Somehow a quick one day grouper trip ended up becoming a two day potluck off Mexico Beach.  And man did we have luck, lots of good & bad.  Since our timing coincided with the Big Bend Classic, we decided to participate in the tournament. 

We caught a little of everything:  redfish, red, gag, scamp, & downy grouper, white snapper, shark, trigger, dolphin, & kings.  Most were good size, but not the big fish we had planned.   While the fish were challenging, our biggest troubles were engine related.  Both engines shut down on the way out the 1st day.  The starboard engine had overheated due to a mud dawber's nest clogging the water line.  Once cleared, the enginer resumed operating normally.  We weren't so lucky on the port engine with a major ring failure or other problem of similar magnitude.  As long as we had oil, we could limp along.  However, our oil ran out on the way back in and we found ourselves travelling 40 miles at 8 knots, a leisurely 5 hour cruise.  Needless to stay, we stocked up on oil overnight and prayed for better luck the 2nd day.

We had hoped to place in the Classic and also find some potential record fish for submission under the IGFA Junior Angler program.  Since the red grouper category was vacant and the gag gruper category fish was only 2.5 lbs, we felt confident we could deliver Daniel a shot at one or both spots.

When the weekend was complete, we had two fish place in the Classic.  Daniel won 1st place in the junior division with a 4 lb. trigger, and the 35 lb. gag grouper took 4th place in the recreational division.   Daniel also landed red grouper, gag grouper, and shark, all sufficient size for entry in the IGFA World Records under the Junior Anger category.

UPDATE 27JUN5:  Engine damage is confirmed as a lost cylinder to the tune of $8000.  Thankfully, the YAM's were still under warranty.