Posts Tagged ‘Billfish Bonanza’

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Fishing Report – 17.12.2010

December 17th, 2010 by Helen

The rain is a welcome relief to all the gardens of Exmouth, but not a good one for the anglers and boaters this week on holidays. However, we do tend to get a burst in fish feeding activity after a low or cyclone passes, so it
will be interesting to see the results after this passes.  Also, I believe the rain is fantastic for the creeks, ecosystem and fish in general, so it was great to get a little before the Christmas visitors.

The Freediving Fiesta was a great success with ten teams competing for the various sections of the event.  The weather was supberb for December with light winds, clear waters and warm temperatures…in fact, I don’t think you could have asked for a better weekend!  The teams were all amped and ready to go with boats on the water early steaming out to secret spots. There were a few amazing achievements including a pending state record for a 9.1kg red emperor speared by Rhys Clatworthy.  Rhys took out the red emperor section with this on Team Reel Obsession.  Heaviest mackerel/wahoo went to Team Pussy Galore with a 22.2kg mack.  Heaviest Bluey went to Team Relentless. Heaviest Green Jobfish went to Team Swamp Donkey with a 7.9kg fish.  The heaviest Rock Lobster caught was an amazing 4.2kg ornate to Team Awesum, while heaviest spangled emperor went to Team Fillet and Release with a 5.6 honker!  Team Pussy Galore also took out the Heaviest other Lutjanus with a 12.9kg red bass.  Champion Spearo Pair went to Pussy Galore and they are
pictured this week.  The event was designed to highlight the positives of Spearfishing including how selective it can be, the fitness required, working in pairs for safety, using dive flags and it was also designed to show everyone where you can and can’t spear.  The teams and crew that attended were very enthusiastic about the event and making it bigger and better next year.  Thanks go to Oceanic, Bluewater Tackle World and Starmart
for their contributions, plus the volunteers for their help.

The squid have been firing at the moment and also pictured this week is some that were caught south of the marina on high tide. Visiting anglers Aiden and Callum Lerch are here for a four week fishing holiday from Wollongong. The boys started their trip with some reef fishing action in the gulf on some of the shoals.  The short session did not disappoint as the caught estuary cod, coral trout, trevally, mackerel and all sorts.  The boys
released everything carefully and were happy to try for squid for dinner instead.  The squidding efforts did not disappoint with 14 squid caught for the afternoon and some eaten for dinner that night.  The boys are keen to catch a billfish this trip and we hope to bring you a shot of that soon!

The Boys Squidding

Red FF

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Fishing Report – 13.11.2010

November 16th, 2010 by Helen

The weather is certainly warming up now as we head toward Christmas.  Hot summer days can be a good excuse to get out and on, or in, the water. Summer can also bring some strong winds, so if you’ve got a day off and the
weather is good, then make sure you make the most of it and get out.  That’s certainly what junior angler Jonah Freestone-Rowe did last week when the afternoon glass off in gulf allowed he and some parents and friends to get
out in to the Exmouth Gulf to chase the sailfish working on the bait balls. Jonah managed to switch a sailfish off a bait ball onto a skipping garfish and landed his first sail a short time later. Well done to yet another junior angler.

The interesting news this week on billfish is that a 25kg black marlin that was tagged during Gamex by angler Ben Miles aboard Azura on March 24th was recaptured off Sri Lanka on Sept 8th.  The marlin had travelled over 2529nm (in a straight line) in just 168days.  The fish weighed 40kg when captured (sadly by a long-liner!) and most interestingly, the fish was only 100nm miles from the black marlin that made the same trek in 2008.  That year, Geoff Moyle caught a 40kg black that was then captured off India at about the same time.  So, I guess that is good to show a pattern, but sad to know they are going up there to be slaughtered by the long-liners.

Mangrove jacks have been on the chew in the marina and down in the creeks in the gulf.  A few lucky anglers have also landed some barramundi on the other side of the gulf.  We know that a few barra do get this far south and have done for years, but it would be good to get more data on their patterns. Some people in the past had speared these species because they are so clearly visible in the clear water here and there are no crocs! However, it
is now illegal to spear barramundi, so a rod a reel is an option. Barramundi don’t really taste that good to eat, but they do make a great sports fish that jump and have a glistening shine in photos.

There has been lots of small to medium sized queenies around Bundegi. A fly-fishing angler was there at dawn (yes, 5am!) this week and landed about 8 of them north of Bundegi jetty. It is this time of year that they come in
thick at the Bundegi flats. These fish are another great sports fish, but not so flash for eating. Please remember good catch and release techniques such as using barbless hooks, releasing in water or handling with wet gloves
when targeting any sportsfish, so that the next person can enjoy it as much as you!

Jonah Freestone- Rowe

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Fishing Report 1.11.09

November 4th, 2009 by Helen

 The Exmouth Game Fishing Club held its annual Billfish Bonanza last week-end.  The event was a great success with 20 boats, 65 anglers, over 150 billfish raised and 49 billfish tagged. The mornings were a little breezy, but the gulf glassed off each afternoon with some magical visions of silhouetted whales breeching as the sun set for boats returning to the
marina and Bundegi. 

 Most of the fish tagged were sailfish in the gulf averaging 30kg.  There were several black marlin on the west side of the
cape tagged including a 180kg black onboard James Roscic’s new boat Apocathery.  There was also a 90kg black tagged on 10kg line, which was a fantastic effort by female angler Debbie Snook. This took out the Champion
Angler Marlin Section.

The youngest angler in the event, 7yr old Hayden Michaels caught five sailfish and successfully tagged three of them.  He won the junior section and was runner up in the champion angler sailfish section too: another wonderful effort! 

 Simon Prins, a chef from the Novotel, had never caught a sailfish before the event. He ventured out onboard Saxon Raider and tagged eight sails to take out the Champion Angler Sailfish award.  Simon, along with Kurt and Jo Decker aboard Saxon Raider took out the Champion Boat for Tag and Release Billfish.  The crew on Fully Sic came runner-up followed by On-Strike. 

 During the event many people tagged their first ever billfish, including the three anglers from Jurien Bay aboard the boat Yogi.  There were only two boats that did not catch a fish, and both those teams won a  prize too! 

The event was very challenging and exciting with baitballs in the gulf that had sailfish, trevally, long tail tuna and queenfish feeding on them.  The birds were a good sign for the anglers to find where the action was happening.

There were three sailfish tagged that had already been tagged previously. One of them had been caught in two consecutive days.  The EGFC promotes good fishing ethics and fish handling to ensure the sustainability of recreational fishing through catch and release.  It’s great to see these fish feeding one day, being caught and released, and back feeding again to be caught the next day.  

Congratulations goes to all the participants, while a big thanks goes to all the sponsors, volunteers and committee who
helped make it such a great success.

 

Bill Fish Bonanza

Bill Fish Bonanza

Pics are: Team In Deep getting ready to release a fish. Hayden Michaels with
his first sailfish. Hayden Michaels with his Dad Steve and the trophy for
Champion Junior.

Hayden Michaels

Hayden Michaels

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Fishing Report – 17.10.09

October 26th, 2009 by Helen

Sorry for the missed report last week.  We were busy at the Mandurah Boat Show for the week-end (and few days it takes to get there and back!) It was a great show with some new and interesting ideas.  There was fish filleting demonstrations, the Engel Aquatank, cooking demonstrations and all sorts of great ideas for the EGFC for the AIBT(Australian International Billfish Tournament) and Gamex in 2011.

The Exmouth game Fishing Club has begun works on the building and the due date for completion is the week before Gamex 2010. (!)  Local contractor DLR have started works with vigour and all hands are on deck to get the project ready in time.  Meanwhile the Billfish Bonanza is on this week-end. Briefing is 6pm Thursday October 22nd at the rec centre.  If you are interested in seeing what this event is all about, you’re welcome to come down and join the club members and competitors  as they gear up for the tournament.  The bar will open each night and there will be nightly raffles and info on tagging billfish for this three-day event. 

Meanwhile, pictured this week is Karen Cook-Barron with her first sailfish.  Karen is a first-timer for the Billfish Bonanza and she is hoping to see many more of these fish this coming week-end.

The coral trout have been abundant in the gulf according to many locals who have had the time to get out in a boat on the glassy afternoons.  Soft plastic lures have been working best and one customer reported a 6kg bluebone caught on a Bozo soft plastic.  Blue lined emperor have also been caught in the gulf waters.  One was even caught on a bait jig, that just held up to the challenge of the feisty fish.

The shore based fishing has shown up even more spanglies on the west side as the weather warms up.  Better results for these species have shown to be in the early mornings.  A lightly weighted bait of squid or strip of mullet has been successful.  Berley in the water also improves your chances with these hungry fish.

A few times this year we have commented on having the correct safety equipment and knowing your size and bag limits.  I can’t say it enough.  Please make sure you do have the correct epirb and safety gear.  The fines are bad, we all know that, but your safety and those with you is important.  The fisheries and DEC rules are also important.  Once again, we know the fines are bad, but the future of the fishery is important for us to enjoy returning to the water each time.

Karens first Sailfish

Karens first Sailfish

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Fishing Report 10.09.09

September 14th, 2009 by Helen

Yellowfin whiting have been prolific along the gulf beaches along with
yellowfin bream this last week according to visiting parents of staff.
Small queenfish have also been patrolling the outside of the northern wall
of the marina.  Light spin outfits and small metal slices are working best
for these fish with the trebles replaced with a single tarpon hook. The 3″
gulp minnows have worked well inside the marina on the local bream
population with the occasional cod and mangrove jack surprising the unwary
angler.

Giant Trevelly have been hanging around the breakers along the west side as
expected at this time of year.  Some daring anglers brave the conditions
when the swell is up, but please beware as these large swells can create
very dangerous conditions.  Good quality rock spiked boots are advised when
fishing from the rocks and please fish with a companion.
 Spanish Mackerel are still around in thick numbers alongside the reef,
however the sharks have made their presence in all areas lately, especially
with the beached whale off Bundegi.

Fishing can be good and bad, but a day out should always be enjoyable.  I
managed to get out this week and didn’t catch a thing except some bait.  The
tides were large and the current was extremely strong. We trolled for
billfish briefly, then tried for reef fish, but couldn’t get on the mark.
Then we tried for billfish again, but missed the bite! Nevermind: if we were
guaranteed fish everytime it would take the fun out of going!

Bundegi Yellowfin

Bundegi Yellowfin

Pictured this week is Peter Gates with a gleaming smile after catching a
shark mackerel off the outside of Bundegi reef.  There have been quite a few
schools of these speedsters along with long tail tuna in this area.  Now
that we have Bundegi boat ramp so close, it makes it easy for a fish after
work before the sun sets.  Look for the birds feeding and you should find
the action.  You can troll these areas or cast and retrieve metal lures,
soft plastics or if you’re really keen, a well presented fly will do the
trick.

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Gamex Dates 2010

July 1st, 2009 by Helen

Gamex is the biggest fishing competition in Exmouth as any fisherman will tell you.

Accommodation is at a premium so with this in mind I thought it best to let you all in on the dates early. In the hope that you will book your accommodation early as well. I would hate for you to miss out on comfy bed at the end of all that hard fishing.

We already have Marlin booked for Gamex as the owners are the keenest of keen fishing families. So get in quick.

Gamex 2010 – March 19 to March 27th.

Dont forget the Billfish Bonanza October 23, 24 and 25th 2009.

Time to get fishing!!

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