Ten or so years ago, Capt. Geno Sauers fished the Gov Cup for the first time, riding along as a mate aboard Fred Bergen’s Legal Holiday during the Edisto Invitational Billfish Tournament. As we prepare for that very event later this week, Sauers and the Trash Man, a 64-ft Weaver owned by Ben Wall, lead the Series and stand to win it all.

Trash Man climbed to the Series lead after releasing four blue marlin during the Carolina Billfish Classic last month, at that time tying the unofficial state record for blue marlin releases in a single day.

Weather has plagued South Carolina’s tournaments this summer, resulting in a one day shootout first during the Georgetown Blue Marlin Tournament, and then again during the Carolina Billfish Classic. One day shootouts are grueling for tournament staff and participants. Days slowly creep past without the opportunity to compete. The anticipation builds, and so does the angst.

“It’s hard to dislike a one day shootout when it falls in your favor like it did for us at CBC,” admits Sauers, “but I definitely prefer the structure of the normal two out of three days. When you have two days to fish you get the opportunity to get out there and get an idea of what’s going on. Also, if you have a bad day, you can always regroup and redeem yourself the next day.”

Fortunately for Sauers, he and the Trash Man team had no need for a second day of fishing. They shuddered any risk of a bad day just an hour after lines went in the water.

The men that fish aboard the Trash Man have known each other a long time. Sauers is fairly new to the program, taking the job as the boat’s captain just a little over a year ago. That said, he’s known and fished with the boat’s crew on and off over his 15-year career.

“I’m really enjoying our program,” says Sauers. “The boat was finished in April 2022 and Ben has done a great job finishing out the boat and putting our crew together for these tournaments. I’ve been fishing with everyone on this boat for a long time and they’ll all tell you that you need thick skin to fish around these guys. Lots of laughs and jokes going all the time.”

Whether competing in a late-night foot race to finally settle who is indeed the fastest, or battling fresh marlin in blue water eddies billowing off the Gulf Stream, the Trash Man boys play to win. Their performance during the Carolina Billfish Classic was no exception. Brian DeMille, Chris and Will Cook, mates Kyle Clark and Joe Barrow, and Sauers’ brother Rhett fished the boat that day. Wall was unfortunately tied up with business meetings and couldn’t make the trip.

Although the boat is based in Savannah, Georgetown, it spends a lot of time fishing South Carolina’s tournaments, as well as those farther up the coast in the Mid-Atlantic. “The most challenging thing about fishing out of South Carolina and the Governor Cup Series in general is the level of competition,” says Sauers. “You have some great captains and crews based out of South Carolina that will eat your lunch in a hurry. It’s a big ocean out there and you could turn the wrong way in the morning and be out of position so quick it will make your head spin!”

After releasing their first blue marlin at 9:00 a.m., the bite slowed a bit for the Trash Man. Meanwhile, other competitors continued to call in release reports, including Capt. Sean Dooley aboard Viking 64. Racking up several sail releases and a blue marlin release, Dooley and his team tentatively sat in first place.

As chatter sounded through the radio, Sauers didn’t pick up and run. He stuck to his guns, trusting his gut and the water below him. His resolve would pay off in the early afternoon.

In just one stunning hour, Sauers and his team released three blue marlin, an incredible feat that launched them to the top of the fleet with just over an hour left to fish the tournament.

“When we caught the fourth fish, I had a range of emotions going through me,” he said. “I was of course excited because we had just caught four blue marlin in a day, and three in less than an hour! But I was also nervous because I didn’t know if we had sufficient video of the fish to qualify for points and the Viking 64 guys weren’t far behind.”

Luckily, they did have the video to prove their catch, even though the fish couldn’t be bothered to fight and jump in the typical blue marlin way. As Barrow cranked on the reel, the fish acted like she didn’t even know she was hooked.

Sauers estimates that the blue marlin would have been large enough to meet the tournament’s minimum length requirement for the kill category, but the team chose to release the fish instead. They were already in the lead, and with the money rolling over from the kill category to the release division in the event that no blue marlin are weighed, there was no financial incentive for boating the fish. In addition, given her nonchalant behavior, it’s likely the sizable blue would have had plenty of fight left. The risks of losing the fish, and then not even being able to count the release, were just too high. The Trash Man’s winning blue would live to feed and fight another day.

A total of ten blue marlin and 58 sailfish were released by the fleet of 46 boats in one day of fishing, resulting in an impressive catch per unit effort of 1.5 billfish per boat.

Wall proudly watched from the sidelines as his team reported their releases and won the tournament. He couldn’t bear to miss anything else, so he loaded his family into the car so they could all be there to celebrate with the crew when they returned to the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina. As the Trash Man claimed their $221,000 in winnings that evening, Wall stood shoulder to shoulder with Sauers and the rest of his team.

The Trash Man now sits with 1500 more points than the next highest scoring boat in the Series. With one leg left to fish in 2023, the pressure is on.

“Overall, I feel blessed to have had the success I’ve had this season,” says Sauers. “I’m proud of my guys and grateful for the bites. It feels pretty good going into the last tournament of the Series in the lead, but I also feel like it’s more pressure being in first than in second or third!”

Fishing reports over the last few weeks indicate a red-hot bite off the coast of South Carolina, with Viking 64 even going on to break the unofficial state record with five blue marlin releases in a single day.

We’re excited to see how everything will shake out. In just a few short days, we’ll have a winner of the Edisto Invitational Billfish Tournament, as well as an unofficial champion of the 35th Anniversary South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series!