Meet the pros of the BXRL as they share their thoughts on what makes a first-class tournament sportfishing boat.

Returning for its seventh season on ESPN2, the Billfishing Xtreme Release League pits top teams of anglers against each other as they chase big fish and even bigger money. This year, six teams ponied up the $250,000 entry fee to chase the $1 million top prize and the right to be called Champions of the BXRL.
“The number of teams is intentionally small,” says founder and host Captain Norm Isaacs. “We had been doing television shows on big game fishing at other tournaments, but there were too many boats and it was too hard to be in the right place at the right time.” The small fleet allows a camera crew and judge to be onboard each boat capturing all the action–a very important aspect for not only producing a good show, but also for verifying catches in an all-release tournament with a total prize pot of nearly $3 million.
Creating a tag-and-release format was a priority for the conservation-minded Isaacs who wanted to set an example for the commercial longliners whose practices are depleting fisheries. It also requires more skill and is just one component of the “Xtreme” rules that place more emphasis on teamwork rather than individual anglers.
“This is very much a team sport; the angler is no more important than the deck hand or the tagger or the captain,” says Isaacs. “We designed the scoring so that if anybody on the team messes up everybody pays the price. The rules require teams to demonstrate better control of the fish and also ensure the fish is released unharmed.”...

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