# Monkey Boat rule change



## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

I noticed that this year any length "outboard" boat will be allowed and inboards are limited to 32 feet. Wondering what other folks thought about this. I have mixed feelings, I have fished for the last 5 or6 years and totally enjoy the tournament. I run a Contender 25 so this tournament which historically limited all boats to 32' made it a lot of fun for me. Wondering how many "new" poeple this will bring in with larger outboards? Not sure if I am happy that more folks will be competing or feel disadvantaged to the faster longer ranged 34's and 36's out there. Regardless, weather permitting we will be there this year.

MScontender

the state, not the femail


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## TCAT (Oct 9, 2007)

Mscontender,

I run a 27 World Cat and have fished the tournament the past three years. Hell I won 4K last year. I feel slighted by the change and I'm not happy. While they may gain a few 32-36's they most likely will lose some of the smaller counterparts. I'm still undecided if I'll fish.I hope someone will take their old format and start a new tournament. Tommy you listening? I think they had 50+ boats fish last year and at $750 min a pop that ain't bad. I wish them the best of luck.


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## Xiphius (Oct 10, 2007)

Yea it sucks now we run against 39 Jupiters that hold 450 gallons and run the shit out of them and fish off south pass. I think MBGFC combined the Jupiter outboard shoot out with thier Limited. It wasn't bad fishing against the 31 pocket sportfishers, but know were running against the triple engine offshore rockets.. We'll see..... lets talk to WCI and have a good ole monkey boat tournamnet from that site.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

We'll see guys, it might not be that bad. Nevermind its gonna end up being a big game SKA tournament! I hope to fish it again this year. I fished it with a customer last year and we won some money but I hope to get on with some more serious guys this year.


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## Xanadu (Oct 1, 2007)

My boat is too big by 3' to qualify, but I wouldn't be able to compete because the big CCs can run 150 miles to fish a day trip. I see them trying to get increased competition, but a monkey boat tourney was designed to make small boats all similarly limited in size and range compete. Now, you've got 40' CCs running 80kts fishing against 22' CCs in a tournament where a 28k pound small sportfish isn't allowed because it's too big.



Kind of conflicted.


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## hmsmithjr (May 22, 2008)

I was planning to fish it until I saw the $300 per person entry fee. When did they decide to up that from $175. The last time I fished it was 2 or 3 years ago and I was looking forward to fishing this year until I saw that.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Where did you see the $300/angler? I could not find that, one more hurdle to get over to fish.

MScontender



***my bad, just saw it on their site. I have mixed feelings on that as well. I know that it certainly effect some folks fishing and maybe me. That is at least 1K in entry plus another $500 in calcuttas on top of 250 gallons of fuel, ice, ballyhoo etc... So figure around 3K to fish the "monkey boat"!


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## Midnight Run (Oct 2, 2007)

ill just go to the nipple and catch all the ones they past by at 80knts.


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## hmsmithjr (May 22, 2008)

MBGFC website for the 2009 Limited tournament. Maybe it was a typo, but it was there.

Regardless I would like to know because my group wanted to fish it this year.

Maclin


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## whome (Oct 2, 2007)

From there website...

Ladies Tournament-- *Registration:* 5 pm to 8 pm $300.00 per angler with a minimum of 3 anglers for boats over 32 feet, and 2 anglers for boats 32 feet and under

Memorial day---*Registration:* 5 pm to 8 pm $250.00 per angler with a minimum of 4 anglers for boats over 32 feet, and 3 anglers for boats 32 feet and under. Registration received by Monday, May 18, 2009, $200.00 per angler

Limited Tournament---*Registration:* 5 pm to 8 pm $300.00 per angler boats 32 feet and under. Minimum of 3 anglers per boat. Registration received by Monday, July 20, 2008, $250.00 per angler


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## user285 (Oct 2, 2007)

So what would the difference be if i fish it compared to a 32 yellowfin with twin f350 on the back, that boat will out run me and ride just as well in rough seas, and about the same fuel burn and range as me. Do you think the 19-21 cape's are always complaining about fishing against the 32 regulators? Don't worry about what the size of the other boats are worry about the experience and crew they have. I probably will not be fishing this tourney.


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## daddytime (Oct 1, 2007)

Monkey Boat?


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## user285 (Oct 2, 2007)

> *daddytime (4/29/2009)*
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who cares......if lets say........... willie joe is inthat boat and has some of his friends from the pier that have never been offshore and Capt. Myles Colley and his normal crew get on the C-Dawg(little Cape Horn 19 or21 i believe)and fish it.I would bemore worried about the EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE than the size of the boat! 



P.S. Sorry Willie Joe:shedevil


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## Fishwater (Oct 2, 2007)

When monkey boats were monkey boats, it was 27' and under to qualify for these types of tournaments, including Outcast's. I know times have changed but that is still a good size for a monkey boat in my book, maybe bumping it to 30' would be OK. 

Tournament billfishing out of 17' Whaler years ago I thought of 32' boat as a friggin' battlewagon.


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## Xanadu (Oct 1, 2007)

Yeah, the 22'2" Aquasport was a fish raiser and a 35' Bertram was a yacht. Now, my 35' Bertram is too big for the Monkey Boat, but a 600k 43 Sea Vee isn't.



Times change, but I still cannot imagine why anyone would buy a 43 SeaVee with outboards. It couldn't possibly be trailerable so why? Why not the new Volvo IPS or other small inboard diesels?


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## SnapperSlapper (Feb 13, 2009)

I always looked forward to this tournament. I'm not much of a tournament fisherman, but I've always tried to fish the MBGFC Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Monkey Boat tournaments.



With the base entry fee raised to $300 per angler for the monkey boat, I won't fish it. It's not worth it. The expense will be too high for the potential payout. Once you get into the calcuttas, you'll have spent as much as you would for the Memorial Day or Labor Day tournaments. And the return, even if you do win a category, isn't high enough. Yes, you do have better odds of making a check in the monkey boat tourney. But, even if you do, it's likely to not cover your expenses. At least in the Memorial Day and Labor Day tourneys if you do catch a good fish, you can make some money.



This is disappointing and I think it will really impact their turnout. It's obvious that they are trying to appeal to the guys running the $200,000 outboard boats. But, I think they are going to lose participation from a lot of the 23'-27' center consoles. And there are a LOT more 23'-27' center consoles than their are 36' Contenders and 33' Jupiters.



I don't think this is a good move for them. In addition to being disappointed, I'm a little pissed. Unless my attitude really changes, I won't participate in or support any of their other tournaments.



I wish someone else would offer a real monkey boat billfish tournament.


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## daddytime (Oct 1, 2007)

Doug

No one is saying experience and knowledge are not important. The point is the boat.This tournament leveled the playing field from a fishing platform standpoint. A 26' ft sailfish could compete with a 27' world cat as well as 32' yellowfin for a single day.These same boats can not compete in most of the other billfish tournaments because they are 2 day tournaments and they do not have the sportfisher range or the creature comforts. 

Small boatscompeting offshore for 1 day. Now you add any outboard to the deal and you could get a 42' yellow fin. I'll bet on a weekend warriorat Nakika in a 42' YF over a professional in a 24'Cape Horn anywhere in his range. No matter how good you are, you can only catch the fish that are there. 

As for experience and level playing field, I won 6K with a mahi mahi on a 26' cc 2 years ago. I guarantee you my crew and I had far less experience and knowledge than the majority of the folks in that tournament. Rather be lucky than good. I'm betting this tournament is toast until they back up to where it was.


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## jameyr (Apr 30, 2009)

We've fished this tournament 8 of the last 9 years in my little 25' Mako, and I remember very few years when my crew and I weren't still debating at 5:30 on Friday afternoon before the tournament whether to fish or not. It always seems Roffersonly offered up green-blue, blue-green, blended blue, brown, green, or other less-than ideal water conditions within our range or the afternoon sea-breeze had kicked up the surf, inspiringa little dread for 60 mile boat ride. But in all but one year (that yearit truly was too rough to go,even for me), we ultimately decided "we're all in the same boat, fishing the same conditions, and hell, we've got as good a chance as they do. Let's pony up the $750 entry feeand maybe throwa couple hundred in the calcutta,gas up theboat, buymore beer, and hopeSam'sstill has some decent ballyhoo." I looked forward to it, and planned for itall year long.

This year, if the weather is good and the blue water is close, we'll be there once again. On the other hand, if its like last year and the blue water is 90+miles out, and we can't reach it but the guys running the newly admitted, bigger boats can, we'll probably sit it out. I like to compete, but not with that much $$ on the table against stacked odds.

Of course, I didn't think that the 28' Bertram (Xanadu I think) that beat us out of the small boat meat fish category in the 2002 P'cola was really a "small boat" either, at least not compared to us. Guess its all relative.

I dislike the MBGFC Limited rules change,and it will likely have a negative effect on our participation. 

I've lurked here a long time, but this topic inspired me to speak up. 

Jamey

B'ham & Orange Beach, AL


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## Xanadu (Oct 1, 2007)

FYI, Jamey, Xanadu was a 28' Bertram with twin 180 hp Yanmars. It carried 280 gallons of fuel, had air conditioning and genset and a tower. It was a great boat, but it also had a fully loaded cruise of about 16 kts.



We could go anywhere we wanted in her, but it took forever. In reality, it was more appropriate to the Monkey Boat tourney imho than any of the 30' plus outboards. Despite the creature comforts and bigger sea tolerance, Xanadu had much less range in a day tourney than most typical twin outboard boats.



Hell, it was an overnighter to fish the Nipple most times.


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## jameyr (Apr 30, 2009)

Xanadu, I thought I recognized the name as the big small boat (or small big boat) that beat us that year, and which ultimately helped cure me of the desire to try to compete in two day,big boat tournamentswhile fishing from a smallCC.Thanks for the confirming response. And I agree with you that the under 32'outboards andunder 32' inboard sportfisherman (like the old 28' Xanadu) are pretty fairly matched in a one day format like the MBGFC Limited was before the change. Nowbothwill beat a sizeable disadvantage.

We burned a lot of gas and suffered a lot of abuse over the course of a few years learning that the 2-day tourneys were a poor bet for our littleboat... so we've fished only theMonkey Boatevent for the past few years. If and when we ever "move up", it won't be to a larger outboard vessel, so my interest in this tournament will probably continue to wane.

In the meantime, if anybody wants to put on a true, small boat tourney, were we can all billfish in the same brown/green water together, we'll be interested.

Jamey


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

I wonder if anyone on the board of MBGFC has seen this thread? I know it is too late for them to change this year, but not next. My sentiment is especially the same on waiting till the last minute to enter due to weather and watching Roff's. Over the past 8 years of so there have been at least two years that I should have listened to my brain and stayed home due to seas and lack of close blue water. last year we ran to the 131 hole and raised 5, count up 5! bills, but could not keep a single one buttoned up. Anyone of them would have won the tournament for us, so I gues hope springs eternal. We will be closely watching weather,hoping for 3' or less with long periods and blue water at the nipple/elbow area.

Tight lines

MScontender


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## Xanadu (Oct 1, 2007)

> *mscontender (4/30/2009)*I wonder if anyone on the board of MBGFC has seen this thread? I know it is too late for them to change this year, but not next. My sentiment is especially the same on waiting till the last minute to enter due to weather and watching Roff's. Over the past 8 years of so there have been at least two years that I should have listened to my brain and stayed home due to seas and lack of close blue water. last year we ran to the 131 hole and raised 5, count up 5! bills, but could not keep a single one buttoned up. Anyone of them would have won the tournament for us, so I gues hope springs eternal. We will be closely watching weather,hoping for 3' or less with long periods and blue water at the nipple/elbow area.
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I thought Tommy had at one time suggested a limited tournament that had boundaries and a 24 hour window, but I could be wrong. Someone did, however, and I think that would allow the small boats and the big boats to all compete on equal footing without favoring the Sportfishers or the speed boats. Perhaps you could get some real participation by not limiting boat type rather handicapping everyone to the same time and areas.


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## Santerre (Jun 19, 2008)

Has anyone fished the gcoc (gulf coast outbard classic) out of orange beach marina? this will be the 2nd year for this tourny and is for any size outboard. i think entry is 1k per boat so get four anglers on one boat and do the math. i was at the weight in last year with pretty decent results


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## user285 (Oct 2, 2007)

> *Santerre (4/30/2009)*Has anyone fished the gcoc (gulf coast outbard classic) out of orange beach marina? this will be the 2nd year for this tourny and is for any size outboard. i think entry is 1k per boat so get four anglers on one boat and do the math. i was at the weight in last year with pretty decent results


they had a total of 11 boats fish it last year........


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## TCAT (Oct 9, 2007)

For those of us that own sub 32' bluewater capable boats I believe the "rub" is the outboard only qualifier. 38-40' outboard powered boats are not "Monkey Boats" and the new addition in my opinion broadens the playing field. As Richard suggests in his post I may as well gamble on fishing the International or Memorial Day tournaments in my 27 footer. The attraction to the old MBGFC limited tournament is that it excluded vessels exceeding 32-ft. and provided some assurance that there would be level playing field. It pains me to think that they would abandon the foundation which this tournament was built from. 

Keith


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## Reeldeal (Mar 28, 2008)

Problem Child hit the nail on the head, there is a big difference if it is cobalt south of Horn Mt and dirty at the nipple . The guys that dont have the range are screwed. I have fished the monkey boat the last 6 years on a few different boats. We also fish Memorial and Labor Day. One piece of advice is any MBGF member I think has an advantage we had a catch and release blue I think 3 years ago and were the only ones who called a commitee boat we got in just in time and thought we had it wrapped up. Go to the banquet the next day and some member ??? came through the rocks after us and caught one on lighter line. ????? Still got second and some money but kindof fishy...


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## bully48 (Aug 2, 2008)

> *TCAT (4/30/2009)*For those of us that own sub 32' bluewater capable boats I believe the "rub" is the outboard only qualifier. 38-40' outboard powered boats are not "Monkey Boats" and the new addition in my opinion broadens the playing field. As Richard suggests in his post I may as well gamble on fishing the International or Memorial Day tournaments in my 27 footer. The attraction to the old MBGFC limited tournament is that it excluded vessels exceeding 32-ft. and provided some assurance that there would be level playing field. It pains me to think that they would abandon the foundation which this tournament was built from.
> 
> Keith


Keith, the international is at least more affordable than the limited tourney, and with a few changes in the calcutta this year 1. being a swordfish calcutta( with 2 nights to fish for swordies) 2. having a tuna/dolphin/wahoo aggregate calcutta (tuna 1#= 1pt, wahoo 1#=3pts, and dolphin 1#= 5pts) i believe some of the smaller boats have a realistic chance @ doing well especially someone like you , who does well with swordies.stay tuned to www.pbgfc.com as more details will be added in the next few days. Also, for those who fish with the kids notice that the jr. anglers date has changed from years past it will be on fathers day weekend @ lost key marina. great oppurtunity to fish jr. anglers as well as Bill Hargreaves since weigh ins are very close by!!


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## MBGFC (May 12, 2009)

On behalf of the MBGFC let me attempt to address several of the topics being discussed.

1) Due to a change in website host a great deal of pertinent information was lost. The registration fees for the Limited are the same as last year. The fee for anglers registering by the Monday prior to the event is $ 200.00. Anytime after Monday the entry fee will be $ 250.00. Please fee free to register online at www.mbgfc.org. This is the same fee structure and schedule for all events with the exception of the Junior Angler. We apologize for this error and it should be corrected within 24 hours.

2) The MBGFC Billfish Limited and the GCOC are two entirely different events and are run by separate entities.


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## MBGFC (May 12, 2009)

To Continue:

3) After several request to include larger outboards the club elected to open the field to all outboard powered boats. It is the clubs hope that this will enhance the competition by broadening the field. At the conclusion of the season we will evaluate all changes.

4) Also new to the event this yearis a $ 50,000.00 prize for the first state record meatfish brought to the dock. As many of you are aware, the Alabama State Dolphin record was broken during a MBGFC event by a participant fishing in a Contender (If my memory serves me correctly - also from P-Cola)

5) One final observation to add to an already expressed thought: Over the last nine years *<U>many </U>*of the top placing boats have been in the 23-26 range fishing against larger-faster-more comfortable rigs (most at least with a T-top!). The results don't come from the boat, but from the anglers within. ( GO RED BOAT!)

Hope to See You All in Late July.


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Thanks for clearing it up. As long as everything goes as planned I'll be there.


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## Stallion (Jun 19, 2008)

We fish both the Limited www.mbgfc.org and the GCOC last year (Gulf Coast Outboard Classic) www.orangebeachmarina.com/GCOC

They are both great but seperate tournaments. However, the winner of the GCOC wins an entry into the Limited this year! 

The GCOC is $1000 per boat unlimited anglers. ALL of the entry fees and calcutta go toward CASH only prizes. No BS trophies or prizes we don't care about.The payout last year was great, we won almost 9000 for tuna. That was with onlya small tournament field, the tournament didn't really get going until late May last year. This year it is going to be alot bigger, I have atleast 4 new boats that I know of which are fishing.

The rule change for this years Limited was inevitable, with all the manufacturers gearing towards larger outboard powered boats. Nonetheless, it is the size of the fight in the dog, not the size of the dog that matters. :usaflag:clap:doh

For my two cents, these 2 tournaments create a monkey boat circuit in our area. This is great news and something that I wholeheartedy support. The GCOC is on June 20th while the Limited is in late July. These are two dates which I have scheduled fishing weekends on my 31' outboard.

Does it really matter if you fish a 31 foot boat and this year have to compete with a 34 or 36 with outboards?? No, they are all monkey boats and we aren't competing with 40+ diesel powered boats with professional crews. :banghead

The tournament atmosphere at the host facility of both tournaments (Orange Beach Marina @ Mobile Big GameFishing Club)is second to none in the entire Gulf if not world. That is half the reason why my crew fishes. Lots of fun with great facilities. Hope to see y'all at both tournaments.


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