Although we weren't fishing the Interclub Ladies Day, there were over 40 boats who were and the ladies certainly got into the spirit of things. While the weather started dismal and cloudy, by lunch-time it had turned on another glamour day and the ladies were in their element. The ladies on the brand new Hatterascal were among the teams tagging two for the day which also included Di Da Ke. It will be interesting to hear the results on Sunday at the main presentation event. The spirits kept rising after return to port as the champagne continued to flow. It was disco on the dock at d'Albora Marina into the wee hours.

Victorian trailerboat skips Sam and Richie again managed another two Striped Marlin each with a late bite on the grounds. The team on Reel Chase sent down the deep live-y only to hook up on an approximately 500lb Box Head (Tiger Shark) for over an hour before the beast cut through the mono leader. That unfortunately was it for our day. We stopped by the fads on the way home looking for a Dolphin Fish shaped field goal but no luck there either. Many of the other boats also experienced a quiet day - heres hoping the fishing picks up again for the resumption of the tournament this weekend.

Photo - Tomaree Heads. Daily view in and out of Port Stephens.

End of Day 1 standings saw Lake Macquarie GFC in the lead (tag and release) with 80,000 points and Viking II as lead boat after with 4 marlin tagged. Reel Chase and Iona followed with 3 tags. Overall, not a great number of marlin recorded on Day 1.

On Day 2, that was about to change. Storming into the lead, Iona tagged another 3 marlin making a total of 6 marlin tagged thus far in the tournament. Hot on their heels was Born Free, tag free on Day 1, they made up their ground with a great day of fishing tagging 6 marlin. The team on board Reel Chase spent a rather frustrating day watching boats all round them hooking up, finally managing our 1 tagged Black Marlin for the day just after 3pm. Viking II will be following closely with another marlin tagged making their tally at total of 5. In the capture department, we don't have any results however the entourage at the weigh station were all blown away by the 529kg Tiger Shark caught on trailer boat Tycoon.

Also having a good day was Darren and the boys on Di Da Ke tagging 4 Marlin and lost another inches from the tag pole. Although the fishing slowed up North of Seal Rocks in close for the little blacks slowed for all but Tim on Born Free, the fleet out wide had a better day with a number of Wahoo and YellowFin Tuna adding to the mix.

Capt. Jim talks to Channel 9's Paul Burt at the weigh station after Day 1. Day 2, Mark fights a pelagic in his Pelagic Gear .

The sail-past did not disappoint for those of us who had heard the stories but never seen - over 200 boats jostling for position - it was definitely a great sight. As Boat Number 74, those of us aboard Reel Chase had a great view of both the boats in front and boats behind. When official start fishing was called over the radio, we all raced out to the grounds to see what the day would bring us.

I'm still getting a handle on how this tournament is scored however the Lake Macquarie team should be in good standing with our team group scoring good fish. Reel Chase and Iona finished the day with three marlin tagged each (3 Black Marlin for us and 2 Black Marlin and a Striped Marlin for Iona). Inkwazi tagged a Black Marlin, Wahoo and Yellow Fin Tuna and Running Bear also tagged at least one Marlin. We couldn't catch our other team boat Mojo on the radio though so not sure of results there. Overall, we had trouble hearing the skeds from where we were but believe that Viking II is lead boat at present with 4 Black Marlin for the day.

Sail-past in front of the d'Albora Marina and Al fights his first fish.

More results and photos to come as I find out more.

We've been so busy preparing for the tournament today we've been very remiss not updating yesterday's report. I will get to that in the morning (I promise!) but in the meantime, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Grant's fat Black comes out for a quick hello before being released. Will's jumps all over the horizon.

With a nice sized Striped Marlin tagged and released for Claire first thing in the morning we thought we may be in for a more action-packed day. When all that we saw in the following hours was another Striped Marlin - who was enamored by our teasers, darting from one to the other and back again to make sure it was still there following us for a good five minutes, not in the least bit hungry or interested in any of the lovely bait options that were pitched his way - we could only hope for a repeat of the late strike. At 2 minutes to go, that too seemed like it might be on the cards when Capt. Jim marked another under the boat. But alas it didn't bite - leaving us with just the one for the day.

It was Claire's first marlin and both put up a worthy fight with Claire wrestling to get the fish to just outside tagging range when it would catch sight of the boat and power off again dodging back and forth. After many repeats of the same scenario the tag was finally in and Claire was able to get a good look at her fish before he swam away.

Outside Edge caught two but few reports of others were heard on what seemed to be a much quieter day all round.

One consolation - the weather was picture perfect.

It was a great start to the day and great end to the day as well. But not a whole lot of anything in between.......(except of course good weather, a suntan and great company).....

The first fish was for Jon, a small Black that kicked things off for the day. Unfortunately, that was all the action we were to see for a while. Capt. Jim took off again in search of both bait and warmer water without any success, however, after sitting patiently by the chair all afternoon, Jamie was rewarded when we marked a nice Stripey at 20 metres literally one minute before knock-off time. Fortunately it bit, and after a very active fight, a tag and a nice photo by the side of Reel Chase, the Stripey was sent on its way.

Sunday dawned another beautiful day until we hit the Port Stephens Shelf when the rain started and then basically did not stop for the rest of the day (all the while the sky over land remained a clear blue.) The enthusiasm of our anglers was tested with only one unsuccessful strike in the AM period. However, after lunch, things started to turn around when trolling three live baits I happened to look over the side of the tower and informed Capt. Jim that there was a Striped Marlin licking his lips at the sight of the Milk Fish dangling off the rigger on the end of the teaser. A nice hand cast by Luke put the live-y on its nose and John was on for what turned out to be a very entertaining fish for the entire fleet. Leading us on a merry chase, zig-zagging through thirty odd trailer boats with Capt. Jim hot on the hammer on its tail, the fish was successfully tagged and released to cheers all round.

I spy a Slimey.......

Second up we had a Black Marlin this time hook up nice and solid on the teaser again and, while Angler Bryan was belting up, we noticed another Striped Marlin chewing on the other teaser at the side of the boat. This fight resulted in a very quick tag and release but not before there were some spectacular jumps at the back of Reel Chase. After a giving in to the cold weather and making a turn for home, we had a big fish bite on the skip bait from a very hungry Striped Marlin which was very quickly dispatched by our talented angler. One of the day's highlights was guest Angler Alex managing to tag two of our fish on his 14th birthday. Hopefully the start of many more to come!

John's Stripey jumps away from Reel Chase through the fleet and Brian's Black at the back of the boat.

Reel Chase is in Port today for revitalizing and will be back to it tomorrow!

Top dog for Sunday was without a doubt Ross Hunter on Broadbill with an unconfirmed 5 tags. Private boat Frosty also had a big day with a couple of potential records for their Junior Female Angler but although it alluded her this time, she did manage at least one tag.

Broadbill and Frosty both fighting fish...

Although we managed 3 tagged Striped Marlins for the day, it was tough fishing with some 50-odd trailer boats plus the usual club boat all congesting on the new bait grounds just North at 32 degrees, 52 minutes S.

Despite a number of boats returning to the Carpark at 33 degrees, .03 minutes S, they all ended up joining the fleet on the northern grounds due to a lack of fish down there. Trailer boat Sam appeared to be top dog for the day with 4 tags while Diversion managed 2. Chris and his spectacular big Betram Absolute managed three and Viking II managed 2 as well. Murrifin also managed one early.

Murrifin with fish at back of the boat, Viking II fighting showing some congestion
and untangling a Spangled Line Tangler at the side of Reel Chase

Adrian and Rob's fish - Rob's was brought close along side the boat to retrieve a previous tag.

On what started out as a rather slow day, we were still tied up to the fuel dock at 8:30, turned into our best so far with 5 Striped Marlin tagged.

A group of local contractors who've fished with us previously without a lot of success, managed to turn things around with all guests catching a fish - including a couple of feisty Stripey's on the stand-up 50lb for Adrian and Pete. Frank started the day off with a nice fish on a deep live bait following by Peter on a nice trolled surface bait with two fish up at once. The others, including Mark's were all caught on dead bait. Rob's fish, which was tagged to fight another day, had already previously been tagged with a steel tag number S207659 which we retrieved from it along side the boat before releasing the fish once again. Hopefully more information about this tag to follow.

Fishing away from the fleet certainly improved our action however other boats were also in the action. Tsunami fished further south for four tags and Diversion was in the middle of the fleet for five tags as well as a number of other boats that tagged four.

David's Black Marlin, Ken & Shane's Striped Marlins and Jim's Dolphin fish.

Days don't get much flatter than this! If we were in NQ, the fishing grounds could have been mistaken for a lake. As it is down here, the swell, though decreasing everyday this week still keeps us on a gentle roll.

We started the day once again with some early bites tagging and releasing a reasonable-sized Black Marlin before another colourful Striped Marlin soon after. Sam and the Victorian trailer boat boys (and girls) were once again in the thick of the action catching three in short succession along side. The later the day, the bait spread out once again and the action slowed with just enough to keep us all interested. We released another Stripey just before lunch which also saw another quick bite from a hungry black who succeeded in eating all our baits before swimming away unscathed with a full belly.

After Capt. Jim picked up to troll away and look a little further afield, another beautiful sized Dolphin Fish ate the bait and gave us a wild display at the back of the boat. A Whaler Shark kept us amused in the afternoon swimming at the back of the boat before downing our live bait and giving us an energetic fight.

Not too many reports from other boats except Freedom and Tsunami both on two and Billfisher on two as well. Sam ended the day with 5 on what couldn't have been a better day weather-wise for the trailer boats.

Dean and Wayne's fish in near identical positions.

Day 2 started fantastic on both the weather and fishing front with smooth seas and two tags from the first two strikes all before 10am. Both were Striped Marlin, one each for Dean and Wayne, tagged at the side of the boat. However, just when we started to think we were in for a red hot day, the next five strikes all ended without result. Paul pulled a nice Black Marlin on the leader while another good Black Marlin did a rocketing jump at the back of the boat which caused the leader to part company with the hook!

Tsunami had another great day with 7 tags. The 28 Luhrs Express with the famous Mario on board tagged 5 and the group of Victorian trailer-boats with Richie and Sam at the helm also managed some good fish.

Reel Chase headed out for Day 1 of the Port Stephens 2007 season and was greeted by a less than welcoming swell outside the headland. Luckily the seas died down during the day and the run home was much more comfortable. All great expectations however brought about by reports of some truly fantastic fishing at the famous fishing ground 'the Car-park' over the weekend just gone, failed to materialize.

After watching a lot of boats, including the great percentage of trailer baits, do not much in the AM, we headed north for greener pastures. As luck would have it, this was the right move and when we stopped to jig bait on the only real patch we'd seen all day, the first of our three Striped Marlin ate the sinking rigger. Consequently most times we stopped to jig bait, which was very hard to come by, we had a bite.

On the first strike of the day, Ross had his work cut out for him as the feisty 90kg spangled line-tangler took off. After a solid 20 minute slog, my trusty self managed to tag the beauty at the back of the boat. An hour later to the minute, our second fish was up for Michael - one half of a double-header, unfortunately one eluded us - and all lit up was again tagged at the back of the boat. Another hour later, another double header and again, this time after a bit more line juggling, number two jumped off but Steven's stuck and gave us a good display of jumps at the back of the boat before it too was tagged.

Shortly before nock-off time we raised a nice 300lb black but despite giving both our livies a good touch up, failed to eat. While we were looking to raise him again, we ended an exciting day with a bull Dolphin Fish which is going to be nice and tasty on someone's table!

Today's fish in order of catching ....

Tsunami was on the fish today as well releasing 3 blacks and two stripes for the day. The Hunter boys caught a couple of stripes each and the team on Square Bear managed another for their flyfisherman too. By the end of the day, most boats seemed to be fighting fish.

The countdown has begun as Reel Chase heads into Port Stephens on the weekend - and the fish seem to have turned up just in time!

The Lake Macquarie tournament was held on the weekend gone and by all reports the fishing was hot. The winning boat caught 6 on Saturday and we hear that the Striped Marlin are there in good numbers, as are a number of large Blue Marlin. Blog regular Griffo and son were in the middle of the action with Lil' Alex fighting a 200kg monster Blue to a successful end.

This shows a lot of promise for the upcoming season. We look forward to being in the thick of it!

Look out for daily reports resuming again from next week.