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Note: This page will
include all pics from current home page.
Currently
under construction. Will streamline Club home
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Club Photos Page
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Weekend Fishing 9th August 2009
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Port Stephens Success |
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2009 Predators Comp |
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Zac Ryan with his Pending Australian
Junior Record
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TGFC triumps at the 2008 Pro Tackle Lucinda Light
Tack
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The prestigious Tom
Bell Trophy presented to Mark Hislop on his record
black marlin |
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Townsville Skipper Dave Pemberton
together with TGFC Members Rod Mathiesen,
Lindsey Pemberton & boat owner Robert Drane
taking out the Lizard Island Black Marlin Challenge
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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!!!
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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 |
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 |
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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 |
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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."
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Todd O'Shaughnessy
(Centre) presents the Cheque of $
1,000.00 recently |
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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 |
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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
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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) |
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Click image or
here for story and
pics.
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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.
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