2024 Georgetown Blue Marlin Tourney - Genuine Risk Wins

You got to love when a plan comes together, and Team Genuine Risk from Murrell’s Inlet came away with the Georgetown title after just three years of competition. A field of 72-boats ensured that this competition would be a challenging tourney for anyone to win. The Genuine Risk, a 62-foot Viking sportfisher was proven to be sound in its billfishing tactics, and they also capitalized on an exciting sailfish double-header right before Lines Out on Day One. They rode that hot hand and decided to fish back-to-back days, a decision that put them in the lead for good.

Glazed weighed-in a 70-pound Mahi

The South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series holds five tournaments in 2024, and Genuine Risk is currently in second place overall after the Georgetown Invitational. Owner Derek Nobles plans to fish Genuine Risk in the upcoming Carolina Billfish Classic in Charleston and the Edisto Marina Invitational. Derek Nobles has experience in fishing circuits from his past days of being a King mackerel tournament angler. It wasn’t until about three years ago that he and wife Stephanie decided to switch to a bigger boat, and to tackle offshore fishing for blue marlin.

“We fished Day One approximately 55-miles out from Winyah Bay, following sea surface temperature charts to an area with 80-degree temps in about 700-feet of water, “ said Nobles. “The grass was very scattered, and that has been a trend this year, so we decided to troll and ended up releasing a sailfish around noon and a blue marlin about 12:30. Tournament rules define Lines Out at 3 P.M. and we were fortunate to get a double-header on sailfish literally just before that time. We were able to release both sails, and we had four GoPro cameras filming to document the timing for the Rules Committee.

“I’ve known Capt. Wilson since high school, and everything clicked at Georgetown with him at the helm,” said Nobles. “Glenn is a heck of a fisherman and we have more to accomplish this year too. Other crew included Iain Rhye, Will Morrow, Drew Hannah, Andrew Laythrom, Kenny Crafton and my daughter Skylar Nobles. Our Day Two started out great with a blue marlin release at 8:50 A.M.  followed by another blue marlin release at 11:30 A.M. and had two sailfish releases after that Our margin of victory was 200-release points so we needed all of those fish. Look, this tourney is a hard one to top for us since we are local, and we are grateful to experience getting a win here at Georgetown.”

To read the entire story click on Trilogy Outdoors / June

To view past stories inTrilogy Outdoors click on Santee Big Cat -   Pheasant Tower Shoot -  Release Over 20 - 2023 Hawk Watch -  Kiawah Bird Banding -  2023 Crappie Camp -  Early Birds of September -  SCDNR Salt Fishing Clinics -  Silver King Makes Big Splash - S.C. Mahi Series - 2023 Yawkey Wildlife Center - 2023 Hammock Coast Birding Festival - 2023 Lowcountry Oyster Festival - 2022 Sea Turtle Season - Navigating an S.C. Public Draw Deer Hunt - Crappie Camp - Blessings of a Sporting Father