Posts Tagged ‘Sailfish’

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Accommodation for GAMEX and AIBT 2012

November 25th, 2011 by Helen

The Exmouth Game Fishing Club is getting itself organised for the 2012 season of GAMEX and AIBT. Last year we saw record numbers of boats and fishermen come into the town for this ever popular event. With accommodation at a premium I would like to urge you to book your holiday homes now. I still have some vacancy in some of our most popular homes.

A nice marlin caught off Exmouth

GAMEX dates- 10 March – 17 March

AIBT dates – 19 March – 25 March

Coral – sleeps 4 singles in two queen beds and two single beds. Tariff – $170 a night

Turtle – sleeps 2 singles in two queen beds. Tariff – $180 a night

Oyster – Sleeps 6 singles in two queen beds and 2×2 sets of bunks. Tariff – $180 a night

Tusk – only available from March 18 – 25. Sleeps up to 9 singles in one King bed, two queen beds, one single bed and 2×2 sets of bunks. Tariff – $230 – $320 a night

Mandu – ON THE CANALS and the closest holiday house to the Marina and the Exmouth Game Fishing Club. Why is this not booked!!?? Sleeps 6 singles in 3 King beds which unzip to make 6 King Singles. Tariff – $300 a night.

(Ningaloo Reef Holidays is a sponsor of GAMEX) See you all at the competition, make sure you introduce yourselves if I haven’t met you yet.

 

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Fishing Report 04.05.2011

May 4th, 2011 by Helen

Steve, Scott and Brett are three mates who have come up from Mandurah for a couple of weeks fishing.  The trio have been out catching a variety of species including yellowfin tuna, dolphin fish, northern blue tuna and a
honker long nose emperor.  A photo would have been good, but apparently Steve was unable to work the camera when asked to take the photo…? The boys have given Steve a lot of grief, but they are having loads of fun. Surprisingly others staying at the caravan park have commented on there being ‘no fish about’ this week, but the boys are certainly on the right spots! They hope to catch a billfish and some GT’s on their trip as well.

The crabs have continued to show up in the gulf and despite many tourists being here over the Easter break, there still seems to be many blue manners about.  One customer was even throwing nets from the beach and getting
plenty for a fresh feed.  Others have been scooping them in the shallows, while a few people have reported muddies as well in the mangroves. Quite a few locals are quite sick of eating crabs! They are best eaten fresh and
don’t freeze well, so it’s good to see many people taking enough for a fresh feed only.
The monthly fishing competition was a little quiet in April for pictures, but we did manage to get this cracking shot of Nerida Baker with a whopping 12kg red emperor.  Nerida was fishing with some friends in Coral Bay over
the Easter holidays.  Using mulie for bait she caught this awesome red. Other entrants this last month included Kimberley Jongeling with an amazing 10kg golden trevally, however, the winner was Kye Venrooy with his
spectacular spangled emperor from the marina.

All pics can be viewed in store and all entrants go in to the draw for $700 worth of fishing gear at the end of the year.  Kye wins a gift voucher in store, while other monies raised goes to Exmouth Volunteer Marine Rescue and the Exmouth Game Fishing Club.

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Australian International Billfish Tournament in Exmouth

March 25th, 2011 by Helen

Records were broken before any boats hit the water for the Australian International Billfish Tournament last week.  There were 67 boats entered: the largest on record.  This also resulted in the largest number of competitors.  The Exmouth Game Fishing Club are checking to see if they have also had more billfish tagged than any other AIBT event, with 114 tagged billfish.  The billfishing was quiet for Exmouth standards, but only a handful of boats did not catch a fish over the three days.  It was perfect weather conditions with the Exmouth gulf glassing off every day to make a great view for patrons at the Exmouth Game Fishing Club house.
It all began on the Tuesday morning with the Bertram Champagne Breakfast and sailpast flare start at the marina.  All the boats lined up in front of the clubhouse and took off at once, while wives, sponsors and interested locals watched from ashore.  Photographer Sascha Unger got some spectacular photographs from the Birds Eye View Ultralight and all the boats safely proceeded to start the days’ fishing.
The results were:
Champion Team Tag and Release Billfish: Aqua Runner-up Champion Team Tag and Release Billfish: Mahi Mahi II Champion Angler Tag and Release Billfish: Kurt Williamson Champion Team Tag and Release Billfish on Fly: Weapon Champion Junior Tag and Release Billfish: Michael Wunhym. Champion Team Tag and Release Marlin: Aqua Champion Team Tag and Release Sailfish: Catweasel The prizes were custom built rods from Matt Gates at

Bluewater Tackle World Exmouth with engraved Shimano Tiagra Reels for the main sections and engraved Tibor Reels for the fly-fishing section.  The juniors were supported by Exmouth Tackle and Camping, while Aspen Parks picked up the fly section.  Chevron representatives came to support the event, as did Simrad with a display of electronic units for anglers to see and ask questions.  Kailis provided the seafood for the presentation dinner, while the event also attracted support from Exmouth Marina Village, Apache,
Sea Surface Temperature, Maui Jim, and Richter Lures.  The whole community was invited to come down after the event to chat with the anglers on the Friday night at the clubhouse when the band Slim Jim and the Phatts played.
It was a great social night and the town is a buzz with fishing talk at the moment.

Pic is the flare start with the boats taking off for the start of the AIBT

AIBT cruise past

AIBT cruise past

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Fishing Report – Gamex Leadup

March 20th, 2010 by Helen

Wow, what a wild week it has been for fishing in Exmouth. There are numerous people reporting marlin literally crawling all over the water and one boat crew has reported getting 14 different species of fish in one day! Hopefully
that will continue through to Gamex. 

Meanwhile, from the shoreline there has been reports of queenfish, jacks, squid, and trevally in the marina, including the one caught on fly this week from young Braden Cooper. Robyn and Allan from Canberra once lived in Exmouth. In fact their daughter Beck was born here. Now Beck is a teenager and along with her brother Jordan the whole family have returned to Exmouth for a holiday. The family were down at Bundegi with others on the beach when a predatory fish chased a smaller bait fish about 50m from the shore. The predatory fish tossed the smaller fish in the air several times and put on a performance for the beach-goers.  The smaller fish was estimated to be about 40cm long and we
believe it may have been a small billfish feeding on the queenfish that have been roaming the inside of Bundegi Reef.

If you have been sleeping in lately, you have missed some sensational mornings. Nearly every morning this last week the dawn has been spectacular with glass conditions in the gulf and amazing colours reflecting off the clouds on the horizon.  The town beach has had schools of baitfish shimmering on the glass surface and on some mornings you could see the tail and dorsal fins of fish cruising in the shallows. On other mornings the predatory fish were smashing up the baitschools in all directions while pelicans also chased the bait: it really is a beautiful paradise here!

The Clubhouse for the EGFC at the marina is in full swing with Gamex crews in town. Anyone is welcome to get down to see the weigh-ins each evening between Sunday and Friday between 6-8pm.  Although 2/3 of the 64 boats are targeting the tag and release sections, we expect some fish will be brought in to be seen by all. Look out next week for a full report on results.

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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 5.08.09

August 10th, 2009 by Helen

The long awaited decision to construct the second run of floating pens at the marina is finally starting to look like reality.  However, there needs to be enough Expressions Of Interest for the project to begin.  If you or someone you know is interested in getting a pen at the marina, please contact the Department of Planning and Infrastructure for an EOI form on 08 9949 2079 or go to http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/geraldtonandexmouthpens  This is going to be a great help to the AIBT (Australian International Billfish Tournament) in 2011 and 2012 when we expect a number of larger vessels will visit Exmouth to partake in this international event.  All we need to add to the equation is the EGFC clubhouse and that area will certainly be a busy little hub in a few years.

Seth Nafte has moved here for a few months while remotely studying.  Seth usually visits with his friend and fishing partner, Neil Silver to fish the billfish tournaments.  Seth had a ripping start to his stay when he went out to the waters off Helby Bank and hooked three Yellowfin tuna, three wahoo , two sailfish and a marlin.  He was trolling pushers and said the action was so hot, he couldn’t believe it: Especially when there were no other boats around.  Seth has also been having fun off North-west reef with some amazing sessions with sharks that he could see swimming around in the crystal-clear waters.

Keen staff members Ben and Nick had some fun with mackerel on poppers with over forty hook ups, but none kept for the day out.  They also caught a small giant trevally (sounds contradicting, I know, but that’s their name!) and gold spot trevally. This action all happened in the waters surrounding the islands in the gulf, while on the way home they got in to some cobia late in the afternoon: not bad for a day off!

It’s really lovely to get feedback from people who have had a great experience in Exmouth.  However, it’s also good to get any feedback regarding service, fishing or experiences in general.  If you have any comments to give us at anytime, we welcome it and encourage it to improve our service and your experience. 

Exmouth Marlin

Exmouth Marlin

One customer, Charlie Saykao sent us this weeks pic and these comments. “Hi Bluewater Staff. Just wanted to say thanks for putting us on the right spot. My brother (from Melbourne), two cousins (from Brisbane and Sydney) and I (from Albany) came into the store last Saturday to ask for some info and stock up on some lures and gardies. We had an awesome time. It was unbelievable as we managed not to land 1 but 2 marlin in the 5 days fishing. Along with dozens of Spanish mackerel and tunas.  It was all our first time chasing big game on my trusty 5.8m Pacemaker. Our magic skirt was a purple richter glassy. Attached a photo that I am hoping you can use as part of your monthly update. Once again thanks. Regards Charlie“

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