Lights Out Boston Angling Club’s Viking 62 Lights Out Dominates Oak Bluffs Billfish Tournament with Record White Marlin Catch

For the team on Lights Out, the Viking 62 representing the Lights Out Boston Angling Club, everything went right at the Oak Bluffs Bluewater Classic, the teams’ home-water competition that ran from July 15 to July 18. Fans following the team Instagram feed and coverage on SFCPlus.tv may have thought there was a glitch when the catches started coming rapid-fire. At the end of the day, the team set a record for most billfish releases in a day with 39 white marlin, and they never looked back. Lights Out won the tournament with 47 billfish releases.

“I’ve fished this tournament 10 or 11 years, and I’ve been out fishing these waters since I was a kid,” said Captain Tyler Dufresne, who won the tournament for the third time in a row.

“There’s nothing better than winning this tournament. I like the rules and the way it’s set up.

All the life we’ve seen over the years and the patterns I’ve noticed definitely helped.”

Lights Out boat owners, husband and wife Rob Carmichael and Jackie Hayes, were pleased

with the final result. “The mates worked crazy hard, the captain is diligent,” said Carmichael.

“We thought this would be just a ‘handful of marlin’ tournament. We just had an epic day.

Sometimes the day is so good, you don’t really worry about how the chips fall with the tournament.”

It does matter in the long run, though. The Sport Fishing Championship (SFC) is a professional sportfishing league comprised of 14 angling clubs, split into two divisions, and all vying for one championship. The teams partake in 12 tournaments, where the SFC league team boats compete against each other amidst the overall tournament. The SFC was launched in an effort to showcase the sport of saltwater fishing and to have a positive impact on the local economies of the championship towns that host the tournaments and to continue to grow wider interest to help improve the championship tournaments that lead to the championship competition.

This tournament didn’t leave much room for improvement for Lights Out angler Casey Carmichael, who set a record for most billfish releases in a day by a female angler with 10. “Casey is a machine, she’s aggressive,” says Carmichael of his daughter. “There’s a competitive nature in the family for sure.” It’s an incredible achievement.

Team Owner Drew Dolben shared the same excitement. “It’s one thing to win a tournament as we did,” said Dolben. “It brings a whole other level excitement when it’s the new team’s debut tournament in its home waters. We’re going to keep perfecting our program to remain competitive throughout this season, with our eyes on 2026 as well.”