The last couple of days, the docks have been a-blaze with boats setting off for the start of the 2008 Heavy Tackle Marlin Season. Today we're joining them along with a lot of the remaining boats including Shaka, Moana III, Ningaloo, The Battler, Blue Dog and Calypso. Most of us will likely initially fish the bank before moving north. And reports from there indicate we should be in for a good couple of days.

Watchdog, fishing their first charter off Cairns in the new boat Sunday/Monday finished with 3 fish for the two days including an estimated 800-850lb-er. Too Easy had another good day also with another estimated 850lb-er. And all the way up towards the rock, Tradition released a 300lb-er. Most boats will be heading in that direction for the 22th annual Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic which starts Sunday.

Photo: Team Reel Chase, team photo as always. Ashley, Capt. Jim, myself and Darren.

Mistress began their 2008 campaign Sunday, fishing Linden Bank for two for two - both fish around the 550lb range - marking a great start to the season!

Other reports filtering in are that Tradition, fishing at Lena Reef also finished the day with two while Too Easy at Opal and Viking at Number 3 got one each.

Hopefully more details to come. Stay tuned.

A quick report from Capt. Bill fishing the middle Ribbons, who reports not too many full days on the outside due to the winds (it's been gusting to 25-30 knots even here in the marina - though today seems a much better day).

Yesterday team Viking already hit double figures for the season thus far with two fish - a 250lb-er and very active 500lb-er in just three hours fishing, one of which being US anglers very first black marlin - bringing their total to 10.

Good going guys!

We thought that things had been pretty quiet, but as it turns out, in Cairns we just weren't hearing anything. So after a quiet day at Jenny Louise on Tuesday, with just a good sized dolphin fish (photo bottom) and a tuna for sushi on the trip home to show for it, yesterday we instead ventured out to Linden Bank - where we found some of the fleet who had been hiding out and finding some fish.

Iona II released three fish in three days to 500 including a rare Japanese black marlin (comes equipped with its very own set of chopsticks instead of a bill - photos above) at 350lbs. They also missed a double header of bigger fish 600 and 800lb. Castille also caught a small one and missed an 800lb-er. Tradition lost one at the back of the boat. And we had a sneaky one eat the tuna feather on the shotgun before we'd even had a chance to put the baits in the water. After a very good angling effort by Pierlite rep Ian on the bait rod, we tagged the feisty 250lb-er to open our 2008 heavy tackle season scorecard.

And congratulations to 11 year old Jac who caught his very first marlin out at Linden Bank last week on the first day of a three day trip! (Picture - Jac dwarfed by the chair)

Word from Townsville over the weekend is that Cape Bowling Green continues to fire late into the season. Although the bait is starting to disappear, when you do find a patch, you find the fish. Out of 10 boats, 20 marlin and 4 sailfish were tagged including 6 each for both Sedative and Nail It. Congrats guys!

At Hinchinbrook, Capt. Sharky on Mauna Kea took out the billfish tournament, with 10 tagged from Moana (the original Moana) second and Sea Baby IV third - with over 60 billfish released for the four days fishing.

Howling winds have limited much of the fleet up here over the weekend although there are a few, who have been sticking it out on the reef - including Castille who got a nice 300lb-er for Steph over the weekend before venturing further south to calmer waters. Others, including us on Reel Chase, are heading out this week so hopefully more reports will filter through soon.

Some pictures from Shaka's recent light tackle trip which ended with 6 released. John on the rod and Ant on the leader. Also word from Tradition, one of the fish they released in the last couple of days was previously tagged during the Townsville Tournament by Eddie Shi on board Castille - proving the fish not only hang around the same area but that they are quite readily feeding again only a week later. During the tournament itself, four fish were observed with previous tags but owing to the delicate nature of the small fish, all proved too hard to remove.

We came upon Shaka doing some light tackle fishing off Fitzroy Island and in the middle of a hot bite. Finishing with 4 little blacks for a couple hours fishing - not a bad effort. We decided to give it a quick go ourselves on the way through and released this little guy.

Back at Bowling Green, a few boats are still enjoying some light tackle action down there. Capt. Russell on Too Easy releasing five for the day, while Tradition picked up another two.

But up in Cairns, our light tackle gear is now packed securely away as our attention turns to the heavy tackle action. There are some whispers going around the marlin marina that Capt. Haydon has already released an 800lb-er on the middle Ribbons.

On the way up yesterday on board Reel Chase, we encountered this hammerhead in our spread. Not at all interested in what we had to offer - we had to watch the footage several times to make sure he was even alive! (A few small beats of the tail at the end gave it away - perhaps he was asleep?) We also came across a couple of marlin tailing down sea. Heading in the right direction!

The Phantom, who have been on the same track as us for the last couple of days, sharing anchorage at Gilbey's and Noggin last night, jumped off another black on a lazer pro on the way to the bait spot. Tradition is at Cape Bowling Green getting their share of the juvie black marlin action with 2 from 'several' yesterday. But the best news comes from Viking fishing Linden Bank who went 3 from 5 on the larger blacks indicating an early start to the season. Capt. Bill reports that one of the fish was about 650lb and had a group of small ones with her all lit up doing their thing.

Now that the Innisfail tournament is finished there should be a lot more heavy tackle activity in the coming week.

On board Reel Chase we are bait fishing our way to Cairns via some of the outlying reefs. Word on the radio is that some solid fish have been sighted again today at Linden Bank so we can't wait to get there. But you don't need to be at the bank to be getting the marlin bites. We went one from two on the bait jig. This frisky 200lb-er giving greenhorn deckie Ashley a work out and giving us some good footage to play with on the underwater camera set up.

In the first picture (not terribly clear sorry as are video stills) - you can see the marlin regurgitate a previously eaten scad just before it rocketed out of the water for a series of jumps. And later, just coasting along down sea seemingly without a care and unaffected by the drag.

Tradition is also making their way north via the Swains Reef, heading next from where we came, Cape Bowling Green and released a nice 450lb blue on the way up. In other news, some of the fleet are currently fishing the Innisfail Bilfish Comp which ends Monday. Fishing has been a little slow, but Mauna Kea has been making some headway with the first fish tagged for both Day 1 and Day 2.

Champion Boat/Team: Game Time (16)
Runner Up: Kekoa (13)
3rd Overall: Reel Chase (11)
4th Overall: Sea Baby IV (9)
5th Overall: Sweat N Tears (9)

Under 8 Metre Champion Boat/Team: Mojo (9)
Under 8 Metre Runner Up: Nail It (4)
Under 8 Metre 3rd: Reef & Beef (4)
Under 8 Metre 4th: Annie B (3)
Under 8 Metre 5th: Electrokushen (3)

Champion Angler: Clayton Shepherd (Game Time). Special congratulations to Bronte Florence who took out Champion Junior and Meritorious Capture releasing her very first marlin during the competition and is also the first third generation Townsville GF Club member to receive an award!

Game Time has held off a determined fleet to win the 26th Annual Townsville Gilbert Group Billfish Challenge with a total of 16 tags from Kekoa. In the under 8m category, Mojo blew the other teams out of the water with 9 tags over just three days fishing.

There are more results to be had but I will save them for a post tomorrow and keep some surprises for tonight's presentation at the Casino. I personally am looking forward to the footage we'll see tonight (Win TV does a composite each year of their own footage as well as that from boats fishing the tourn) in particular, Mat Fallon's footage above and below water on Kekoa.

Ultimate Lady:
Captain Tom sends an update from Vanuatu and reports some reasonable fishing of late. A local charter boat tagged an estimated 750lb blue and most boats have been getting a couple of bites each day. On trips earlier this week, the Ultimate Lady team caught a good mixed bag of wahoo, yellow fin and dolphin fish as well as spear fish and a 400lb blue marlin. The next day, they raised two other blues before the baits were attacked by a pack of sails, releasing two, before jumping off another blue.

Seems the fishing is so good that we won't see them on the GBR this year until late October. Looking forward to seeing the big blue boat appear on the horizon.

Viking II:
Captain Bill reports they are doing a spot of bait fishing off Cairns that the fish have arrived! Running a laser pro out the back for mackerel the team released a 450-500lb-er Captain Bill spotted tailing down sea. Good to see this early in the season!

Despite our thoughts on Mark Parkes sanity cruising out to the spit in the dark on Monday night after a break down kept him out of fishing on Day 3, his early start on Tuesday proved very fruitful with 4 tags (4-4-4) for Mojo on the first sked - in what was generally thought to be very slow fishing. Game Time and Kekoa continue their tussle at the top of the leader board (12 tags) with everyone else trying hard to catch up (but not making much of an impression). Sweat N Tears the closest contender with 9 tags. In the under 8 metre category, Mojo is on top with 8 tags.

The annual Norship Marine Light Tackle Slam game at Yorkeys Knob Boat Club was held over this weekend - postphoned due to the weather from the original dates in August (the weather not exactly cooperating this time either). Although with 29 boats turning out for the event, it didn't deter anyone!

Scott "Bat" Taunton, skippering the smallest boat in the fleet Valhalla, took out the tournament in a clean sweep - winning Champion Boat overall, Champion Boat under 7.5m, First Marlin Tagged and Champion Angler (for Ben Walker) with 4 marlin tagged. Runner-up boat was Good as Gold with three marlin tagged. Congratulations also to Paul Massy on Razerline who christened his boat with 3 marlin tagged.

On Day 3, Kekoa and Game Time continued to go fish for fish with two each for the day bringing their totals to 11 so far in the tournament. Top dog for Day 3 was Sea Baby IV with 4 tags for the day, including the last released during the final sked, bringing them into third place with 8 tags. Reel Chase made some ground with three releases, bringing them on par with Rose Red and Sweat N Tears who were both fish-less on Day three - with all three boats sitting on 7 tags and Castille just behind with 6 tags.

Boats on 5 tags include: Calypso (Mango) and Little Utopia. Boats on 4 tags include: G'd Up, Mauna Kea, Moana, Nail It, Reef & Beef.

[Again, my results are based entirely on the information I have heard on the skeds and are in no way official results. No official update has been given.]

Picture: Mat has been putting the new underwater camera system to the test on board Kekoa during the tournament - and the results are pretty spectacular. This is the still frame of a perfectly captured tag shot.

On Day 2, Pete O'Brien made up for Day 1 karma (broken rod) on Kekoa to storm into contention - with the Win TV crew on board to catch all the action. By the first sked they had four tags including a successful double header. Second sked, another three tags, including another successful double header. And ending the day with a sailfish for Pete, hooked up at 4:29pm during the final sked, and just a minute before cease fishing. With 8 tags for Day 2, that brings them to a total of 9 for the tournament thus far, just behind on count back from the team on Game Time who had another solid day with 6 tags, also bringing their total to 9.

Also finding the fish on Day 2 was Sweat N Tears with Capt. Calvin Tilley. Starting with the first fish tagged for the day (black marlin), they also ended the day with 6 fishing bringing their total to 7, level with the team on board Rose Red. Castille III tagged the first sailfish of the day as well as another 4 marlin bringing them to a total of 6 tags, just behind the leaders. Meanwhile, Sea Baby IV and Reel Chase sit another two back at 4 tags.

Approximately 70 billfish were tagged on Day 2 - another top fish day at Cape Bowling Green.

And off to a dramatic start!

As many will have heard, while filming the boats lining up for the shot gun start, a Win TV Helicopter ditched into the calm water in front of the entry to the port. Many of the fleet, who were already set to gun start, instead gunned over to lend assistance. Thankfully all on board were quickly accounted for. Win TV have been long supporters of the tournament and the cameramen and crew are familiar faces and so we're all just so happy that everyone is okay.

And so, a more subdued shot gun start ensued after a delay and we headed across the relatively calm waters of Cleveland Bay.

[I was on track for a pretty accurate account of today's fishing until the final sked when I was fighting a fish myself and missed most of it and so my apologies in advance for any inaccuracies!]

The good news is that Day 1 billfish tags for 2008 have already exceeded the total tally for 2007 with in excess of 30 tags. Game Time leads on countback from Reel Chase on 3 fish, followed by Rose Red, Oi Bud and Kanahoee each with 2 and a number of boats with one fish each including: Kekoa, Nail It, Burgundy Lady, Calypso (Mango), Castille III, Desperado, Little Utopia, Mauna Kea, Sea Baby IV, Sparticus, Elektrakushen, Flo-tation, Seaduca, Levende, Sweat N Tears, Mates Rates, Reef & Beef, Tanami, Moana and Far Cry.

September has arrived and the Cape Bowling Green season has switched into top gear and a number of boats have been fishing in the last couple of days in preparation for the Gilbert Group Billfish Challenge this weekend. Good numbers of marlin have already shown up this year as well as bait schools covering an area in excess of a couple of square miles.

On board Reel Chase we returned to the grounds Monday, Tuesday and fished with 4 other boats, all reported good numbers of marlin although the tag to hook up ratio were down due to the finicky nature of the fish. We managed only two on Monday, although we had a large number of shots, but we redeemed ourselves yesterday with 5. Top dog was undoubtedly the private boat Game Time with a reported 10 tags on Monday. Other boats enjoying the good action were Castille , The Phantom and Sea Baby IV.

If the predicted light winds eventuate this weekend, all the boats should look forward to another great tournament with smaller tides usually producing the best numbers of fish. Cairns has also been seeing some good action in the leadup to their rescheduled light tackle comp with good numbers of marlin appearing on the grounds east of Fitzroy Island. And early indications of strong current and warm water pushing in on the coast all the way to the south of Cape Bowling Green, are looking good for an above average marlin season.

Photos: Mike's 50th Marlin on Tuesday and with a propeller like that, there's no wonder they power around so fast.