[dropcap]h[/dropcap]e New Smyrna Beach Billfish Invitational is finalizing its plans for this year’s 16th annual event to be held on September 25-28th. Anglers will have a choice to enter inshore, bluewater or billfish contests during the weekend with all contests presented by MarineMax. Tournament headquarters will once again be at the spacious Brannon Center located in the heart of downtown New Smyrna Beach. Vendor displays, on site food and beverages, art exhibits, silent auctions, Saturday am free family fishing contest and raffles will keep the crowds entertained while waiting to see the weigh-ins. All three tournaments will hold their awards, final raffle drawings and silent auction bids Sunday September 28th.
We are pleased to announce an exciting new addition to the tournament weekend with the inaugural New Smyrna Beach Bluewater Challange. The NSBBC allows anglers to fish traditionally on unrestricted tackle for dolphin, wahoo and tuna as a separate event or in conjunction with the Billfish Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Each NSBBC entry is eligible for the $5,000 guaranteed award for the heaviest meatfish weighed in addition to the tournament awards and potential NSBBC TWT winnings.
A new relaxed format will allow crews the opportunity to fish the NSBBI with virtually unrestricted tackle to target marlin and sailfish alike. We are also lowering the base entry fee and offering more optional TWT’s to make each day more exciting for the teams. The Small boat division will include all outboards and vessels under 40’. NSBBI entrants will also have the option of competing for additional cash and prizes by entering the NSBBC tournament simultaneously. As an Offshore World Championship qualifying event, crews will be visiting from many destinations for the opportunity to win a coveted spot in the OWC Tournament of Champions. For more information about the NSBBI or NSBBC, please visit www.nsbbi.com.
Once again this year we will be having the popular NSBBT backwater tournament September 26-27. The 5th annual New Smyrna Beach Backwater Tournament allows anglers to fish inshore on Saturday while competing for the heaviest redfish and trout combination. Multiple NSBBT tournament awards in addition to the optional TWT cash prizes are available for entrants. Visit www.nsbbt.comfor more details.
It is also important to remember why we have the New Smyrna Beach Billfish Invitational, Bluewater Challange and the New Smyrna Beach Backwater Tournament. While our goals for all of the tournaments have always included fabulous parties, the promotion of a great fall fishery and marine conservation and awareness, one of our primary goals continues to be providing scholarships to local deserving high school students. The New Smyrna Beach Billfish Invitational is a nonprofit organization that continues a 16-year tradition of donating its proceeds to local high school scholarship funds with over $ 150,000 having been donated since 1999.
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