Fishing Reports 30/10/08

Bowling Green Report

Far Call, Oi Bud & Bad Company ventured down to Bowling Green on the weekend in search of a late season Billfish. Conditions down there were definitely allot different to what they were 4 weeks ago as there wasn’t any birds & not a skerrick of bait to be found between the 3 Boats. Fortunately though, Far Cry managed to tag a little Black Marlin with Bad Company also getting a look at one but with out any luck.

Oi Bud, ended up checking out the Mackerel Patches on Sunday & with flying fish being smashed all over the place they managed to get stuck into some good sized Spanish mackerel, Trevally & Northern Bluefin to 20kg. They also raised a little Sailfish but were unable to get a bite out of it

Myrmidon

OB26, Burgundy Lady & Pirate II dusted off there heavy tackle gear & headed out to Myrmidon Reef to do some exploring hoping to get attached to one of the first Big Black Marlin of the season. With reports stating that water clarity wasn’t the most ideal & Scad being hard to find they all had a pretty quiet first day. On Sunday, Pirate II managed to successfully tag an estimated 180lb Black Marlin on the top end of Myrmidon. With the fishing being very quiet OB26 & Burgundy Lady decided to head into the closer reefs where they got amongst some good sized Spanish mackerel

Lucinda

For everyone thinking of traveling up to this weekends Lucinda Light Tackle Game Fishing Tournament you can still expect Billfish to be hanging around the Reefs, as local reports state that there has been recent captures of Black Marlin & Sailfish around the Brittomart & Bramble Reef area within the last week. Spanish Mackerel have also been thick around the place also

Photos From Top: Ken Phipps cradles a 20kg Nothern Bluefin which was caught at the Mackerel Spot (Bowling Green) aboard Oi Bud
Photo Below: Mick Djstra caught this whopping Mackerel at Brimble Reef aboard Burgundy Lady

Mid Week Madness

Just got a call from Club Life Member Mick Meiers who could hardly contain his excitement as his first Statement was "Bowling Green is still firing"...With flat weather conditions yesterday some lucky members managed to arrange the day off & head down to the grounds. Mick reported that even though the water temperature was higher then usual and the bait was scarce, the fish were still there in numbers and were hungry. With only 2 onboard Princess C, they managed to get 3-8 for the day and although Mick didnt have confirmed numbers he reported that the other 2 boats that were fishing with him were kept very busy throughtout the day also, including Trevor & Vicki Albrey who managed to christen there brand new boat with Vicki's first ever Sailfish!!

Fingers crossed we get a good weekend soon so the people that have to work during the week can get down there :-)

October Monthly Comp

Well once again the weather forecast left most of us who stayed land bound on the weekend scratching our heads as the predicted 15/20 knot winds did not eventuate, which meant it turned out to be ideal conditions for the 10 Club boats who made the trip down to Bowling Green for the October Monthly Comp.

With 14 Tag Cards (11 Black Marlin & 3 Sailfish) handed into the weighmaster on Sunday Night, Bowling Green Continues to provide anglers with some red hot billfishing action late into the season. Leigh O'Brien aboard OB26 reported that although the bait was very hard to find the fish were still there in great numbers & continue to attack troll baits in packs of 3&4 fish.

Far Cry finished the weekend with 4 Billfish & went on to take Champion Team mean while Cool Change & OB26 finished with 3 tags each (including Jordan O'Brien's first ever Billfish) & Burgundy Lady & Envee with 2 fish each

Although we are fast approaching our Heavy Tackle Months out at Myrmidon, I have no doubt there will be quite a few skippers & anglers biting at the bit to get back down to Bowling Green to enjoy this fantastic season while it lasts

Bowling Green Madness Continues

Last weekend the TGFC held it's September Monthly Comp & with predicted 10 knot winds, 10 Club Boats made there way down to Bowling Green in search of some late season Billfish.

With the wind blowing more around the 15-17 knot range boats found conditions very uncomfortable & compared to previous weeks the bait was becoming very difficult to find but the small patches of bait that were found still held plenty of fish. Out of the 10 boats, there was 20 Black Marlin & 4 Sailfish tagged for the weekend.


With water temperatures rising & the bait dissapearing, lets hope the fish can hang around for next weekend's Billfish Bonanza (3rd & 4th October)


Photo Above - Russell O'Brien & Todd O'Shaughnessy with a little Sailfish

Photo Bottom - Champion Junior, Cassis Powis with a 7.85kg Northern Bluefin caught on 6kg - Great effort!!!!

TGFC finds Sucess at Innisfail

By Greg Gibert (Gilbert Group QLD)

Just a quick e-mail to let you know that my team representing The Townsville Game Fishing Club fishing on our boat G'd Up, won the Innisfail Game Fishing Clubs annual billfish tournament last weekend, Our team consisted of Mick Mears (Skipper) Rob Vearing (decky and angler) Craig Fitzsimmons (angler) Jan Gilbert (angler) and myself (angler and team captain) all TGFC members.

We had perfect conditions all through the three days from Saturday through to Monday afternoon. We caught a sailfish and a small black marlin and were coming second on count back at the end of on day one, the second day condition were fantastic but we failed to land one sail fish and two black marlin that failed to hook up, this saw us going into day three in fourth position with Mauna Kea leading, and Iona and Kanahoee second and third respectfully,

We got a strike by a large black marlin just after start fishing but did not hook him up, shortly after a nice sail fish took the shotgun lure and we had him at the boat in about fifteen minutes tagged photographed (see attached) and released, soon after the sail fish was released a small black marlin took a swimming scad and we had it tagged and released in five minutes, this brought us back into contention as none of the lead boat scored any fish on the first sked's. Not long after the first sked was finished a nice black marlin took another swimming scad and after about ten minutes we had a tag in him and let him on his way. We now were leading the tournament and held the lead with no other lead boats tagging any bill fish on day three, this saw us win the event by one billfish. Our team won the champion team, Mick Mears won champion skipper, Rob Vearing won Champion Decky and I won Champion angler days one and three and also won champion angler and champion visiting angler.

We all had a great weekend at Innisfail with twenty four boats competing, it was great to win a large tournament against some of the best boats and skipper in the country and in our own boat. The event was very well run and was the best in it long history.


CONGRATULATIONS TGFC!!!

Oh what a magnificent week!!!

Well this years Gilbert Group NQ Mining Billfish Challenge continued to prove that it is one of the most successful Game Fishing Tournaments on the East Coast Australia with these years event turning out to be the largest ever held in the Tournament’s 26 Year History.

With a over $100,000 worth of Cash & Prizes up for grabs as well as some awesome fishing action experienced in the lead up to the Tournament it wasn’t hard to see why over 40 Boats & 142 anglers made the trip North to be apart of this Spectacular Fishing event.

With anglers experiencing Good & bad weather conditions throughout the Tournament the World Renowned Billfish Grounds continued to live up to International Standards with 408 Billfish seen, 318 Hooked & 183 Tagged throughout the 5 Day Event.

Local Boat ‘MOJO’ skippered by well known local Game Fishing Identity Mark Parkes took out the 8m & Under Category with a total of 9 Billfish & Gold Coast Boat ‘GAMETIME’ took out the 8m & Over Category with a total of 16 Billfish.

On behalf of Club President, Tom Hatrick & the Organizing Committee I would like to personally thank all the Sponsors, Volunteers & everyone who participated as without you all it would not have been the success it was. We look forward to seeing you all in 2009.

Tournament Fever hits Townsville

Well the feeling around the place is becoming more & more electric in the final countdown to this years 2008 Gilbert Group NQ Mining Industry Billfish Challenge. With visitors starting to arrive in Townsville they are being blowen away by the fishing reports that have been coming from the Bowling Green Area. Confirmed Reports have several boats averaging 8 - 10 Billfish tags a day, with packs of both little Black Marlin & sailfish harrasing baits.

With the the fishing action absolutely going off & the predicted light winds forecasted for the start of the Tournament, it is building to be one hell of a week.

If you are unable to participate in this wonderful event, The Townsville Game Fishing Club would like to invite the Townsville Public down to be apart of this wonderful occasion. Boats will be in Port at the beautiful Townsville Marina on Friday Night, Sunday Night & Wednesday Night and we encorouge families to come down & check out the multi-million dollar Game Fishing machines.

The Traditional Cleveland Bay Shot gun start will also be held at 7am on Saturday Morning - The best vantage point will be from the Rockwall which can be accessed on the Strand side of Jupiters Casino

For more information, please log onto www.townsvillegamefishclub.com or go aboard well knowen Game Fishing Vessel Reel Chase with Kelly Dalling at www.blackmarlinfishingblog.com

August Monthly Comp Report

With another weekend of decent weather, over 10 Club Boats headed down to the Bowling Green Grounds to compete in the August Club Monthly Comp and with fishing conditions continuing to be favorable it wasn’t long before everyone shared in on some Bill fishing action. Burgundy Lady was first to tag a fish, with Karen Foley successfully tagging a Black Marlin at 8.12 am. A total of 9 Billfish were tagged by club members on Day one including a couple of memorable captures such as, Jenny Haines first Sailfish aboard Burgundy Lady & young Zac Ryan tagging his first ever Black Marlin aboard his Dad’s boat, Far Cry. Congratulations to both of you & I have no doubt there are many more Billfish to come!!

With the Day 2 forecast expected to come up, most boats headed back but it was Sea Baby IV who continued there fantastic form with Angler Simon Hallam tagging the only Billfish for the day at 11.15am

Sea Baby IV went on to take out the Champion Boats honors with a total of 3 Billfish for the weekend, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Although there was only 10 Billfish tagged by Club members there were several others tagged by Non-members as many boats are starting to arrive pre-tournament from down South

With this weekend looking like its going to be a blow out for the Billfish Bonanza, I’m sure it will give anglers , crews & skipper the opportunity to get organized for the up & coming Gilbert Group NQ Mining Industry Billfish Challenge which is due to start in early September.

Midweek Bowling Green Report

With the good weather continuing into the early part of the week, most of us get frustrated as we have to spend the perfect days at our normal Day Jobs. But there is a lucky few that can manage a day off here & there. Its emails like this one which I recieved while at work, that only make a girl cry with jealousy ;-)

"Hi Talina, Trip down to Bowling Green on Tuesday. Was supposed to be until Thursday but came home when the predicted s.w. winds coming in early Wednesday morning. Tagged two but saw plenty of bait!! Cathy (Princess C)


Top - Cathy Bambling with her little Black
Bottom - Mick Meires gives Todd O'Shaughnessy a hand with his little Black

Marlin Action Continues off Townsville

With another great weekend of awesome weather, 14 Townsville Game Fishing Club boats made there way down to the waters of Bowling Green Bay and were once again treated to some magnificent Billfishing Action. I have not yet confirmed actual numbers tagged but after witnessing a heap of little Black Marlin jumping behind boats all over the place, I believe everyone got amongst some action at one stage or another. I do have actual confirmation that on the first day Sea Baby IV tagged 4 Billfish including a double hookup on Sailfish & then went on to tag another 4 on Sunday, Kanahoee tagged 6 for the weekend, the boys aboard Elektrakushen tagged 4 on Saturday & both Sedative & MOJO tagged 2 litte Black Marlin each.

The bait & marlin were very inconsistant thoughout the weekend but as usual the hot bite started like someone flicked a switch & numerous boats were hooked up at once.

After a red hot days fishing, a total of 9 club boats came together back at the Cape Bowling Green Spit for there tradional raft up & party...& as you would imagine it was one hell of a night

With the Billfish around in great numbers, as you would imagine the excitement is building around the place especially in the lead up to Billfish Bonanza (23rd & 24th August) & Gilbert Group NQ Mining Billfish Tournament (5th-11th September) and after a dissapointing season last year, I have no doubt this year will make up for it!!

Confirmed Stats are as follows:

Sea Baby IV - 8 Tagged (Including 2 Sailfish)
Kanahoee - 6 Tagged
Elektrakushen - 4 Tagged
Nail It - 4 Tagged (Including 1 Sailfish)
Sedative - 2 Tagged
MOJO - 2 Tagged
Flo-tation - 1 Tagged