup Champions!