40 Days to Zane Grey: The Field is Set
How the four remaining clubs punched their tickets to Cabo San Lucas
We started with 14 angling clubs at the start of the 2025 season. As part of SFC’s new closed competition format, the clubs were split into two divisions: Atlantic and Gulf, with the top two in the season standings earning playoff berths. After 12 rounds of competition from as far south as Fort Lauderdale, as far west as Port Aransas, all the way up to Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Four have earned their place in the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs in Cabo San Lucas:
From the Atlantic Division:
Lights Out New England Angling Club
New Jersey Sea Birds Angling Club
From the Gulf Division:
Third Coast Renegades Angling Club
Texas Lone Stars Angling Club
How Each Club Earned Their Spot
Third Coast Renegades: (4x wins, 1 runner-up, 1 third place)
The Renegades were the first to punch their ticket to Cabo San Lucas, doing so prior to the final tournament of the season given their run of dominance this year. At no point this season did the Renegades finish any lower than third place, between three different teams flying the club banner. The primary team, the one representing the Renegades in Cabo, competed in four of the six tournaments in the regular season, winning three times and finishing second once. That only “blemish,” if you care to call it that came at the season opening East Pass Challenge in Fort Walton Beach, FL. A late white marlin sealed a second place finish to the Mississippi Blues.
Lights Out New England: (3x wins, 1 runner up)
The division champs rode a wave of victories beginning at the halfway point of the season to stand atop the Atlantic. A second place finish early at the Walker’s Cay Open was the cherry on top of an entire month spent in the Bahamas in preparation for that tournament. Once the division reached their backyard, Lights Out hit their stride. Wins at the Oak Bluffs Bluewater Classic, HUK Big Fish Classic and MidAtlantic followed. A slew of new SFC billfish release records left in their wake.
New Jersey Sea Birds: (1 win, 4x runner-up)
The boys from exit 98 held the season points lead from the second stop at Walker’s Cay until the penultimate stop, the HUK Big Fish Classic. South Carolina Outcast won the opening stop, the Fort Lauderdale Billfish Open, but the Sea Birds’ second place finish, followed up with the win at Walker’s secured their points lead. With each Lights Out victory this season, the Sea Birds were nipping at their heels, finishing in second place.
Texas Lone Stars: (3x runner-up, 1x third place)
The only playoff-bound club without a victory this season, the Lone Stars share a similar trajectory to Lights Out New England where they came alive over the second half of the season. Early season woes were marred by mechanical issues on boats they had to borrow and charter to compete in while their own battle wagon “Freebird,” a 65’ Paul Mann Custom underwent a multi-month refit. The refit was accelerated in order to have the boat ready by stop three: The Gulfport Mississippi Open. That’s where the tide began to turn in their favor. The Lone Stars left Mississippi with a third place finish. Similar to the New Jersey Sea Birds, the Lone Stars were runners-up in the final three stops of the year to punch their ticket to Cabo.
Cabo marks a homecoming for three of the four clubs. Under SFC’s old competition format, what SFC Insider refers to as “The Open Era,” Both Lights Out and Third Coast Renegades competed in last year’s Zane Grey Championship Playoffs. The former were already known as Lights Out, while the Renegades competed under their boat name: “Southern Charm/ All-In.” They finished second and third respectively, with both looking to take the crystal trophy home this season.
This is the first year the Texas Lone Stars have entered SFC competition in any format, however that aforementioned boat “Freebird,” is no stranger to Cabo San Lucas. The crew, skippered by Captain Spencer Johnson have been with the boat for years, including during its multi-year stay in Cabo. David Blackbird, the owner of “Freebird” still keeps a slip in the marina. Whether the boat will have a reunion at Lands’ End with its crew is still yet to be seen, but we are keeping track of that situation.
Should “Freebird” be heading to Cabo, whether it be on its own bottom, or via a transport ship, it will mean 50% of the Playoff field will be competing on private boats, with the other half using charters. Garrett Frazier, co-founder of Anetik Performance and a member of the Third Coast Renegades’ ownership group has already secured his boat “Magnifico.” Mid-October is a busy time in Cabo, with Bisbee’s Black & Blue also taking place, so charter boats are in full competition mode.
Looking forward to catching up with the clubs and learning their preparations for the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs in the coming weeks.