Sport Fishing Championship heads to Texas to wrap up Gulf division

Texas International Fishing Tournament © Sport Fishing Championship

Sport Fishing Championship (SFC), the governing body of saltwater tournament fishing, visits South Padre Island, Texas, this week to conclude the 2023 Gulf Division at the Texas International Fishing Tournament (TIFT).

The Gulf Division has been fiercely competitive all season. Coming into this week, Team Quantified is on top of the leaderboard for the Gulf Championship with 10,000 points, while Team All-In is in second place for the Division with 8,500 points.

This will be Team All-In's first appearance at the Texas International Fishing Tournament, and they're looking to give Quantified a run for their money. Back for only their second year of this tournament is Team Rising Sons - during their first visit last season, team angler Jaselyn Berthelot received the award for Lady Angler of the tournament.

Another team in the hunt is Team Rebecca, sitting in third place in the Gulf Division with 7,800 points. For both Team Rebecca and Team Quantified, this is a backyard tournament, with Team Rebecca's home turf being Port Aransas and Team Quantified's being South Padre Island.

Celebrating 83 years this week, the Texas International Fishing Tournament is held off Port Isabel and South Padre Island in the sparkling waters of the Laguna Madre Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Visit South Padre Island is the SFC Title Partner for this tournament. Anglers will begin on Friday, August 4 and will fish all day Friday and Saturday.

SFC Gulf Champions will be crowned Saturday night right after the tournament.

All the action will be available to watch on CBS Sports Network from 1 to 3 p.m. on Friday and 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday. Viewers can also tune in to SFC's YouTube at 1 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday (all times EDT).

SFC tournament points accrue based on a team's placement in the final tournament standings, with the first-place team earning 3,500 points, the second-place team 3,000 points, and so forth. Placements in the tournament standings are determined from tournament-only points based on species of fish caught and released, with the highest consideration given to blue marlin, then white marlin and spearfish, and finally sailfish and swordfish.

To close the season out, the final two tournaments will be the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Maryland, from August 7-11 and the San Juan International Billfish Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico, August 23-25.

To learn more about the Sport Fishing Championship Season, visit sportfishingchampionship.com.