Rising Sons has had a successful year on the Tuna board. After sitting out a weekend due to maintenance and weather, the team was ready to tackle the Baypoint Billfish Open for the first time. They struck out on the first afternoon and didn't have much action the second day until the evening. They got a huge bite and knew it would be something big. Jaselyn Berthelot was the angler and she was able to get the big fish up in about an hour and the team noticed it was a giant tuna! The team did their best to be as calm and careful as possible to make sure to not lose the tuna. Toby Berthelot had a perfect gaff shot and walked the tuna into the boat. The team knew it would end up being a good tuna that possibly gets them on the board, but had no idea what was in store for the Saturday night weigh-in. the dock crew hung the yellowfin and she weighed in at 181.8 lbs, which beat the tournament record after their first year, last year. The team held on to 1st place and got a nice check and trophy to end the weekend! this was the first tournament record the team would have in yellowfin and they never would have expected to win another in just two weeks.
In the Blue Marlin Grand Championship, Rising Sons was able to set the tournament record yellowfin again after it being beat in the same night! The team hooked up on the last day only 30 minutes before they had to leave fishing grounds to make it to the weigh-in. The bite was weird and Jaselyn didn't feel like it was fighting like a tuna so the team didn't know what to expect. after about 20 minutes the team could see the shine of a tuna about 30 feet down under the boat. They knew it had to be big and again made sure to handle everything calm and carefully. Toby gaffed this fish as well and walked it into the boat. the team knew she was a giant and definitely the biggest tuna thats ever been on Rising Sons but would have never guessed what the evening had in store for them. Team Crawgator weighed in a 197.6 lb yellowfin and the team was nervous. Rising Sons enters Marlin Circle at the Warf in Orange Beach, and weighs in three tuna the first was 85 lbs, the second was 147lbs and the third was a whopping 197.8 lbs! they had beat the tournament record and team crawgator by 2/10 of a pound!
Its has been a great season for Team Rising Sons and be sure to check out their 2024 season recap!
These two weekends wouldn't have been possible without their Man Engines which got them in to the weigh-in on time, OluKai shoes to stay on their feet all day in the crazy conditions, and their Durabrite lights for raising the bait to make it possible to catch these tuna!
Pictures taken by: Jenni Guerry Photography and J. Hodge productions