Quick Gold Coast report from Capt. Ross on Lucky Strike. Ross reports that fishing has slowed down out wide because the current is running putting the bait schools down deep. Raf from Doug Burts Tackle World got 3 small blacks on Saturday in close.

Lucky Strike had a Ladies day on Sunday going 0 from 6 on sailfish but Jackie tagged her 1st marlin late in the day.

Congrats Jackie!

Meanwhile, more reports trickling in from Port Stephens. Brent reports that Billistic did their first trip of the season on Australia Day Tuesday and had a good day with 2 blacks and 2 stripes on skipbaits.

Reports from the weekend have yet to filter in, but some more reports from Capt. Ross McCubbin on the Gold Coast fleet late week have --- Thursday, Matt from Fish The Deep tagged 10 black marlin to 100kg and Gavin from Sea Probe tagged 9 to 130kg. On Friday, C-Jig tagged 8 up to 100kg while Sea Probe tagged another 5.

Also, report from Botany Bay GFC boat Marquis skippered by Rob Curry who are in Port Stephens for the next month and went 3-3-3 in their last two days fishing before the weekend, 2 stripes and 1 black. Ambition with Ivan Bennet at the helm also tagged two blues and a black. Mickey reports there is lots of bait everywhere.

Capt. Luke and I are back in FNQ and until the weekend had been roaring around Cleveland Bay at 35knots in the new KEKOA..... And then last night we had to move it to a more secure mooring due to ex-tropical cyclone Neville crossing the coast just south of us. Fortunately we were all spared full cyclone fury and its just been a bit wet really.

Pictures of KEKOA in action to come. So far I haven't been able to take any running shots because I've been on board! (This is a shot of Peter bringing her back to O'Brien Boats this morning complete with rain on the lens.)

The final results for the Port Macquarie Blue Water Legal Golden Lure tournament are in and by all reports it was another great tournament with teams enjoying some of the best weather conditions they've had for the past few years.

The final two days for the fleet marked a noticeably quieter Thursday but Friday bounced back again with good numbers raised. Total hookups throughout the comp were --- 76 hookups on day 1, 66 on day 2, 33 on day 4 and 73 on the final day (Saturday).

Top 5 Capture Boats:
1. CARNAGE (Broken Bay) 35755.55 pts
2. WAVE RIDER (Lake Macquarie) 28910.36 pts
3. CARE FACTOR (Port Macquarie) 19181.40 pts
4. IONA 2 (Lake Macquarie) 19044.00 pts
5. CALYPSO (Port Macquarie) 14319.89 pts

Champion Male Capture Anglers:
1. Ross Shaw (Carnage) 20663.55 pts for Broken Bay GFC
2. David Moses (Wave Rider) 20149.40 pts for Lake Macquarie GFC

Champion Female Capture Angler:
1. Roz Hutchison (Purple Haze) 7361.64 for Port Macquarie GFC

Champion Junior Capture Angler: John Paton (Carnage) 15092 pts for Broken Bay GFC
Champion Small Fry Capture Angler: Brock Van Kampen (Roclami) 1256.28 pts for Port Macquarie GFC

Top 5 T&R Boats:
1. RENEGADE 2 (Port Macquarie) 50329 pts
2. BEAR (Ocean Grove, VIC) 44113 pts
3. BLACKFIN (Coffs Harbour) 34063 pts
4. TIMEOUT (Lake Macquarie) 30209 pts
5. WEAPON (Lake Macquarie) 30150 pts

Champion Male T&R Anglers:
1. Jarrod Quinn (Bear) 35613 pts for Port Macquarie GFC
2. Phil Kenny (Renegade 2) 30129 pts for Port Macquarie GFC

Champion Female T&R Anglers:
1. Kylie Barr (Mustang) 20079 pts for Port Macquarie GFC
2. Roz Hutchisonn (Purple Haze) 25 pts for Port Macquarie GFC

Champion Junior T&R Angler: Dylan Steel (Blackfin) 25563 pts for Coffs Harbour GFC
Champion Small Fry T&R Angler: Brock Van Kampen (Roclami) 58 pts for Port Macquarie GFC

The heaviest marlin went to Todd Fisher on Long Time Dead at 189.6kg (418lb) on 37kg. Myles Hyland on Weapon had the heaviest shark at 166.8kg and Greg Frith, fishing on board Janashia captured the heaviest other game fish with a 74.8kg yellowfin tuna.

Thanks to Greg and the tournament committee for the information.

Capt. Ross McCubbin on Lucky Strike tells me the good run is continuing. He released 3 black marlin between 45 and 120kg Monday and Wednesday.

Other boats getting in on the action Wednesday include C-Jig with 7 and Sea Probe with 8.

Meanwhile, Furuno's Shane Beardmore sent me this picture from their day out on the weekend on the Riviera 3000 Makaira with skipper Michael Loney going 6-5-4 in 30 metres just south of Point Lookout.

That's 3 black marlin and this sail.

Shane from Askari sent me a quick report from Port Stephen on the weekend and we're happy to hear that the fish are finally starting to show up down there. Fishing Sunday to start their Port Stephens season they went one from two (a black marlin about 150lb). Gary Holt's Diversion released 5 on Friday and one from two on Saturday. Gunrunner also released a total of 6 over the weekend. Shane tells me there were about 15-20 fish tagged that they know of on the weekend which is good news and that there is heaps of bait up north off Sea Rocks -- some really big fat slimey's, the biggest he's seen in years!

Further north off Forster, Ossie Collins sent me some pics taken by Jessie Craven on Rivenge2 who came across this whale shark while marlin fishing on the shelf. He got some great underwater shots of the shark and its posse of hangers-on as well as this huge bait ball of yakkas.

Results are filtering in from the Gold Coast GFC Light Tackle Masters held over the weekend. Gold Coast boat Amigo won with 13 black marlin tagged from Five Star with 7 tags, also from GCGFC and the Townsville team on Ice Man with 6. Capt. Rob 'Smithy' Smith took a break from Triton IV on the Sunshine Coast to fish on Tenacious who came in in fourth place also with 6 tags. It seems there were just over 80 marlin tagged for the tournament which is a great result! Congratulations to everyone who took part.

Outside the tournament, the fishing has been pretty hot too. On board Comotion Perry has been steering daughter Yasmin and wife Vanessa to a few feisty little blacks with Yasmin going 2 from 5 and Vanessa, 1 from 2 last weekend and again 1 from 2 on Sunday. Capt. Simon Carossi on Brilliant Company managed 3 from 4 and back in the marina by 11 on Monday, with 2 and then 3 each on the days before. Another Gold Coast private boat Barco, fishing a little wider in 200 metres had 2-0-0 and 2-1-1 on striped marlin Friday and Saturday noting a lot less bait out there than last week.

And on Tainui, Capt. Peter Kirkby's teenage son released an estimated 250lb black on 50lb stand up after a three hour fight!

It sounds like the Sunny Coasters have been having a ball. And it looks like it too!

David Granville in action solo on his 15ft Gotimon, with four on Wednesday and another two yesterday morning, and home again before lunch! (And three on Cabolito on Thursday.) Brent took these shots of David in action, also nabbing his first solo marlin yesterday on his boat Kartika. Jeff Oats on Simple Plan off Noosa got three.

David reports a few bigger fish in the 40-60kg range around as well. More reports to come including the Gold Coast and Golden Lure Tournament wrap ups.

Pictures from Simon Griffiths on board Magic which is still the heaviest fish after the first two days. After a couple of lay-days, the Ladies Day was held yesterday and the final two days fishing begin again tomorrow.

Simon tells me that he and Mark and the rest of the team on Magic had a quieter Ladies Day (kingfish and dolphin fish). Weapon's skipper Robert Hyland came across a FAD adrift off Port Macquarie and was able to nab several dollies and yellow fin before Phil McCloy and his crew on Time Out also joined in and had some early fast and furious fishing with many tags used including a nice blue marlin.

Later, the local talent on Rod Bender turned up and mother and two juniors had a great day and a late bite saw them coming back across the bar with a rigger full of tag flags.






Thank you to Greg Relf, Tournament Coordinator, for the current standings after two days fishing:
Capture: 11 blue marlin, 3 striped marlin and 1 black marlin weighed. Tag & Release: 9 blue marlin, 15 striped marlin and 73 dolphin fish.

Top 5 Capture Boats:
1. CARNAGE (Broken Bay), 2. WAVE RIDER (Lake Macquarie), 3. IONA 2 (Lake Macquarie), CALYPSO (Port Macquarie), CARE FACTOR (Port Macquarie).

Top 5 Capture Anglers:
1. Ross Shaw (Carnage), 2. David Moses (Wave Rider), 3. Ryan Clifford (Iona 2), 4. Daimian Rafter (Calypso 3), 5. Mark Sutton (The Hold up).

Top 5 T&R Boats:
1. RENEGADE 2 (Port Macquarie), 2. BEAR (Ocean Grove, VIC), 3. BLACKFIN (Coffs Harbour), 4. TIMEOUT (Lake Macquarie), 5.
WEAPON (Lake Macquarie).

Top 5 T&R Anglers:
1. Jarrod Quinn (Bear), 2. Phil Kenny (Renegade 2), 3. Mitchell Fisher (Time Out), 4. Peter Berecry (Larrikan), 5. David Van Kampen (Roclami).

After the sailpast, PURPLE HAZE was awarded the Best Dressed Boat, with the tournament's furthest boat by road being BEAR out of Victoria. AMOKURA, the classy 55' Assegai now out of Lake Macquarie, was the furthest boat to come via sea.

With good seas forecast for the remainder of the week and abundant game fish in the area, there is no guarantee the top boats will hold their positions with another two days off shore fishing programmed for Thursday and Friday. Weigh ins will take place from around 4.30pm each afternoon and excellent crowds have been supporting the event - so if you're in the area, head on down!

It seemed like the summer marlin season was never going to heat up but over the weekend it has, just in time for the tournaments.

Sunshine Coast: Capt. Rob Smith (Smithy) reports some good fishing this weekend. On Saturday, the 7.2m Kevlacat Reel Capture doing a spot of social fishing with lenseman David Granville on board went 4 from 4 on the little blacks livebaiting seeing 6 in total. They added another in the morning Sunday which left some wanting more. Jeff Oates who was on board Reel Capture in the morning, went out again in the PM on his own 4.5m centre console Simple Plan going 1 from 3. Ymer was 3 from 5 and home for lunch while Bring it On went 2 from 4 on the troll before heading in for the lunch-time function and back out for another fish livebaiting after.

Earlier in the week the boys on Reefhunter II went 3 from 3 at the 8 mile, Ymer one from 5 and Jeff got another solo on Simple Plan. Smithy on Triton IV has been keeping very busy on the mackerel front, bagging out on spotty mackerel for the last few days and smashing the spaniards (after the brilliant mackerel fishing we had up north for the Cairns season I'm not surprised!) On Sunday after bagging out on spotted mackerel he ran to the marlin grounds for one little back, mack tuna and wahoo keeping his guests very busy and very happy as always!

The Bribie Island Tournament of Champions was held 7-10 January and was taken out by Mooloolaba Game Fishing Club boat Animal with three tagged black marlin as well as some other species on countback from Bribie boat Compromise also with 3 and Blue Black with 3 both also with field goals.

Gold Coast: Capt. Jim reported finding a stray 40kg black on Wednesday and Capt. Simon on private boat Brilliant Company had the same off Jumping Pin over the New Year, but it finally looks like the rest of the gang are moving in. Capt. Ross McCubbin on Lucky Strike fished both Saturday and Sunday for more promising results. At Jumping Pin on Saturday he went 2 from 3 (40kg) in 50 metres. Ghostrider fished 90 metres for a black and a blue and Barco at 200 metres (where plenty of bait is also showing up) for a 400lb blue.

On Sunday, Lucky Strike added another two off the Pin where they were joined by Tsunami with three and Mistress for another two. The Gold Coast Gamefishing Club's Light Tackle Masters is coming up this week so hopefully the fish will still be around.

The Port Macquarie Golden Lure tournament is underway and Brad tells me a few blues have been caught amongst the 30 boats competing. Two tags leading Tag & Release on Day 1 and 2 fish also for the Capture division. After Day 2, Iona II is shadowing the leaders with a 140kg blue, missing a nice sized stripey on 30lb and raising another 5!

Mark Griffiths and his team on board Magic tells me they are fishing the capture division for the first time this year and are in the lead for the Heaviest Lure so far with a 159.8kg blue marlin for Simon. Mark says the weather has been glamour and that there have been plenty of blues, pods of stripes and the odd black thrown in for good measure (including a black of about 118kg that was weighed yesterday.) There have also been plenty of monster yellowfin about with two weighed yesterday in the 70kg+ range and heaps of dolphin fish giving crews a bit of grief taking the marlin lures.

Looking forward to hearing how the rest of the week goes.

Further south, after a disappointing start to the summer season it looks like the striped marlin might just be coming on as well. The Pup, at home in Bermagui reported his first stripe for the season yesterday. Kalira travellng through Batemans Bay reported seeing a good number so they are there, raising five or six at a time, but not catching too many. They released the one stripey on the way through.

Over in Weipa, Capt. Ben (Notso) Bright is keeping us up-to-date and looking forward to our trips over there from late March in the new KEKOA. In the last few days he has released a sail and jumped off another and raised a couple of un-hungry blacks as well all from his 5 metre barra boat!

I hope everyone had a very happy New Year. We did and had a very nice relax after so many months away from home. I've had some time to add some photos to the gallery page and re-jig the video page (although much of our 2009 footage has yet to be reviewed).

Capt. Jim took Reel Chase out yesterday for its first trip for the New Year and released one black marlin for the Scotts, although by all indications, it seems the numbers have not arrived as yet.

Iona 2 has headed to Port Macquarie for the Golden Lure Tournament which starts tomorrow. Capt. Adam has released a 200kg blue at Newcastle last week before taking the boat north and raised another on the trip north. Capt. Trent will take over the wheel for the comp.

KEKOA (47 - and no longer called KEKOA) leaves Townsville today to begin her journey to her new home over the ocean (New Zealand) via Brisbane with Capt. Geoff Lamond at the wheel. Geoff spent the 2008 Cairns season on the boat with Capt. Luke and is very familiar with it and is looking forward to getting it home for the NZ season. You can read Geoff's latest NZ Gamefishing post here. The new KEKOA 56 is coming along very nicely and we'll be heading back up there within the next two weeks for delivery. Expect lots of photos.