Team Code Blue prepares for Gulf Coast Billfish Classic

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic is widely known as the premier billfish tournament in the entire Gulf of Mexico.

In 1997, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic kicked off its first tournament with 60 boats lined up and ready to fish.

Fast forward now to 2023 and the Point Cadet Marina is filled with hundreds of boats eagerly waiting to drop a line during this prestigious fishing tournament.

One group specifically that has their eyes on the prize is the Park family from Alabama, who decided to name their boat ‘Code Blue’ while at the dinner table one night because both of the parents are doctors. Code Blue Angler Mackenzie Park said, “It can be thought about in medical terms with a code blue in the hospital with both of them being doctors, but then also when you’re off shore and you catch a blue marlin, it’s absolute chaos almost like somebody’s having a code blue in the hospital, so it kind of goes both ways and we’ve loved it ever since.”

Mackenzie is a 19-year-old female angler and has been out on the water for as long as she can remember.

Being around males a majority of the time isn’t too rare for Mackenzie and it gives her confidence that she can reel them in just like they do. “Fishing has always just really been about just men fishing all the time, so having girls do it now just does give you a lot of confidence… it really does. It’s awesome. I’ve always enjoyed hunting and fishing, so I’ve been around boys all my life, so I’m kind of use to it at this point, but I’ve made a lot of good friends out it, now some girlfriends are in it too so it’s a lot of fun.”

The fun and adrenaline keep the Park family coming back for more, but the real reason for entering the tournaments is for the family bonding. “Fishing has always just really been about just men fishing all the time, so having girls do it now just does give you a lot of confidence… it really does. It’s awesome. I’ve always enjoyed hunting and fishing, so I’ve been around boys all my life, so I’m kind of use to it at this point, but I’ve made a lot of good friends out it, now some girlfriends are in it too so it’s a lot of fun.”

The fun and adrenaline keeps the Park family coming back for more, but the real reason for entering the tournaments is for the family bonding. Keesler Park said, “The family aspect, I mean getting to do all this stuff together as a family, not many other programs in this industry have that family aspect I guess… and when we got the bigger boat, she really got into it and I love how much she enjoys it because this is what I love to do and I love that she loves it too, so getting to do it together with her is even better.”

The Park family and the rest of the Billfish Classic participants will take off tomorrow at 11 a.m.