|
Meetings first Thursday of
every month 7 pm at
the Townsville Motor Boat & Yacht Club.
Next general meeting 4th March, 2010. New members
welcome.
Visitors
are Welcome! Click for 2008/2009 TGFC Membership Form
|
|
|
NEXT COMP
|
|
6th and 7th
March, 2010
|
|
There
will be some tidying,
sorting and archiving of stories, pics and info on
these pages.
This will result in a less cluttered splash page
with material (older stuff archived) still
accessible.
|
 |
Send fishing reports, photos and
stories to
stav@townsvillemarine.com.au
·
 Tournaments & Coming Events:
Peter Faust 13/14th March
2010
Click
for info on booking.
2010 Billfish Challenge 4th-8th
September 2010.
Current News
February Comp a successful weekend
February Comp was
very successful. A total of 12 boats fished with 9 returning
to Nelly Bay for a very socialable evening. Many thanks to
Tom Hatrick for the use of his luxurious pontoon. Well Done
to Zac Ryan, again. Who fished with his father on Far Cry
along with his partner in crime Ron Stephen. Zac tagged and
released his first sailfish and weighed a number of other
game fish. Unlucky to the boys onboard Elle who also tagged
a Sailfish.
Submitted
8/02/2010
Sailfish
are out and
about!
Submitted
19/01/2010
Not many fish on
the T.G.F.C
scoreboard at
the moment so "
ya best get up
em ".
Junior angler
Zac Ryan was
introducing
mates Harrison
and Craig into
the ways of
gamefishing last
weekend on the
good ship FARCRY.
A slow morning
of bottom
bouncing with
only one top
quality trout
caught by young
Harrison and it
was out with the
trolling gear.
An enquiry on
the port
outrigger had a
large sail pick
up and drop the
skirted lure
several times
over 500 meters.
Each time it was
presented the
picky sail would
crash and drop
again eventually
switching to eat
the starboard
lure. It was not
to be for young
Zac, as the fish
become unstuck
before lines
were cleared.!
Hate to say it
but it all
turned out the
same way 10
minutes later
when a 50kg sail
eluded Zac. Not
an easy task on
6 kg line class,
by the way these
fish were in
secret spot 30
best ask captain
Tim.
Regards all,
VEARO
PS
DON'T FORGET
MEETING FIRST
THURSDAY OF EACH
MONTH. BRING A
MATE.
TIM RYAN WITH
THE CATCH OF THE
DAY
His 70KG braid
out-fit was to
much for this
beast of the
sea, the shark
was released .
Marlin &
Sails Still Around Over The
Xmas Break
After the very quiet fishing
experienced during the Port
Hinchinbrook Tournament last
year, Tom Hatrick was
surprised to hook up a nice
sailfish within 15 minutes
of running into one of his
fishing areas off Britomart
Reef on Dec 27th. Things did
get a little hectic
with only Tom and Kaye
onboard Utopia who were just
cruising along enjoying a
bit of R&R. Both lines were
running back off the fly
bridge, no tag in the pole
and the clears were all
zipped up with the air-cond
running.
Tom fought the fish from the
fly bridge whilst also
driving the boat, an easy
task when there's pressure
on the line but when the
fish from time to time
started running hard
straight back at the boat
Kaye had to abandon the tag
poll to race up stairs to
grab the levers, all fun
with a little colourful
language. After a few
interesting moments the tag
went in and the Sailfish was
released. Next morning after
staying out at the reef the
whole event duplicated
itself only this time on a
bigger scale as they trolled
their way back to
Hinchinbrook Island hooking
a nice 200 lb plus Marlin
which nearly spooled the
reel twice. Eventually as
with the Sail this
fish after a very
exhilarating fight was also
tagged.
|
MESSAGE FROM
ASHLEY RE PETER FAUST
WEEKEND
As you know that i have
made bookings for Faust
on the 26-27th of March.
The weekend is fully
laid on with food
supplied and cooked by
the camp Kanga.
Price for the weekend is
now $70 and that
includes 2 nites accom,
BBQ dinner on Friday
nite, Sat morning
breakfast, Sat nite
dinner and Sunday
morining breakfast. We
will be cooking the
Friday nite dinner.
Kids will be cheaper,
now all I need is
numbers and members can
get back to me via my
email.
Please let me know
numbers ASAP -
cotterashley@hotmail.com
|
| 3rd and 4th
October Billfish Bonanza 2009
The tournament couldn't have
been better timed with dead flat
waters and Myrmidon firing at
the moment with around 20 big
Marlin hooked up on the weekend
during the club comp and
impressive catches of yellow
fin, dolphin fish and Wahoo had
by all.
|
|
This Monster Wahoo caught by Ron
Stephen on Utopia was some
compensation for the 8-900lb
Black Marlin he dropped earlier
in the day.
Lew Haines caught his 1st
Marlin, a 600 pounder whilst
fishing on his own boat Burgundy
Lady and young Jack Nicolosi had
a 3 hour battle with another
almost 1000 lb Marlin before
succumbing to fatigue and
handing the rod over to his dad
Sam.
(More pics below)
Hopefully the good weather
remains and we all get a number
of trips out wide to make up for
the uneventful light tackle
season experienced right up the
coast this year. All the best-
good luck. |
 |
 |
9 boats
made the trip to Myrmidon
with socialising one of the highlights. |
Sam
actually got a turn on the rod
and produced this 20 kg mackeral. |
 |
 |
|
Alex
hooked up to a nice tuna. |
Donna's
11 kg Mahi Mahi. |
 |
 |
|
Alex's
nice tuna. |
Jack
harnessed in for the fight of his life. |
 |
 |
|
Shots of
the big marlin during the contest. |
 |
 |
|
800-1000
lb marlin so close to the boat! |
And there
she goes! |
|
|
2009 Mike Carney Toyota Billfish Challenge
The fishing was perhaps the slowest in the
tournaments almost 30 year history but the
weather was perfect and a great time had by all.
Congratulations to all the winners and many
thanks to our numerous sponsors anglers and crew
who supported and attended the event, we look
forward to seeing you all again next year. To
all our organising committee and other club
members who stepped in and helped, well done and
many thanks, this great event would never have
been possible without you.
Club President Tom Hatrick
Some Pics from
the Mike Carney Toyota Billfish Challenge 2009
Presentation Night
 |
 |
| 1st
boat over 8 metres - Sea Baby IV |
2nd
boat over 8 metres - Mauna Kea |
 |
 |
| 3rd
boat over 8 metres - Utopia |
1st
boat 8 metres and under - Oi Bud |
 |
 |
| 2nd
boat 8 metres and under - Bad Company |
3rd
boat 8 metres and under - Mates Rates |
 |
 |
Alby
Albery - 1st marlin at 82 years -
meritorious encouragement award |
Champion angler over 8m - Toni Williams
-Utopia |
 |
 |
|
Champion angler under 8m - Marcus
Belcher - Bad Company |
Champion skipper over 8 metres - Sea
Baby IV
Rod Mathisen with wife, Kaylene |
 |
|
Champion skipper under 8
metres - Tood O'Shaughnessy - Oi Bud |
|
|
|
2009 Updates to be Added |
|
Weekend Fishing 9th August
The
forecast weather of 15 to 20 never materialised
which unfortunately kept most at home. Utopia did a
pre booked corporate charter to Bowling Green
Southern Grounds Saturday, in what turned out to be
12 knot winds and mild seas. Fishing the grounds for
2 1/2 to 3 hours in the morning they raised and
hooked four Marlin getting two to the boat, then
ventured off for a bit of Mackerel mayhem with
hours of all lines loaded with 6-8 kg fish. The
mainly first time anglers lost way more than they
landed but still all went home pretty well bagged
out with sore arms and big smiles. Good news is the
Marlin are definitely rolling into the area.
TGFC 08/09
Presentation Night.
A
fantastic crowd of more than 100 members and
sponsors gathered at the Townsville Motor Boat and
Yacht Club on Friday night to celebrate another
great year of Game Fishing. It was great to see such
close competition throughout the year and we all
look forward to great fishing in the next year.
Congratulations to the winners listed in the
pics below.
Click for all pics.
Scoreboard updated 8th June 2009:
Get the up to date stats by clicking
this link
or hitting the Score Board button LHS of
screen.
|
|
June Monthly Comp
The June
Monthly two day comp held over the
Queens Birthday long week end
couldn't have been fished in better
conditions with absolute dead calm
seas. Unfortunately the early run of
Marlin haven't yet turned up with
boats unsuccessfully scanning the
waters from Brittomart Reef in the
North to the Southern Grounds off
Cape Bowling Green and right on out
to the shelf at Myrmidon Reef.
Schools of Mackerel kept most boats
busy though but were generally
smaller fish only qualifying for a
tag rather than the eskie. Trevor
Albury took out the heaviest other
game fish catagorie with this 16kg
plus Wahoo pictured, Utopia
accumulated over 1400 points to take
out champion boat, Cassie Powis was
the champion small fry and also had
the heaviest mackerel for the comp,
Bronte Florence won Junior and Kaye
Hatrick had the heaviest Tuna.
Due to the club comp finishing
Sunday arvo, we had two weigh ins,
one one the Sunday Evening and the
second on the Monday so as to allow
boats to stay out at sea and enjoy
the rest of the long weekend. Around
thirty members turned up for the
Sunday weigh in to check out the
capturers , scores and to have one
of the very tastey meals from the
new Motor Boat Club Restaurant. Best
of luck for the final weekends of
the club year.
|
Back to back wins for TGFC/Kekoa at NSW Interclub
Well-known Townsville
skipper, Captain Luke Fallon continued to prove that
he is one of Australia’s most prominent Skippers as
he led the Townsville Game Fishing Club Team to back
to back “Champion Visiting Teams Awards” at this
year’s NSW Interclub Tournament held at Port
Stephens.
Click here for more
Team TGFC/Kekoa Celebrate - From
left, Shane Flynn, Anthony Richardson, Captain Luke
Fallon, Theona Maguire, Decky Tim Ryan
and Talina O'Brien |
|
|
|
|
|
2009 Predators Tournament roars to
life
With
the move to a bigger & better venue & tens of
thousands of dollars in prizes up for grabs
including a Boat, motor & trailer package donated by
Townsville Marine, the 2009 Townsville Game Fishing
Club’s “Predators Tournament” is shaping up to be
the biggest and best tournaments in the events short
history. At last year’s event, 20 - 25 knot winds
prevailed and still over 550 anglers competed...Click
Here for more
 |
|
*Myrmidon Continues to produce Magic
(including a record Wahoo)
*Myrmidon reef itself is a Marine Park Green Zone
(no fishing allowed within the zoned area),
any reference made in this or any other story
published on this website in regards to fishing at
Myrmidon refers to fishing the immediate or
surrounding areas out side the green zone, not
within.
With the last monthly comp of the year fast
approaching (this weekend) Club members would be
crazy not to polish off there heavy tackle gear &
head out to Myrmidon Reef to get amongst some of the
spectacular fishing action that anglers have been
experiencing in the past 4 weeks
With good weather predictions forecasted & some
awesome “Big Fish reports” I have a feeling that the
Myrmidon Lagoon might be a little busy on Saturday
Evening.
If you haven’t heard through the grape vine, Team on
‘Oi Bud’ experienced a Big Marlin bite of a life
time back on the 15th & 16th
of November, with 6 Fish raised, 5 bites, 1 tagged &
another big fish lost after a epic 4 hour battle
into the darkness of the night. All fish were
between the 80lb – 500lb mark…..To check out Oi
Bud's Report
Click Here
Mean while, last weekend, Team Far Cry mad the trip
out to Myrmidon & found immediate success with Club
Junior, Zac Ryan successfully tagging an Estimated
500lb Black Marlin as well as a monster 40kg Wahoo,
which is now a Pending Australian Junior Record,
Congratulations Zac!!!!… For Far Cry's Report
Click
Here
Therehas also been reports (www.blackmarlinfishingblog.com)
that Captain Luke Fallon onboard well known
Townsville boat Kekoa who is fishing his way back
through the area from Cairns. The guys got 2 from 3
Black Marlin on Monday & another 2 on Tuesday
including an estimated 600lber.
If you’re keen to be apart of some Myrmidon Heavy
Tackle Action, now’s the time to do it!!!
See you out there!!
Above: Zac Ryan with his Pending Australian
Junior Record |
|
TGFC Triumphs at Lucinda
The 2008 Pro Tackle Lucinda Light
Tackle Tournament was held over the weekend of 1st
2nd & 3rd of November and even
though there was only 3 Billfish tagged (1 x Black
Marlin & 2 Sailfish) for the tournament, as usual
everyone who attended had a fantastic time
Once again the tournament was
generously sponsored by Peter & Elizabeth Hazard
from Pro Tackle Townsville who once again donated
some absolutely fantastic prizes and together with
the organization of the Ingham Rod & Reel Club and
the hospitality of the Lucinda Point Hotel the
weekend continued lived up to it’s reputation of
being one of the best social game fish tournaments
in the region.
Out of the 13 Boats who fished 7 TGFC
Boats made the trip North for the weekend & like
last year it was the Townsville members who found
success, especially for Team ELE which consisted of
Anthony Richardson, Todd O’Shaughnessy & Talina
O’Brien who were lucky enough to successfully tag a
Black Marlin on Saturday Afternoon & took out the
Prestigious Malcolm Florence Perpetual Trophy for
Champion Team. Last Years winners Levende came
Runner Up with Theona McGuire following up last
years form by tagging a Sailfish on Day 2. Other
winners were Bronte Florence who took out Champion
Junior. Congratulations to everyone
involved!!
|
|
Mark Hislop takes out 07/08 GFAA Award
On behalf of our President Tom
Hatrick, the Committee & all our members I'd like to
Congratulate Mark Hislop for taking out the
prestigious Tom Bell Trophy for the heaviest Game
Fish weighed (excluding sharks) in Australian waters
in 2007/2008. This was rewarded o Mark after
his history making 1109lb Black Marlin capture in
September last year at Myrmidon Reef off Townsville.
This was not only Mark's first ever Billfish but the
first 1000lb Black Marlin ever caught off Townsville
& the first ever caught in waters South of Cairns.
I would also like to advise that this is the first
time in 5 Years that a Black Marlin has taken out
the title as the previous 4 years have been Blue
Marlin. Congratulations Mark!!
Photo Right:
The prestigious Tom Bell Trophy |
|
|
 Discounted
Tournament Shirts
 
These magnificent
Karen Foley designed Tournament Polo's & T-Shirts
are still available in all sizes for a absolute
bargain price of only
Polo Shirts - $
22.00
T-Shirts - $
15.00
Contact
Tom Hatrick-Mobile:0427 581194
Work: 07 47712677
Email
tdh@mikunioz.com
|
|
|
2008/2009 Annual General
Meeting Info
Well
for those of you who didn't attend the AGM on
Thursday 16th, this an update on the night's
proceedings.
Only about 30
people attended the AGM and no nominations were
received for either the President or Secretary
positions so Tom Hatrick & Jan Gilbert will stay
on in caretaker roles until those positions are
filled.
Anthony
Florence has expanded his job role on the
committee by taking on the Vice President role
as well as the senior Weigh master. He
will be capably assisted by new weigh masters
Gary Powis & Ken Phipps.
Kelly
O'Shaughnessy has put her hand up to take over
the books as Treasurer and will relieve Kaye
after six years.
The other
committee positions were filled by re-standing
committee members, Mick Meiers, Donna Nicolosi
and Russell O'Brien and there were four new
committee members nominated. These new
committee members are Rob Vearing and Lew Haines
with Mark Parkes and Talina O'Brien rejoining
for this term.
On behalf of
Tom & the previous committee, we would like to
thank and welcome all the new faces who have
joined our progressive committee and we welcome
some fresh ideas for the management of this
great club.
We
would also like to thank those hard working
members of the previous committee for their
support and commitment over the last year.
We wish the new
TGFC committee all the best and we trust you
will enjoy your time on the committee.
|
|
Kanahoee Does it again
I'm proud to announce that local Boat
Kanahoee has once again taken out the prestigious
Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic for the second
year running. Townsville Skipper Dave
Pemberton together with TGFC Members Rod Mathiesen,
Lindsey Pemberton & boat owner Robert Drane came
from behind on the last day tagging 2 fish to finish
the Tournament with a total of 6 tags.
Congratulations!!!
For all the final stats &
photos go to
http://www.lizardislandgfc.asn.au/ |
|
TGFC Continue to find Success Away
Greg Gilbert (Left) & Rob Vearing hold Greg's
Sailfish
Only one day after the Gilbert Group NQ Mining
Industry Billfish Challenge had finished a small
group of TGFC Members including our Tournament's
Major Sponsors, Greg & Jan Gilbert, made the
trip up to fish the 2008 Innisfail Billfish
Tournament and ended up cleaning up most of the
major awards. Team Captain Greg Gilbert
was wonderful enough to share some of his time &
let us in on what a wonderful weekend that was
experienced:-
"Our team aboard our boat G'd Up
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"
A very big Congratulations to all involved!!!
|
|
|
TGFC Life Members recognised
Recently at the 2008
Gilbert Group NQ Mining Billfish Challenge
Presentation Night which was held at Gala Ballroom's
of Jupiter Casino, the Townsville Game Fishing Club
paid tribute to it's Clubs Life Members and
presented them with a magnificent custom made Gold
Ring to show there appreciation for all the hard
work, commitment, dedication & participation that
they have shown to our wonderful Club over the past
2 decades. The 6 Gentlemen in question were (from
left to right) Mark Parkes, Mick Meiers, Russell
O'Brien, Calvin Tilley, Jim Dalling & Peter O'Brien
Upon Presentation
a member of the Audience also summed up how
respected these guys are within the Australian Game
Fishing Community by announcing that "These guys are
some of the best ever skippers in Australia" & this
is just one of the reasons why we are so very proud
to have them apart of our Club and look forward to
seeing there very popular faces for many many years
to come.
Above - The magnificent Gold
Custom Made Life Member Ring
Photo (Top) Courtesy of Kelly Dalling-http://www.blackmarlinfishingblog.com |
|
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.
Stay tuned for all the Award
winners, photos & more
|
|
Bowling Green Continues to Fire as Tournament
fever hits Townsville
With Southern
Boats starting to arrive for some pre-tournament
fishing the Billfish continue to fire down at
the World renowned grounds of Cape Bowling
Green. With local & interstate boats averaging
6-8 shots a day and 2 boats this season
receiving a massive 19 & 20 shots in a session
the Billfish Season off Townsville this year is
turning out to be nothing but spectacular.
With the up &
coming 2008 Gilbert Group NQ Mining Industry
Billfish Challenge
being the largest & most prestigious Light
Tackle Billfish events in Northern Australia due
to commence on the 5th September & run through
til the 11th, Skippers, crew, anglers & everyone
involved are finding it difficult to contain
there excitement as its building to be the
largest & most successful events in the
Tournaments 26 year history
If you are interested in participating in this
magnificent event the Townsville Game Fishing
Club would like to advise that there are still
seats on boats available so if you are
interested please contact Tom Hatrick on 0427
581194 or Mick Meiers 0427 804719
|
|
TGFC Continues to Support Local Community
Story by Eddie Riddle - Townsville
Bulletin
The TGFC committee
representing at least 200 or so of the region's
keenest fishers donating a whopping $7500 to the
Jerona Citizens Association
The money will
help with significant widening of the Barrattas
Creek boat ramp and installation of a new
floating pontoon.
The upgrade
comes in the wake of several accidents in recent
years and it is hoped the renovation will
alleviate congestion at crucial times for the
general fishing public.
Townsville Game
Fishing Club president Tom Hatrick said the money
was well spent because plenty of the club's small
boat anglers use the Barrattas Creek system for easy
and weather-protected access to the world-renowned
Bowling Green Bay billfish waters.
Photo Above: TGFC
President, Tom Hatrick presents a Jeroma
Representative with a $ 7,500.00 Cheque
|
|
TGFC Members find Success in Cairns
While local members enjoyed there
Presentation Night on Friday and then a superb
weekend of Bill fishing action down at Bowling
Green, well known Life Member, Mick Meier's traveled
up to the Cairns Bluewater Light Tackle Tournament
and fished aboard Sue & Ted Crocker's new Cairns
Custom Craft, Seduca.
There team
consisted of Cairns based TGFC Members, Sue & Ted,
Mick and Roger Kuhnel. With Cairns
experiencing similar fishing action to Townsville,
it turned out to be a very successful weekend with
over 20 Billfish tagged for the 2 day Tournament.
Local Boat, Wild Turkey went on to take out Champion
Boat Honors, with 5 Tags, mean while Sue was able to
christen Seduca with it's first ever Billfish which
ensured she went on to take out Champion Female,
with 2 Black Marlin and a tuna.
Mick reported that
he carefully transported some Bowling Green Yakka's
up to Cairns which turned out to be a huge hit
amongst the Cairns Billfish, as all marlin hooked on
Seaduca were caught on the CBG yakka's.
Mick joked "Once we ran out of the yakka's, we
didn't see another marlin"
Congratulations to
Team Seduca for a very successful weekend and a very
special thank you to Mick Meier's and super baby
sitter Cathy Bambling for making the effort to
travel the 4hrs North
|
|
|
TGFC 2008 Presentation Night
On Friday the 1st of August over 80
Club Members gathered at the Townsville Motor Boat &
Yacht Club to celebrate the past 2007/2008 Season.
Once again
everyone was entertained by the fantastic 'Year in
Review' DVD and although it didn't have much Bill
fishing action due to the disappointing Billfish
Season experienced, the DVD clearly showed that it
was the Annual Social events that made up for it!!
Once all the
official proceedings finished, everyone enjoyed a
fantastic night which continued into the early hours
of Saturday Morning.
A special thanks
goes to Russell O'Brien for once again organising a
great night , to Karen Foley for organising some of
her amazing framed art work for prizes & to everyone
who attended as it truly was a night to remember
To get your copy
of this years TGFC Year in Review, please contact
Talina O'Brien at
tobrien@rlsde.com.au and you can purchase your
copy for $ 10.00. Talina will also have copies
available at the September Meeting
Please
Click here to
check out all the 2007/2008 Winners |
|
|
|
Bowling Green ON FIRE!!!
With some good
weather last weekend a contingent of Club boats hit
the waters of Bowling Green Bay hoping to get
amongst some 2008 Billfish action & boy was there
some action.
With bait schools the size of football fields,
gannets all over the place like they were 10 years
ago, there were packs of 5-6 Billfish at a time
terrorizing baits with multiple hook-ups not
uncommon. Every boat experienced action sometime
throughout the weekend but it was the stand outs
such as Rose Red who had a massive 19 hits on one
morning, Leigh O’Brien on his new boat OB26 who
tagged 4 fish & Mark & Jan Parkes aboard there new
Boat, Mojo with 3 tags. All fish have grown slightly
compared to the early season captures with most fish
up around the 15kg-20kg. |
The crew aboard
OB26 show off one of four little Black Marlin
tagged last weekend |
|
Townsville Game Fishing Club
supports Coastguard
The TGFC proudly
donated $ 1,000.00 to the Ingham
Coast Guard recently to help repair
Ingham's channel 81 repeater tower,
which has has fallen over on Orpheus
Island
The tower is an integral part of
marine safety in North Queensland
waters and is going to cost a total
of $4,000.00 to repair.
The Club's started the ball rolling
with club representative Todd
O'Shaughnessy presenting the Cheque
recently in hope to spark generosity
and assistance from other local
fishing Clubs
Club Life member Mick Meires
stated:-
"I
would like to urge any other
generous interested parties to
assist the Ingham Coast Guard with
this worthy cause. It's in all
boaties best interests," Meiers said
"It's about marine safety and it's a
long way from a taxi rank out there
when you break down."
|
|
Todd O'Shaughnessy
(Centre) presents the Cheque of $
1,000.00 recently |
|
|
|
|
2008 Predators
Tournament Success
The Townsville Game Fishing Clubs Annual Predators
Tournament was once again a huge success and even
with a 15/20 knot offshore wind forecasted it still
didn’t deter an estimated 400 Townsville anglers to
participate in what is becoming one of North
Queensland’s major fishing events.
On Monday afternoon, the Townsville Game Fishing
Club together with the Oonoonba Hotel welcomed
hundreds of anglers, sponsors, & spectators to
witness some outstanding captures which were made
during the long weekend. Although each of the
16 prize categories were won with some awesome fish,
it was the 24.6kg Spanish Mackerel, a 14.1kg
Barramundi and a monster (have to be seen to be
believed) 2.175kg Mud Crab which received the
loudest cheers from the excited crowed.
This year the Club focused on encouraging families
and especially the junior anglers to participate,
with the first 100 juniors to sign up receiving a
complimentary Tackle box which included over 300
pieces of tackle, and come weigh in time, it
certainly proved that they put there new gear to
good use, with some fantastic captures made.
More exciting news to arise from the weekend was
that 2 early season Black Marlin were tagged &
released by Townsville Game Fishing Club Members.
Both were hooked on Halco Laser Pro Mackerel lures
and both fish were smaller then average and were
estimated between the 10-12kg mark.
On behalf of the Townsville Game Fishing Club
tournament organizing committee we would like to
thank all the Sponsors, volunteers, the Oonoonba
Hotel Staff and all the anglers involved for once
again making the 2008 Predators Tournament a huge
success.
Please
Click here
to view all the Weekends Prize Winners |
"Its all about the juniors"
Reece & Jordan O'Brien prove that
Game Fishing runs in the family with Reece claiming
the junior award for the heaviest Mackerel with this
6.44kg beauty
"Bring on the 2008 Billfish"
Wade Hislop with one of the
first Marlin Tagged & Released for 2008 and by the
smile on Wade's face, you can tell he's looking
forward to the up & coming Billfish Season |
|
2008 AIBT Results
Well the 2008 Australian International Billfish
Tournament is over with for another year and even
though the beautiful Sunshine Coast provided us with
Perfect Weather Conditions unfortunately the fishing
on the weekend was extremely slow. A total of 29
Boats participated in the event with Teams coming
from Dampier in the west, Cairns in the North & Port
Stephens in the South. The tournament gave teams the
option either to fish Light Tackle or Heavy Tackle
and Team TGFC who were aboard well known Townsville
Boat Reel Chase decided to fish Light Tackle. With
5-10knots conditions on Saturday morning, we were
quick to arrive on the grounds (which mine you are
only 19 miles offshore) to find huge schools of
yakka's and dolphins and with start fishing called
as you would imagine our expectations were high.
Leigh O'Brien caught a 9.6kg Wahoo on 8kg which put
Townsville on the scorers board and it wasn't long
after that we raised a couple of little Black Marlin
which weren't interested in taking the beautiful
Live Yakka that we presented them. On day one, there
was only 3 Blue Marlin tagged & 1 Sailfish.
Day two & the weather had increased to 15 knots and
with a Strong Wind Warning forecasted for later in
the day, most boats fished the inshore grounds. Once
again the fishing was very slow with not even a
handful of Billfish tagged
The Champion Boat
went to Diversion from Port Stephens who
successfully tagged & released 2 Blue Marlin.
Even though the fishing was slow, great times were
had by everyone & on behalf of the TGFC team we
would like to thank Jim, Kelly & Brenton aboard Reel
Chase for a fantastic weekend!!
Above Image
Courtesy of Kelly Dalling of
www.blackmarlinfishingblog.com
|
|
|
TGFC Thanks the
Sponsors
Sponsors, business owners and members of TGFC
gathered at the Townsville Motor Boat Club on
Thursday evening to reflect on the wonderful work
and valuable contributions these people and
companies have made to the club. It
was a way of saying “thank you” to these people, and
in return, the club has become a place where
business and pleasure could be combined.
Guest speaker and major sponsor, Greg
Gilbert, explained how the club was a place where he
could bring valued suppliers and
customers and mix business and pleasure. As a
result, he has bought on board many new and valuable
sponsors to the club. Whether it was to invite
them to fish a weekend competition or our major
tournament in September, suppliers and customers
enjoyed the opportunity to see how the club was run.
Many have made valuable contributions towards our
tournaments and fishing competitions after
experiencing the TGFC hospitality.
Potential sponsors have
also commented on the professional manner
in which the club is run and the
continued high standard of presentation of
competitions, presentation nights and club
videos.
The
TGFC committee would
again like to thank our sponsors for their continued
support and to business owners/managers for their
efforts to introduce new sponsors to the club.
A great night was enjoyed by all.
(Story and photos
Courtesy of Donna Nicolosi) |
|
|
Gilbert's Take on the World
In
February 2007, I asked newly joined Club Members and
Sponsors Greg & Jan Gilbert to complete a Member
Profile for our Monthly Newsletter and for those of
you who can remember, one of the questions asked was
“What’s your dream fishing destination?” There
answer was “Ribbon’s Reef off Cairns”…Little did
they know at the time, that 15 months later they
would make the trip across the world to represent
Australia in one of the World richest and most
prestigious billfish tournaments ever held.
On May 16th, the Gilberts
together with good friends
Ralph Czabayaski
and Susan Mahoney
of Adelaide will travel to what’s considered by
bluewater anglers as the Striped Marlin Capital of
the World, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in which they will
fish for more then $1,850,000 in prize money in the
2008 World Championship Billfish Release Tournament.
Click here
for more
|
|
|
Currents + Water Temperature = Billfish
Thomas
Bridge, a Marine Biologist specialising in pelagic
species was the guest speaker at our April club
meeting.
Over 40
club members attended the evening to listen and
hopefully get a better understanding on the Billfish
migration, water temperature and currents within our
Bowling Green Bay fishery. Even with statistics and
research going back to the early 1970’s, Thomas
explained that there are still many unanswered
questions relating to the migration patterns of the
Black Marlin but can advise that the Eastern
Australia Currents as well as the Water temperature
do play a very important part.
Over
the past 2 decades scientists have studied the
capture statistics of our Billfish and have compared
them to the current patterns and water temperatures
within the Bowling Green Bay area and have come to a
conclusion that the Marlin follow the Eastern
Australian Current into the region between the
months of May – October but only if the average
water temperature is between 25 degrees – 27
degrees.
With
the anticipation building amongst the club, Thomas
was asked “So how is it looking for this year” he
was unable to confirm or deny whether we were going
to have a good season, but did advise a member after
the meeting that all was looking good so far, and
with reports of early season bait schools forming
within the region, he is quietly confident that we
will experience a great season…Let’s hope he’s
right!!
We
would like to thank Thomas a very interesting night
& look forward to working with him more in the near
future
|
|
|
Townsville Game Fishing
Videos on YouTube
After several requests from Club Members, family &
friends I have now added some of my
video highlights on the website You Tube which now
can be accessed at any time at your own leisure.
For those of you who don’t know what YouTube is,
it’s
an online service that allows users to upload there
videos for free, which then are able to be viewed by
an international audience
Some of the highlights include Utopia’s 900lb Black
Marlin at Bowling Green, Glen Nutter’s 400lb Black
Marlin which earnt him the GFAA Most Meritorious
Award as well as the 2008 Gilbert Group NQ Mining
Billfish Challenge Intro Video
So when the weather is bad please don’t hesitate to
here
& check it out…make sure you add it to your
favorites so you can visit regularly, as I will be
adding videos on a regular basis
|
|
Tag & Release Report
The Townsville Game Fishing Club is proud to
promote and support Tag & Release to ensure the
conservation of our fantastic fishery. Please find
the recent
Game fish Tagging Report
here
received from our
QGFA and GFAA zone representative Mick Meiers
|
|
|
Click image or
here for story and
pics.
|
|
|
NOTE: A lot of club information on this
site is available as PDF documents. You will need
Adobe Reader to view these. This program is
available as a free download from the Adobe website.
Click here or on the logo below.
 |
|
|
|
