The Viking Diesel & Electrics Port Hacking 100 Tournament was held on April 28-29th, with an enormous fleet of 49 vessels comprising of over 160 anglers. The weather provided a mix bag of conditions over the weekend, as Saturday 28th offering up fantastic variable winds and flat seas before an unfortunate strong 25-30knot southerly change early on Sunday morning, making conditions tough for most of the fleet.

However many still braved the conditions in search for all species as day one results were quite tight with a few boats vying for champion status. Great water temperature and plenty of bait were around; however it seemed to be the shark boats having more fun as Marlin sightings were few and far between.

'Champion Team & Angler T&R, Gail Force, photo taken by Chris Belton'

Day one action saw Junior Riley Page on board BBGFC boat RAMPAGE capture a Striped Marlin of 82.5kg on 15kg line and Brother Ryan also boat a Tiger Shark of 177kg on 15kg line. PHGFC President’s boat DARK HORSE captured a solid Tiger Shark of 478kg to angler Stan Dickson taking out Champion Boat and Champion Angler Capture. The Shark was also the first fish over a 1000lb to be weighted on the club’s new weigh station only installed 3 days before the tournament. Other notable catches were PHGFC boat SPICEY SARDINE with a 53kg Yellow Fin Tuna to angler John Downey who took out heaviest other game fish category

'Champion Team Capture, Dark Horse, photo taken by Dom Kieler'

Day two saw many vessels spend limited time on the grounds due to the weather, however SGFC vessel GALE FORCE successfully switch baited a striped Marlin on 10KG line in tough conditions and spent most of the fight trying to clear their cockpit of white wash, this tag along with their previous Dolphin Fish allowed them to claim Champion Boat and Angler T&R for the second year.

The Sunday night presentation was held at the RMYC Port Hacking with over 120 guests; all reports have been that all competitors and sponsors had a great time and are looking forward to next year’s tournament in 2013.

FINAL RESULTS:
Capture:
Champion Boat Capture: DARK HORSE, PHGFC
Runner Up Boat Capture: RAMPAGE, BBGFC
Champion Male Angler Capture: Stan Dickson, DARK HORSE, PHGFC – 478kg Tiger Shark
Heaviest Other Game Fish Capture: John Downey, PHGFC – 53kg Yellow Fin Tuna
Champion Junior Capture: Riley Page, RAMPAGE, BBGFC – 82.5kg Striped Marlin
Heaviest Marlin: Riley Page, RAMPAGE, BBGFC – 82.5kg Striped Marlin
Heaviest Shark: Stan Dickson, DARK HORSE, PHGFC – 478kg Tiger Shark

Tag & Release:
Champion Boat T&R: GALE FORCE, SGFC, 12,655 Point
Runner Up Boat T&R: BLOOD N GUTS, SGFC, 2,500 Points
Champion Male Angler T&R: John Wise, GALE FORCE SGFC
Champion Female Angler T&R: Jillian Coyle, ONLINE, PHGFC
Champion Junior T&R: Jack Connellan, TIME TO TANGO, PHGFC
Champion Small Fry T&R: Clayton Rayment, TEAM SEAFLEX, PHGFC
Highest Point Scoring Boat T&R Other Game Fish: LOCKOUT, BBGFC

Thank you to David from Port Hacking Game Fishing Club for the final results and photos.

---

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our weekly list or the tournament calendar please send the details to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Riviera Port Lincoln Tuna Classic 2012 was held Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th of April.

At 7.30am on Saturday, eighteen boats varying in sizes from 21ft to 70ft with 100 anglers and crew set off from the Lincoln Cove Marina to a shotgun start by the Tuna boat Tacoma. The weather conditions were perfect with no Southern Ocean swell and only 5-12 knots of wind all weekend.

Champion Boat, Noble One.

Congratulations to the winners:

Champion Boat: Noble One with Tim McDonald and his team

Runner up Champion Boat: Sledgehammer with Andrew Crilly and his team

Champion Trailer Boat: Shockwave with Richard Webb and his team

Champion Male Angler: Jason Stephenson on Shockwave

Heaviest Fish: Ralph Czabayski on Galaxy Star with the fish weighing 14.1kgs

Ralph Czabayski with Heaviest Fish Trophy

This year we had six Female Anglers, which was great to see. For the first time it looked like the Female Trophy would be won. Megan Tapley on Noble One caught and released 9 fish and became our first Female Angler. Congratulations Megan!

We also had four very enthusiastic Junior Anglers as the below photo shows of Junior Angler Bailey Godwin on Tari. The Junior Trophy went to Orion Downing on Sledgehammer for the second year in a row with 5 fish.  Well done Orion and congratulations!

The results were close with count backs or only a few fish separating the top Anglers and boats.

Although the fish were not as prolific as last years Tournament, this year the boats caught and released 114 fish over 10kgs. The perfect weather and camaraderie amongst the fleet have cemented this into one of Port Lincoln's major events.

On the Sunday night at the Presentation Dinner at the Marina Hotel, 115 people enjoyed a wonderful three-course meal; fellowship and the truth may have been stretched a little.

Thank you to Peter Teakle and Nina Mattingley for the report and photos.

Boats are already working on next years Tuna Classic that will be held The 6th and 7th of April 2013.

---

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our weekly list or the tournament calendar please send the details to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

19 boats fished the second Solitary Islands Game Fishing Club's Heavy Tackle Challenge, with 86 anglers. There were six Blue Marlin, two Striped Marlin and a Spearfish tagged, along with an assortment of Yellow Fin Tuna and Mahi Mahi.

Two great sized Yellow Fin Tuna were weighed by Gameful Employment pulling the scales down to 61 and 78 kilos. Champion boat went to Seaborn with a Blue and a Striped Marlin tagged and released, and runners-up were Black and Blue releasing a Blue Marlin and a Spearfish, and Secret Men's Business came in third place. Seaborn donated their Calcutta winnings (over $2500), to the Solitary Islands Game Fishing Club's preferred charity, the Leukemia Foundation.

Water was lovely, though not much current. Weather was a mixed bag, certainly nothing like the light and variable we were expecting.

Gameful Employment's 61 kilo Yellow Fin Tuna, caught by Joe English.

Special thank you to Glen Booth for the report and the photo.

---

 

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our weekly list or the tournament calendar please send the details to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

18 boats entered the 39^th Annual Shoalhaven Open on the weekend.  The fishing has been tough on the south coast this year with patchy water quality and very little bait to speak of, still hopes were high of a few fish being around to keep everyone interested.

Fridays weather was horrible with 20-25 knots of Westerly wind.  Bob Sinclair broke his new boat in for its first day of tournament fishing with a tagged striped marlin and the capture of a Blue marlin of 247.4kg to junior angler Phil Lamond (a new Shellharbour Club, NSW and Australian Record).  On Dadsboat we managed to tag a striped Marlin too for our Angler Paul “Sparky” Aulsebrook.  Closer inshore Mark Way and the team on My Way were kept busy by the resident whaler sharks on the Banks eventually tagging 6 for the day.  The shark boats had a difficult day for drifting out wide still a few were hooked and eventually won their freedom.

Saturday dawned a much nicer day with more south in the wind and an easing forecast.  Steph Watts on Outcast hooked a Tiger Shark around 10am and stayed battling it for the next 16 hours!!!  The fish was hooked in the Drum canyon area and towed the boat around the ocean, the boys ending up pulling the hooks on the trace at 2am on Sunday morning in 60 fathoms wide of the Banks, an epic effort in anyone’s books!  Another long fight was also afoot with Dean Stanwell hooked a Mako shark which lasted for 7 hours, eventually landing the fish that weighed 198kg.  My Way again fished the banks for another 3 whaler sharks to edge the team’s points a little higher.  On Dadsboat, we were lucky enough again to tag a striped marlin to Sparky on 15kg line.  Doctor Paul Allin on Seaduction had difficult day fishing for Kingfish on 6kg line losing a couple of fish over the 20kg mark.  Ray Tickner also tagged a Striped marlin from a triple hook up on his boat Headquarters to pressure the leaders.

Sunday dawned glamorously and there were a few sore heads after the usual Saturday nite frivolity!!  The current had turned and was now racing up hill at 2 knots.  There were only 3 marlin tagged for the day with Pete Watson steering Mayhem onto a striped marlin.  Stephen Hoger tagged his first ever marlin, a est. 150kg Blue on his boat Hogies on 15kg line, and Mark Halling’s boat Sunset Marine caught a Blue that ended up weighing 118kg that didn’t reach the weigh station in time.  On the shark front, Mitch Ryan had his boat Outcast back at sea early to put his girlfriend Steph Watts onto a couple of Mako’s and to eventually take out the ladies Tag & Release category.  (I’m surprised she could bare to look at a rod again after the ordeal from the previous night!!)

The final category winners are below.

Capture Categories
Highest Point Scoring Boat - Black Jack
Highest Point Scoring Male Angler - Dean Stanwell on Black Jack
Highest Point Scoring Lady Angler - Not Won
Highest Point Scoring Junior Angler - Phil Lamond
Highest Point Scoring Small Fry Angler - Not Won
Heaviest Billfish - 247.4kg Blue Marlin, Phil Lamond on Prelude
Heaviest Shark - 198kg Mako, Dean Stanwell on Black Jack
Heaviest Other Game Fish - Not Won
Champion Composite three boat team - Black Jack, Prelude & INXS

Tag & Release Categories
Highest Point Scoring Boat - Dadsboat
Highest Point Male Angler - Paul “Sparky” Aulsebrook on Dadsboat
Highest Point Scoring Lady Angler - Steph Watts on Outcast
Highest Point Scoring Junior Angler - Phil Lamond on Prelude
Highest Point Scoring Small Fry Angler - Jada Goddard on The Enforcer
Most Billfish Tag & Release Boat - Dadsboat
Most Shark Tag & Release Boat - My Way
Most Tuna Tag & Release Boat - Not Won
Champion Composite three boat team - Dadsboat, Magic & Sunset Marine

Striped Marlin caught on board Dadsboat. Photo by Elspeth Finney.

Thank you to Craig Murphy for sending the results for us to share on GFH.

---

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our weekly list or the tournament calendar please send the details to reports@gamefishinghub.com.au

With a total of 60 boats fishing this year’s AIBT they tagged and released 107 Billfish for the three days of fishing.

Day 1 – 21 Black Marlin, 2 Blue Marlin, 19 Sailfish
Day 2 – 24 Black Marlin, 22 Sailfish
Day 3 – 10 Black Marlin, 9 Sailfish

Champion Team T&R Billfish – Apothecary
Runner Up T&R Billfish – On Strike

Champion Angler T&R Billfish – Sahra Pitman – Export
Runner Up T&R Billfish – Kevin Deacon – Trophy Hunter

Champion Junior T&R Billfish – Shanae Cook – Still Dreamin
Runner Up T&R Billfish – Drew Bignall – Freespool

Champion Angler T&R Billfish On Fly – Nil
Runner Up T&R Billfish On Fly – Nil

Champion Team T&R Marlin – On Strike
Runner Up T&R Marlin – Razor Back

Champion Team T&R Sailfish – Export
Runner Up T&R Sailfish – The Bear

Runner Up Tag & Release Billfish - On Strike.

Betta Billfish Bonanza 2012 is held on Friday 19th, 20th & 21st October 2012 If you fished AIBT, a flyer was in the Team Bag.

The tentative dates for GAMEX 2013 are as follows.

Briefing 16th March 2013
Fishing 17th-22nd March 2013
Presentation 23rd March 2013

AIBT 2013 to be finalised

---

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our weekly list or the tournament calendar please send the details to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The  Haines Group sponsored “Back 2 Tangas 4” gamefishing comp was run between the 16 -18^th March with 87 registered anglers and 25 boats representing clubs from the Gold to the Sunny Coast. The competition was run out of MBGFC base on Moreton island and attracted International Angler Miguel Mermond from New Caledonia.  Friday was reasonable weather with a 15-20 knot SE as the boats fished from home ports. The Sunny Coast teams headed north to the “Hards” off Noosa where the previous weekend it “had gone off” with plenty of small blacks and sails. With tougher sea conditions the bigger boats found the fish and tagged a few small blacks, with Debbie Dahl on Bring it On tagging a black marlin on light tackle to lead the women’s section. Reel Magic headed south off Point Lookout canyons and found the blue marlin,  tagging 3 for the day on 37kg and taking the lead. Saturday saw better weather with a number of boats fishing around the Cape. Prior to lines in a number of free swimming sails and blacks were off the Cape, but off course when lines in was called, they had disappeared. Saturday was generally slow with a few boats tagging marlin and Real Magic adding another Blue to their tally.  The final result saw 11 billfish tagged, a few wahoo and tuna and other fish. Saturday was party time with great food and the band and Huey throwing in some rain storms. Sunday was the recovery breakfast and presentation. 

Miguel Mermolid and John Shearer on board Reel Magic with a Blue Marlin.

Prize winners are as follows.

Champion boat over 7m - Reel Magic  (MBGFC)
Champion boat under 7m - Team Suzuki (LSC)
Champion Angler - Miguel Mermond (MBGFC & Espandon)
Champion Angler Runner up - Rod Johnston (MGFC)
Champion Angler Senior Male - Miguel Mermond (MBGFC & Espandon)
Champion Angler Senior Female - Debbie Dahl (MGFC)
Champion Angler Junior - Charlotte Ditchfield (MBGFC)
Junior Angler Runner up - Ryan Thomsen (LSC)
Champion Angler Billfish - Miguel Mermond (MBGFC & Espandon)
Champion Angler Other Gamefish - Charlotte Ditchfield (MBGFC)
First and Last Billfish tagged - Miguel Mermond (MBGFC & Espandon)
Champion Angler MBGFC - Miguel Mermond (MBGFC & Espandon) 
MBGFC Angler Runner up - Michael Hutton (MBGFC)
Champion Angler Tuna - Ben Staziac (SCGFC)

---

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our weekly list or the tournament calendar please send the details to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Exmouth Game Fishing Club held the annual Gamex for 2012, and now it's over for another year with a total of 60 Sail Fish released, 98 Black Marlin, 3 Blue Marlin, 2 Striped Marlin, 59 Whaler Sharks, 1 Tiger Shark, 3 Hammerhead Sharks and 48 other Game fish species with one of the sharks been retagged after three days by the same boat. There were also 2 world record, 4 state and 4 Australian record claims from this years tournament. Below is the final standings of this years touranment.

1st Place Champion Junior T&R  - Cody Wright - 1,200 Points
Runner Up Champion Junior T&R - Alex Nelson - 1,000 Points
1st Place Champion Male T&R - Ryan Bryce - 2,400 Points
Runner Up Champion Male T&R - Graeme Palivicki - 2,100 Points
1st Place Champion Team Under 7m T&R - The Wrench - 2,000 Points
Runner Up Champion Team Under 7m T&R - Drum Stick - 1,700 Points
1st Place Champion Team Over 7m T&R - Blue Horizon - 3,800 Points
Runner Up Champion Team Over 7m T&R - Paradise - 3,100 Points
1st Place Champion Boat T&R Sailfish - Salt Shaker - 2,800 Points
Runner Up Champion Boat T&R Sailfish - Pelagic Hooker - 2,000 Points
1st Place Champion Boat T&R Marlin - Blue Horizon - 3,200 Points
Runner Up Champion Boat T&R Marlin - Paradise - 2,800 Points
1st Place Champion Boat Overall - Catchit - 4,584.98 Points
Runner Up Champion Boat Overall - Jig-A-Jig - 4,023.32 Points
George King Memorial Trophy - Steve Salmeri - Blue Horizon
1st Place Champion Junior Other Species - Cody Wright - 4,023.32 Points
Runner Up Champion Junior Other Species - Shanae Cooke - 1,610 Points
1st Place Champion Female Other Species - Sahra Pitman - 2,696.66 Points
Runner Up Champion Female Other Species - Jan Prince - 2,575 Points
1st Place Champion Male Other Species - Luke Leech - 2,871.65 Points
Runner Up Champion Male Other Species - Michael Gibbons - 2,686.46 Points

Talisha Cook with her Sail Fish during Gamex 2012.

 

---

 

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our weekly list or the tournament calendar please send the details to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jeff Murray from Gove Tackle World in the N.T. sent me a report about a trial tournament in Gove that they ran for the 18 & 19th of Feb. It was a no frills comp and had a very basic rules system but did incorporated the GFAA rules and regulations. They had 12 teams enter, most of which had never run lures before. There were approximately 30 bites for the 2 days with a total of 3 fish tagged all of which were tagged on the first day. There were a few Black Marlin well over 100kg hooked but most of them fell off unfortunately. It was a very big learning curve for many as it was hard to keep the fish attached.

First fish tagged was by the boys on STREAKERS DEFENCE who tagged and released a Black Marlin estimated at 400 pounds off the Brombie Islands. The second fish tagged was a Sailfish tagged by the CAUSE FOR DIVORCE team, which was estimated at 25kg and was caught off Higginson Island on a Pakula Small Sprocket. The third fish was caught by the team on RANDALL and included myself (Jeff Murray) and Rob McDonald. The fish was caught at Cape Wilbureforce being Sailfish of 15kg on a Pakula Blue Kona Rat. With 2 minutes to cease fishing we tagged the sailfish 1.5 minutes from the hookup.

Murray Knyvett with a nice little Black Marlin

One of the other club members from the Nhulunbuy Regional Sport Fishing Club was close at hand with one of 2 remaining Satellite Tags ready to be deployed. Jeff passed the Sailfish over to the crew on Pheonix while it was still attached to the rod. A nice extra piece of jewelry was added. In 90days we will eagerly be awaiting the data as this is one of many that the club has been involved with the tag and release.

There were some hard luck stories as well as the team on STABICRAFT spent 4 1/2 hours on a Black Marlin estimated well over 100kg and a short length of (3meters est.) only for it to bust off just out of leaders reach.

Result categories:
Champion Team - STREAKERS DEFENCE
Champion Team Runner Up - CAUSE FOR DIVORCE
Meritorious Capture Award - Amy Green (First Billfish)

This event was supported so well that they be making it an inaugural event with a perpetual Trophy. Jeff Murray would like to thank all the sponsors, Pakula Tackle and Shimano & the fantastic support from the Nhulunbuy Regional Sport Fishing Club.

Amy Green with her first Sailfish on board Cause For Divorce

Thank you to Jeff Murray from Gove Tackle World for sending us the results.

 

If you have any reports or photos to share please send to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Final results for the 11^th Annual Open Tournament - The tournament started with a hitch when the briefing had to be abandoned on Friday night due to a power blackout at the Bowling Club but finsihed with some great results for the Shell Harbour Game Fishing Club. Congratulations to all top place winners in this years tournament and to all that fished. Below are the final results for this years 2012 Shell Harbour Open Tournament.

Capture Results.
Champion Boat: (Horse) – 7839 Points
Heaviest Marlin: Craig Hort (Horse) 143Kg Blue Marli
Heaviest Shark: Russel Emms (Grey Hounder) 351Kg Tiger Shark
Heaviest Other Game Fish: Craig Tuohy (Reckless) 16.2Kg Mahi Mahi
Most Meritorious Capture: Russel Emms (Grey Hounder) 351Kg Tiger Shark – 11,807 Points
Champion Male Angler: Russel Emms (Grey Hounder) - 11,807 Points

Tag & Release Results.
Champion Boat: (Dads Boat) – 34,500 Points
Most Marlin Tagged By A Boat: (Dad’s Boat) 3 Marlin
First Marlin Tagged: Damien McLeod (Dad’s Boat)
Most Sharks Tagged By A Boat: (Grey Hounder) 2 Sharks
Champion Other Game Fish: Grant Hartley (Argus) – 259 Points
Champion Male Angler: Russel Emms (Grey Hounder) - 15,500 Points
Highest Tag Points Junior: Dylan Jackson (Ridgey Didge) – 2,300 Points
Highest Tag Points Small Fry: Aaron Goodger (U3) – 38 Points

The Lake Macquarie Game Fishing Club held their annual Big Fish Bonanza over the weekend with great weather and plenty of fish for all the competing anglers. Below are the final standings for this years Big Fish Bonanza and a few photos taken by Mel Currie fishing on board Seaka from Port Stephens. Mel is mad keen into her marlin fishing and you will see alot more photos from her over the season from Port Stephens. 

Tag & Release Results
Champion Boat Over 8m
1^st Place: Diversion - 195,000 Points
2^nd Place: Flying Fisher - 179,000 Points
3^rd Place: Shakara - 153,000 Points
4^th Place: Calypso - 150,000 Points
5^th Place: Seaka - 150,000 Points

Champion Boat Under 8m
1^st Place: Rackem Up – 97,500 Points

Capture Results
Champion Boat Over 8m
1^st Place: Offshore – 42,044.26 Points
2^nd Place: Kurly – 34,558 Points
3^rd Place: Blue Blooded – 31,661 Points
4^th Place: Outrage – 31,096 Points
5^th Place: Stripper – 28,368.80 Points

Champion Boat Under 8m
1^st Place: Kurly – 34,558 Points

Tag & Release
Champion Male: James Holt – 149,500 Points (Diversion)
Champion Female: Carly Curtis – 97,500 Points (Nigaloo)
Champion Junior: Jacinta Thomas – 81,500 Points (Amokura)
Most Points Tag & Release Marlin: James Holt – 149,500 (Diversion)
Most Points Tag & Release Shark: Chad Finch – 2,300 Points (The Package)

Capture
Champion Male: Branko Speliko – 31,096 Points (Outrage)
Champion Female: Amanda Cromarty – 15,094 Points (Iona II)
Heaviest Marlin: Amanda Cromarty – 94.5Kg Striped Marlin on 8Kg (Iona II)
Heaviest Shark: Billy Gray – 503.5Kg Tiger Shark on 15Kg (Bundy 1)
Heaviest Other Game Fish: Natalie Keen – 20.5Kg Mahi Mahi on 6Kg (Blue Blooded)

Special thank you from the team at Game Fishing Hub to Mel Currie for suppling the great photos.

Continue reading for more photos.

The Ulladulla Game Fishing Club is proud of the heritage of Jess Sams Tournament and continues to honour her legacy each year. This year marked the 74th anniversary of the late Jess Sam’s 1938 Australian record Striped Marlin catch of 330 pounds on 130 pound tackle, this record still stands current today.

The final results for the 2012 Jess Sams 74th anniversary Game Fishing Tournament seen 19 Striped Marlin, 2 Hammer Head Sharks and 2 Striped Tuna tagged and released and 1 Tiger Shark weighed going 431 Kg caught on 80 pound tackle. Below is the final standings for this years tournament held from the 3rd till the 5th February.

CAPTURE
Heaviest Shark was won by Kevin Clapson on JUS RAH with a 431kg Tiger Shark caught on 37kg tackle.
There were no other official captures.

TAG & RELEASE
Most Marlin Non Trailer Boat was won by MR HOOKER with 5 Marlin.
1st runner up was APOTHECARY with 2 Marlin
2nd runner up went to DASBOAT on count back.
Most Marlin Trailer boat was won by ON SITE with 2 Marlin
1st runner up SEA LION on count back with 2 Marlin.
2nd runner up was won by REEL OBSESSION with 1 Marlin.
3rd runner up NO MILK on count back with 1 Marlin.
Most Sharks was won by CHILDS PLAY with 2 Hammer Head Sharks.
Champion Female was won by Elspeth Finney on DADSBOAT with 1 Marlin on count back.
runner up female was won by Kim Hobday on APOTHECARY.
Highest Point Scoring Junior/Small Fry was won by Jack Stewart from ON SITE with 10,024 Pts (1 Marlin & 2 Striped Tuna).
1st Marlin Tagged was won by DADSBOAT.
Last Marlin tagged was won by BLU ALIBI.
The Early Entry Drawer was won by Team 20 ELUSIVE.



Jess Sam with her 330 pound Striped Marlin caught on 130 pound tackle caught on the 27th February 1938 that still stands today. To read the full story about this record catch from 1938 click here.

This years 'Telstra Shop Kawana Waters SCGFC Classic' came to a wrap Saturday and saw a total of 23 boats competing. It was another great tournament for all involved with fish showing up on the light and heavy tackle grounds. The weather on day one was a bit "How you going" but thankfully Saturday was more favourable.

Day 1 saw 52 strikes, 42 hook-ups, and 30 fish caught. That consisted of 4 Blue Marlin, 4 Black Marlin, 2 Sailfish, 4 Yellowfin Tuna, 3 Wahoo, and 13 non qualifying fish.

The boat 'No Name' (a 5.2 meter center console) with anglers Andrew Yeh and SCGFC life member Peter Bain were the stand out team after day one with 2 Heavy Tackle Blue Marlin for Peter. Gallaxy II had 2 black marlin, Out Quoting caught 1 Sailfish, Reel Capture finished with 1 Black Marlin and 1 Sailfish, Blue Reela with 1 Blue Marlin, and Spot on tagged a Blue Marlin with 10 mins left of fishing.

A get well quick message must be sent to SCGFC member Mick Huestis who unfortunately had a fall onboard 'Keneka' which forced them to return to the harbour. He suffered a fractured vertebra in his back but was up and walking (slowly) by that afternoon.

Blue Marlin caught on board 'Spot On' by Brett Barton.

Day 2 saw 49 Strikes, 23 hook-ups, and 13 fish caught, consisting of 5 Blue marlin, 2 Sailfish, 2 Wahoo, and 4 non qualifying fish.

Gallaxy II and Reel Capture both tagged a Sailfish, Fish Wisperer tagged 2 Blue Marlin and with an hour to go Kamikaze with the Brent, Sarah, and Barry Higgins, Jay Graham and Heath Irvine at the helm tagged their 3rd Blue marlin for the afternoon to finish on top of the score board. Between the top few boats there were several dropped fish and was a close tournament in the end.

Above: Blue Marlin caught on board Kamikaze by Sarah Higgins.
Below: Brent and Sarah Higgins after Sarah tagged her first Blue Marlin

Final points scores were as follows:

Kamikaze – 4500
No Name – 3000
Fish Whisperer – 3000
Blu Reela – 1500
Reelaxn - 1500
Spot On – 1500
Galaxy 11 – 1500
Reel Capture – 1606.87
Out Quoting – 500
Dragon Lady – 391.25
Animal – 47
Capricorn – 36
Bring It On – 14
Compromise – 14

Final trophy list as follows:

Champion Team overall – Kamikaze - 4500 points
Champion Angler – Peter Bain - 3000 points
Champion Angler Runner Up – Troy Wakely - 1500 points
Champion Heavy Tackle Angler – Peter Bain
Champion Light Tackle Angler – Channon Arbutnot - 1000 points
Champion Female Angler Light Tackle – Kellie Jensen - 331.25 points
Champion Female Angler Heavy Tackle – Sarah Higgins - 1500 points
Champion Junior Angler – Ryan McKinnon - 1000 points 
Champion Angler Other Species – Kellie Jensen - 331.25
Champion boat Under 7m – No Name - 3000 points
Runner Up Boat Under 7m – Out Quoting - 500 points
Champion Boat Over 7m – Kamikaze - 4500 points
Runner Up Boat Over 7m – Fish Whisperer - 3000 points
First Billfish – Peter Bain
Last Billfish – Channon Arbutnot

Champion Visiting Boat – Zeus
Encouragement Award – Blu Reela crew
Meritorious Effort - Wayne Finlay
Best Effort – Ed Martin
Hard Luck – Troy Rumblelow
Better Luck Next Time Award – Mick Heustis

Above: 'Champion Angler Overall' winner Peter Bain with tournament' director Tony Cross
Below: 'Champion Angler Light Tackle winner Channon Arbuthnot

A short video from Kamikaze with angler Barry Higgins on the rod.

All in all it was a successful event and was enjoyed by all, with a total of 101 strikes, 64 hook-ups and 43 fish tagged or weighed. The SCGFC will hold their next tournament in October which is a light tackle event.

Continue reading for more photos of the trophy winners.

The 25^th annual Bill Heyward Memorial tournament was held from the 20^th till the 22^nd of January 2012 and was a great success, with 41 boats and 158 anglers fishing. The fishing was great with very good captures and tag & release results. Two notable captures where from Sydney GFC boat 'Blood n Guts' with a 396kg Tiger Shark and Botany Bay GFC boat 'Sniper' with a 288kg Tiger Shark.

Saturday started out with fantastic conditions with smooth seas and lots of fish being fought. 'Ungry' weighed a 95.5kg Black Marlin.

The Towcam.com.au 'First marlin of the tournament' trophy went to Botany Bay GFC boat 'Scirocco'. They also secured first Marlin tagged by a junior in the tournament with the same fish.

Sunday started out very much the opposite to Saturday with gusty southeastly winds up to 25 knots which stopped a lot of the smaller boats from going to sea, but the boats that did venture out got into the action again with 'Blood n Guts' weighing another Tiger Shark of 267.5kg. 'Home Strait' from the Base Strait GFC weighed a 373.00kg Mako Shark, 'Outcast' with a 180.5kg Tiger Shark and Sniper with a 85.5kg Mako Shark., 'Smart Bill also weighed a 88kg Striped Marlin.

A total of 13 Marlin Tagee & Released, 2 Marlin Weighed, 6 Sharks Taged & Released, 5 Sharks Weighed and 3 other game fish Taged & Released.

The final trophy List was as follows:
Bill Heyward Trophy was won by 'Ungry' from Sydney GFC
Champion angler capture Brad Munro
Champion angler T&R Kevin Ward
Champion Lady angler Capture & T&R Claire Graham
Champion junior angler Adam Libdy
Champion boat capture Bloodn Guts
Champion boat T&R Greyhounder, Most marlin T&R Greyhounder, Most sharks T&R Bloodn Guts
Highest Point scoring boat T&R OGF Lockout.

Thank you to the Botany Bay Game Fishing Club for sharing the results.

The GCGFC Inc. Light Tackle Masters 2012 Touranment was a resounding success; it had a story line right out of a daytime soapbox. There were moments of exhilaration, backslapping and euphoria as well as moments of anguish and despair. The GCGFC Inc. Tournament Committee deserves a pat on the back for changing the rules to suit the needs of all the anglers, without the arrival of the small black marlin the comp was opened up to heavy tackle as well, a decision which proved to be the correct call.  Even the weather forecasters got it right, they predicted bad to yucky weather and were spot on. Fridays wind was in the 25 to 30 knot range and made things a bit uncomfortable. World class multimillion dollar boats such as SHAKA, KIWI, MISTRESS and CASTILLE III up against trailer boats of all sizes, the smallest being CARONA a 5.4 metre vessel that toughed it out for the 3 days, all with an equal chance to take out the comp. Teams and boats from as far off as New Zealand, Coffs Harbour, Mooloolaba, Townsville and a good number from the Surfers Paradise club ensured that we all made many new friends and the social side on the dock was pleasant.

Day 1 and 36 boats headed out into 2 to 3 metre swells and some consistent strong wind, despite the conditions Reel Screamer skippered by Scott Watson called in the first marlin only an hour after lines in, a nice blue on heavy tackle, soon after they were hooked up again and were successful in placing a tag on another blue.  Ross McCubbin skippering Jugs then got into the action with 2 fish in 2 hours, Brett Alty skippering Mistress also got Alisa a nice blue, meanwhile most boats were reporting captures or tags on mahi mahi, yellowfin tuna and wahoo. The rough conditions saw many other boats unsuccessful with the marlin they had hooked.  Celebrations for the crew off Reel Screamer did not last long when it was discovered that their leader lengths were too long and both fish were sadly disqualified.

Day 2 and a slightly reduced field went out in slightly better conditions, Jugs was back into it again with an early marlin followed by the boys on Sea Eagle and Larva. Plenty of marlin were hooked but again most of the fish were able to defeat the anglers.  Jugs was leading with 4 marlin with several boats on 2.  Again excitement turned into despair when the crew on Larva were told that their fish was disqualified due to excessive leader length.

Day 3 and under similar rough conditions many boats decided that they could not catch Jugs on heavy tackle so Light tackle was preferred by many.  After a few hours Jugs decided to give us all a sporting chance and they went home early, many boats on Day 3 had their chance to win, numerous hookups but again most times the fish came out the winner. Female angler Cath Doggett on Hook Me Up got 2 blues before 10am!  One of the most professional and accomplished teams "AMIGO" had 8 blacks up, only to get one to the boat, the boys were disgusted with their conversion rate and suffered more pain to their ego's when the only fish tagged by Mick Keogh was disqualified for excessive leader length. In total 5 marlin were disqualified during the Tournament but to the credit of all concerned they copped all the ribbing and comments from the rest of us experts and much laughter at their expense was had.

In total out 36 boats with 151 anglers & crew 19 marlin were tagged, 9 women competed and 3 of them caught  marlin (Danielle Caelli, Cath Doggett & Alisa Schofield), 14 juniors toughed it out and most caught fish, the club is rapt at the increase in women and juniors competing and next year will only get better.

Congratulations goes to all anglers & crew who entered the tournament with the adverse weather conditions but especially to Jugs for winning Champion Boat Overall, Champion Boat over 8m, Champion Boat Heavy Tackle, Champion Female (Danielle Caelli), & Champion Male (Ben Caelli) and cleaning up a nice prize pool in the process, in excess of $17K.  Additionally Jugs gained entry in the 2012 IGFA Offshore World Champion Event in Cabo San Lucas.   We wish Jugs the best of luck in Mexico and hope they do us proud.

Congratulations also goes out to the crew on Fire Up skippered by Brett Smith winning Champion Boat Light Tackle with a huge number of other species being tagged during the Tournament. Truly a great effort.

Last but not least credit needs to go to Pakula Lures & Larva Lures as they joined together to donate a roll for auction of their lures raising $2,500 for charity.   Scott Watson winning the bid and now a proud owner of many Pakula & Larva heavy tackle lures.

We hope that the same result from the Light Tackle will follow through to our Heavy Tackle scheduled for the 13 – 15 April 2012.  Details will follow in the very near future.

A special thank you to Alisa Schofield and Les Corby for the Article and photos.

Port Macquarie Game Fishing Club held their 28th Golden Lure Tournament between 6th and 14th of January, 2012.

27 Boats contested the event with 50/50 spread of trailer boats and plus 30 footers.

Day one (Saturday) saw beautiful sea and weather conditions and competition was fierce. Apart from the usual proliferation of tagged Mahi Mahi (and some captures but usually the 1.1. freezer variety). 6 Boats tagged marlin. Two marlin were weighed. Both were notable because they eventuated to be winners in their categories. Scott Baker fishing on Iona II weighed in a 182kg blue marlin caught on 24 Kg. Michelle Evans fishing on Chicka weighed a 67 kg black marlin caught on 10 kg.

Day two saw a black northeaster come in early and for any boat less than 8 metres the day was well done before lunch. Even large vessels that stayed out found the going tough.  Fishing was slow and those that hooked up were lucky to get fish to the boat.  Several goodies were lost. Iona II however, tagged a blue marlin in the first hour to further enhance their overall points position.

Next fishing day was Thursday which was cancelled due to a very unfriendly low pressure system which resulted in the fishing adjudication panel cancelling the day.

Conditions for Friday were more favourable with the big low gone. Light winds and smooth seas greeted delighted crews. However, fishing was slow and most boats never turned a reel. Unluckiest of the day was Scott Baker on Iona II losing what they called a 300 + kg blue marlin.  Had they tagged this fish Iona II would have scooped the pool.

Best of the day was Ryan Frost fishing on Good or Good. They tagged a 90kg on 10kg. This fish won them champion male T & R and champion Boat T & R.

Needless to say Iona II was champion Capture Boat and Scott Baker champion male capture. Michelle Evans was champion female in both T & R and Capture.

All in all the Golden Lure was another successful tournament. Proposed dates for the 2013, 29^th Golden Lure event are from 11^th to 19^th January.

Thank you to Greg Relf for the results.

Scott Baker with his 182.4Kg Blue Marlin.

 

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our reports or the tournament calendar please send the details to reports@gamefishinghub.com.au

Final wrap up from the 3^rd Central Coast Game Fishing Club Nautilus Marine Blue Water Classic. It was a very enjoyable friendly tournament. Again it was hosted from the Gosford Sailing Club which provided amble docking for competitor’s boats, and close proximity to the local boat ramp. A total of 31 boats and 106 anglers were entered. This comprised a mixture of both trailer boats and larger vessels.

Unfortunately fishing was slower than previous years, albeit the weeks leading up to the tournament saw some of the best early seasons results in some time. The water was warm and right out the front with several purple patches averaging 24.5 degrees,  the lack of bait made finding the fish difficult.

The weather was great on Saturday with only a late change in the arvo. There were 2 marlin Captured, both on 10kg line by “BlueBlooded” and a third was tagged and released by the smallest boat in the field, (17ft Haines V17L) “Hard & Fast”. On the Shark front, “Carnage” tagged a small Blue Shark on 6kg and lost a Mako after a short fight. “Overtime” tagged a small Tiger Shark and had another larger one around the boat for some time, however it refused to take a bait. The only other Shark for the weekend was a tagged Tiger on “Blood & Guts”. There were several Striped Tuna and Kingfish tagged by juniors on the Saturday, as well as a couple small Mahi Mahi.

Sunday proved to be a challenging day, as most boats were greeted by 20knots+ North Easterly wind from 9am onward and heavy consistent 2-3m swells also from the N-E. “Overtime” again managed to raise a 150kg+ Mako however it too would avoid taking a bait. No other sharks were seen on the Sunday. Late in the afternoon “Outlaw” tagged a healthy Blue Marlin off Sydney. That would be the only Marlin tagged for the day. With a couple boat reporting waves in excess of 20ft many boats turned for home early.

All in all the final results looked like this;

CHAMPION MALE ADULT T&R – Andrew Griffin 10,000 pts “HARD AND FAST” – CCGFC

CHAMPION MALE ADULT CAPTURE – Josh Hodder 12,180.13 pts “BLUE BLOODED” – LMGFC

CHAMPION FEMALE ADULT T&R – Karen Perivolaris 2,300pts “OVERTIME” - CCGFC

HEAVIEST MARLIN ANGLER – Josh Hodder 75.70kg Stiped Marlin “BLUE BLOODED” – LMGFC

CHAMPION JUNIOR T&R – Carl Ayoub 1,266 pts “LOCKOUT” – BOTANY BAY GFC

CHAMPION JUNIOR OTHER GAME FISH T&R – 1,266 pts Carl Ayoub “LOCKOUT” – BOTANY BAY GFC

CHAMPION SMALL FRY T&R OVERALL – 310pts Spenser Hoye “HAULIN” – CCGFC

CHAMPION ANGLER OTHER GAME FISH T&R – 1,266pts – Carl Ayoub “LOCKOUT” – BOTANY BAY GFC

CHAMPION BOAT OVER 8METERS T&R – 10,000pts – “THE OUTLAW” PHGFC

CHAMPION BOAT OVER 8METERS CAPTURE – 24938.31pts – “BLUE BLOODED” – LMGFC

CHAMPION BOAT UNDER 8 METERS T&R – 10,000pts – “HARD AND FAST” – CCGFC

Thank you to Nathan Bajada from the Central Coast Game Fishing Club for suppling the results.

If you have any tournaments you would like us to include in our weekly list or the tournament calendar please send the details to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Final results for the 'Oaks Hotels & Resorts Mooloolaba Billfish Bash'. There was a total of 15 boats and 86 anglers for the two days of fishing.

Results:
Champion Boat over 7m - "Bring It On" - Mooloolaba GFC
Champion Boat under 7m - "Aquaholic" - Mooloolaba GFC
Champion Male - Rodney Howes - Mooloolaba GFC
Champion Female - Emma Cox - Mooloolaba GFC
Champion Junior - Ryan McKinnon - Mooloolaba GFC

'Bring It On' skippered by Steve Dahl tagged and released 2 black marlin on the first day of fishing with 4 other boats missing opportunities on billfish.Multiple Mahi Mahi and Cobia were weighed for capture points on each day.

The next tournament for Mooloolaba Game Fishing Club is the Billfish Bonanza and is held from 27th - 29th of April 2012 which is both light and heavy tackle.

The Bribie Island  'Bluewater Classic' was held over the weekend. Thanks to Andrew for sending us the following wrap up.

Mother nature put on a good weather (Finally!!!!) for us. There were seven boats in total from the BIGFC that fished the tournament. There was a total of 26 strikes, 20 hook-ups, 13 tag or captures.

2 boats fished heavy tackle the first day, “Hard n up” got a dolly in the morning and never saw a thing the rest of the day.

The second day 2 boats went heavy tackle with “Chaperone” coming back with 3 tagged dollies on heavy. Light tackle was a mixture of dollies, mac tuna, yellow fin tuna, and cobia. No billfish were caught nor seen. BarryMeredith jagged a 18.5kg wahoo on 8kg, with me doing a very nervous gaff shot at the end.

"Too easy" was the champion boat and walked away with majority prizes, taking out Champion angler light tackle, champion male angler senior, champion female angler, champion angler tuna, and champion boat over 7.5m.

The final results were as follows:

Champion angler heavy tackle – Greg Chapman
Champion angler light tackle – Barry Meredith
Champion male angler (senior) – Barry Meredith
Champion female angler (senior) – Donna Meredith
Champion junior angler – Aiden Scott
Champion angler tuna – Donna Meredith
Champion Team over 7.5m – Too Easy
Champion Team under 7.5m - Gladiator

Groote Eylandt G&SFC held the “Bryants Billfish Bonanza” over the weekend.

There were 10 boats in total with 9 of them catching at least one fish.
A great weekend was had by all with a total of 54 Billfish tagged in the comp, 9 Marlin and 45 Sailfish caught over the 2 days, with the marlin averaging between 10Kg – 50Kgs and Sails from 15Kg- 45Kgs.

The final results were as follows:
1  - ”Slab and release“ with 4 Marlin and 8 Sailfish Skippered by Young 16yr old Jacob Enever.
2  -  “Little Chief” with 11 Sailfish.
3  - ”No More Favours” 10 Sailfish.
4  -  ”Aquaholic” with 1 marlin and 6 Sailfish.
5  - “Club Liquid” 1 Marlin and 4 Sailfish.
6  -  “Delerious” 2 Marlin and 1 Sailfish.
7  -  “Yellowfin” with 4 Sailfish.
8  -  “Leggysea” 1 Marlin.
9  -  “Yell @ Me Yell @ You” 1 Sailfish.

GFH contributer Adrian Warden reports there have been 280+ billfish caught this year in the Groote Eylandt area, with over 200 of them caught in the past 8 weeks.

The photo below is 'Jess Scott' on board “Club Liquid” with one of the small blacks she caught during the tournament.

Many thanks to Adrian for sending us the results.

Results from Port Douglas heading into the final day are as follows:

Kyrenia - 3
Mistress - 2
Joe Joe - 1
Gorilla - 1
Hellraiser - 1
Amokura - 1
Reel Impression - 1

Unfortunately yesterday was a lay day as Spartacus had 3. Today is set to be a Dogfight to the finish and we will update the results once we here the final standings.

Some fantastic aerial images of the start, courtesy of 'Perrin Clarke Photography'

This years Bundaberg Rum Porters Hardware Whitsunday Light Tackle Gamefish tournament saw 28 boats line up for the 7am shotgun start on Friday in nice 10-15 knot winds allowing the small boats to be able to venture out to the wider grounds. 

The first sched on Friday saw 3 billfish tagged, 1 to 'Renegade' (sailfish), 1 to 'Bad Habits '(small Black) and 1 to 'Ambition' (sailfish). Only other species were tagged or weighed for the rrest of the day. Sandpiper in the under 7m class parted line on a nice black about 200lb with several
others seeing free jumpers or having them come up in the spread but
unfortunately they didn't bite.

Saturday started in even nicer conditions with winds to about 10 knots. Most of the boats fished behind Hayman Island and there were plenty of fish seen with 'Reel Work' seeing 3 small blacks and 2 sails but
again they would not commit with a bite. 'Coin Slot', a 5.35 trailer boat had 2 small blacks on for first time female angler 'Sherriane' only to have the line part on them both.

'Hammerhead' also lost a small black at the back of the boat just out of tag shot and 'Ambition' raised a nice blak which Skipper 'Ash Moore' estimated was around the 300lb mark, but could not get a bite out of it.

Sunday was similar conditions as Saturday weather and fishing wise with a good number of small blacks and sailfish seen but none of them willing to bite. Even though there were only 3 billfish tagged, there were alot of small blacks between 10 –25kg seen which in great to see as they have not been around for a few years. Good numbers of sailfish in the area was also very good to see.

Overall standing were as follows:
Champion Team Overall -                  'Reel Work' (Seafever Charters)
Champion Team Runner Up -            'Renegade'
Champion Boat under 7m -                'Bone Jara'
Champion Boat Runner up -               'Meals on Reels'
Champion Male Angler -                       'Brett Stewart'
Champion Female Angler -                 'Natasha Demarchi'
Champion Junior -                               'Ben Harrieso'

Thanks to Ash Warland for sending us the results.

The Sunshine Coast Game Fishing Club held there 2011 Kawana Waters Telstra Shop Sunshine Coast Spring Shootout over the weekend with the weather playing havoc for the 22 boats for a few hours on day 2, but turned out to be a fantastic day on the ocean. It was great to see other club boats along the east coast be apart of a great tournament and make the most of what fish were around, Congratulations to all of the S.C.G.F.C team for hosting this great event.

Final standings are as follow. 

Photo taken by Anthony Goulding.

Champion Team Overall – Walk the Line – 1500 points

Champion Angler – Barry Higgins – 1500 points

Champion Angler Runner Up – Cameron George – 397.5 points

Champion Male Angler Light Tackle – Cameron George – 397.5 points

Champion Male Angler Heavy Tackle – Barry Higgins – 1500 points

Champion Junior Angler – Ryan McKinnon - 122.5 points

Champion Angler Other Species – Cameron George - 397.5 points

Champion Boat Over 7m – Spot On – 563.12 points

Runner Up Boat Over 7m – Capricorn – 112.5 points

Champion Boat 7m and Under – Walk the Line – 1500 points

Meritorious Effort Award – Clare on Addixion – Busted off winning female category fish after long fight.

Bullfish Trophy – Yahoo 2 – dropped boat off back of car on highway.

First Billfish – Barry Higgins.

2011 Champions: WALK THE LINE - Barry Higgins, Brent Higgins and Peter Bain.

Day 4 Results.
Day 4 of the 25th Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic seen a total of 38 fish tagged and released from the 22 competing boats, below is day 4 results for the 2011 tournament.

Place	Boat	Angler	Weight	Location
1st	Askari	Ray Camilleri	150 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
			300 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
			100 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
			400 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
			100 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
2nd	Hotshot	John Delamare	600 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
		Steve Gardner	150 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
		Trevor Rawson	200 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
			250 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
3rd	Hellraiser	Larry Curtis	250 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
			200 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
		John Smith	850 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
4th	Onsite	Lindsay Ryan	250 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
		Graham Whiticker	750 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
			850 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
5th	Calypso	Craig Reagor	250 lb	Day Reef
			350 lb	Day Reef
		Robert Rich	1100 lb	Day Reef
6th	Viking II	Conner Craven	200 lb	Ribbon Reef No:3
			150 lb	Ribbon Reef No:3
			150 lb	Ribbon Reef No:3
7th	Tradition	Lydie Magers	400 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
			250 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
			800 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
8th	Kanahoee	Amanda Thompson	300 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
			950 lb	Ribbon Reef No:2
9th	Reelistic	Stewart Burroughs	200 lb	Ribbon Reef No"10
		Philip Scott	250 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
10th	Little Audrey	Philip Scott	250 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
		Ken Klein	950 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
11th	Spartacus	Ralph Czabayski	250 lb	Day Reef
			500 lb	Day Reef
12th	Mistress	Barry Alty	250 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
13th	Top Shot	Tomonori Omi	200 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
14th	Moana III	Andrey Grigoriev	300 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
15th	Hattitude	Andrew Harvey	175 lb	Ribbon Reef No:5
16th	Amokura	Plillip Mcloy	100 lb	Ribbon Reef No:8
17th	Bill Collector	Chris Dwyer	200 lb	Ribbon Reef No:8

Good luck to all compeating in this years tournament for day 5.

Day 3 Results.
Day 3 of the 25th Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic seen a total of 21 fish tagged and released from the 22 competing boats, below is day 3 and the overall standings for the 2011 tournament.

Place	Boat	Angler	Weight	Location
1st	Little Audrey	Jamie Blewitt	800 lb	Ribbon Reef No:5
		Ken Klein	400 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
		Hayden Smith	850 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
		Phillip Webster	150 lb	Ribbon Reef No:4
2nd	Top Shot	Tomonori Omi	120 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
			850 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
			250 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
3rd	Askari	Ray Camilleri	400 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
		Mitchell Liddall	900 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
		David Tucker	250 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
4th	Hellraiser	Larry Curtis	300 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
		Danny Curtis	120 lb	Ribbon Reef No:7
5th	Spartacus	Ralph Czabayski	200 lb	Day Reef
			150 lb	Day Reef
6th	Moana	Andrey Grigoriev	900 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
			160 lb	Ribbon Reef No:9
7th	Viking II	Connor Craven	600 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
8th	Mistress	Barry Alty	900 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
9th	Calypso	Robert Rich	700 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
10th	Reely Black	Chris ellis	300 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10
11th	Onsite	Lindsay Ryan	350 lb	Ribbon Reef No:10

Continue reading for the full stats.

A total of 10 billfish were tagged and released for the competition this year.

There were very testing conditions with 20 - 30 knot winds forcing most boats to take shelter around the Palm Group of Islands or behind the spit at Cape Bowling Green for the boats that headed south.

KEKOA with Captain Luke Fallon tagged 5 of those billfish followed by KANAHOEE with Captain Chris Miles tagging 2, CASTILLE with Captain Dean Beech tagging 1, MANANA tagging 1 and ELEKTRAKUSEN tagging 1. The 10 billfish tagged and released consisted of 6 Black Marlin and 4 Sailfish.

Final standing were as follows:

Champion Boat 8m and over	Kekoa
Champion Skipper 8m and over	Luke Fallon
Champion Angler 8m and over	Mike Carney
Champion Boat 8m and under	Elektrakusen
Champion skipper 8m and under	Chris davidson
Champion Angler 8m and under	Dale weldon

Cairns Bluewater 6kg Billfish Tournament 2011 Results

The 2011 tournament results were all on count back

Day 1:
First Billfish - Rohan Cross on board  "Nickers" with a Black Marlin
Last Billfish - George Campbell "Team Fin-nor" on board 'Kanahoee" with a Sailfish
Heaviest Other Game - Emily Poulter on board "Think Big" with a 11.5kg Tuna

Day 2:
First Billfish - Emily Griffen on board "Hellraiser 2" with a  Black Marlin
Last Billfish - Jamie Leahy on board "Bijoux" Black Marlin
Heaviest Other Game Fish - Jason Blanford on board "Billfish" with a 6.6kg Tuna

Day 3:
No Billfish
Heaviest Other Game Fish - Wade Jorgensen on board On Strike with a 13.2kg S/Mackerel

Overall results:
Champion Team Overall -" Nickers"
Champion Male Angler - Rohan Cross on board "Nickers"
Champion Female Angler - Emily Griffen on board "Hellraiser 2"

As there were no billfish tagged by Junior anglers in the tournament, it was awarded to the heaviest other game fish category.

Champion Junior Angler-Emily Poulter on board  "Think Big"

Champion Overall "Team Nickers"

Jon Jarvis gives Game Fishing Hub the inside report on this years 2011 Pirtek Dampier Billfish Shootout. Dampier is famous for two reasons, lots of sailfish and notoriously bad weather.

55 boats fished for a total of 67 billfish tagged and released.

Champion Team - TOURETTES with 5 billfish
Runner Up - PURSUIT with 4 billfish
Champion Male - Kevin Deakon with 3 billfish
Champion Female - Fiona Jamieson with 4 billfish

Continue reading for the full report.

Final results for the 2011 Mooloolaba Game Fishing Club's 20th Anniversary "Billfish Bonanza" held over the weekend of the 23rd - 24th April. The tournament attracted 14 boats and with unfavorable weather conditions "Rain and Wind" the competing teams still made the most of the "Billfish Bonanza's" well run tournament as I made a sneak peak apperance to witness their tournament on Saturday night.

"Liberty III" did not waste any time hooking an estimated 180lb blue marlin shortly after start fishing with angler Troy Tinslay with a glowing smile to tag the first billfish of the tournament. MGFC boat “Kokomo” tagged a 40Kg sailfish on 8kg tackle for owner Ken Summeril .Unfortunately as the novel goes there were some hard luck moments of lost billfish from competing boats. The name “Aquasition” keeps poping up around the South East Tournament Circuit. They ended up with a pending QLD and Australian record mahi mahi for female angler Bev Fennel at 14kg on 8kg line, a great effort Bev congratulations.

Champion Boat Over 7m	Liberty 3
Champion Boat Under 7m	Aquasition
Champion Male Angler	Troy Tinslay
Champion Female Angler	Bev Fennel

Even with the unfavrauble weather conditions, the "Mooloolaba Game Fishing Club" had a great result with all skippers, crews and anglers having a great enjoyable time with some great prizes. Thank you to Nathan Douglass for supplying Game Fishing Hub with up to date details of yet another well run tournament, and a thank you goes out to all that helped in the Mooloolaba Billfish Bonanza.

Congratulations to all who competed and hope to see you next year...

Final results for the CABO Yachts & Bruce Lynton Land Rover Blue Marlin Classic saw only 14 boats enter due to the unfavourable weather conditions on day one. There were a total of 45 anglers resulting in 16 strikes, 11 hook ups, 3 tags and 2 captures. First billfish for day 1 went to Blake O'Connor on board Kiwi and last billfish tagged for day 2 went to Kevin Royal on board Zeus.

Champion male angler went to Blake O'Connor with 1 blue marlin and heaviest other species went to Tony Cowgill on board Black Label with a 21Kg Mahi Mahi. Overall standings in 3rd place went to Zeus with one blue marlin, 2nd place went to Larva with one blue marlin and 1st place went to Kiwi with one blue marlin.

The Gold Coast Game Fishing Club's Light Tackle Masters dates will be held on the 12th - 15th January 2012.

Day 1 of the Cabo Yachts & Bruce Lynton Land Rover Blue Marlin Classic only attracted 14 boats to the tournament due to unfavourable weather conditions. The tournament director reported that in the first sked angler Blake O'Conner tagged a blue marlin on board Kiwi to be the first and only blue marlin tagged for day one. Hopefully day two weather conditions improve for the fleet and the blue marlin bite returns as it has been a hot and cold bite this season on the south east Queensland coast.