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What a day of fishing!On Day 4 there were periods of hot bites up and down the reef and once again, there were a number of big fish amongst the mix. Capt. Trent on the original Iona kicked it all off with a grander black marlin (1050lb) less than an hour after start fishing at Number 7 Ribbon Reef. That was shortly followed by another (1000lb) for Jim Wild on Viking at Linden Bank.Bill Collector tagged their first and second black marlin of the tournament on Day 4, the second going 950lbs to angler Dave Warner. And Kaizen also made it on the scoreboard with two fish up the top including one at 930lb (as per Bob). Kalira made it onto the board as well. KEKOA released another big girl, this 800lb-er (below right) at Number 5 and there were a few big fish dropped as well. Calypso on a big fish they unfortunately broke of on the leader & KEKOA with John’s 800lb-er. As of cease fishing there were 23 tags for the day and three boats still hooked up including Hart Throb who unfortunately lost their battle with one well over the mark last night. They still finished on top with three fish for Day 4 to bring their total to 5 for the tournament.On the leaderboard, Joe Joe has taken over the number 1 spot adding another 2 fish on Day 4 to bring their total to 7 tags. Spartacus follows hot on their heels also adding another two to bring them also to 7 on countback. There are a couple of boats on six being Castille III and Hattitude.

This post was imported into WordPress from my old Black Marlin Fishing Blog website without any accompanying photos. If you’d like to see the original post, with the accompanying photographs, go to the original Black Marlin Fishing Blog site and navigate to the post using the archive navigation links on the right-hand-side.

Another great photo of a team in action this time on Day 3 of the competition from Muzza on Calypso which shows KEKOA backing down on their first fish for Day 3 estimated at 900lbs for angler Jason Hassett from Melbourne. Its was a good short fight for Jason who has had his share of much longer battles (in 2008 he fought for a fish for 7 hours that Capt. Luke estimated at well over the mark before the line parted ways.) KEKOA finished with two for the day for the tournament (900 & 400) and added another (250) to their personal tally just after cease fishing. Calypso also released two nearby bringing their total to three.Also in the big fish on Day 3, again, Hattitude released a 1,000lb-er for owner/angler Mike Dobbins. Joe Joe fought a monster through cease fishing once again and reported this morning that it was another grander, the second for the team this comp! And Castille III got back into the action with this 700lb-er for Parke. Parke’s 700lb black marlin on Castille on Day three, you can see LIzard Island behind on the right. In all, there were 21 black marlin tagged on Day 3. Some more big fish amongst the mix which is very good to see.Taking the lead is the team on Spartacus with 5 tags adding one fish to their tally on Day 3 leading from Joe Joe also on 5 now on countback. They are followed by Top Shot on four fish and Hattitude, Castille III and Mai Tai also on 4 in countback order.Very important, the fleet needs your help. Australian citizens please consider urgently joining the Australian Lifestyle and Fishing Party. We need 70 more members within the next week to ensure we have a voice. Please read here for more details from Cairns Professional Game Fishing Association President Dan McCarthy. — Outside the tournament, Iona 2 has kept on big fish alert (original Iona is fishing the tournament with Capt. Trent and released one yesterday). Capt. Adam recorded his second grander on the new boat at Linden Bank (photo left – a video still) with a fish they called 1100lbs released. They also released a smaller fish at 350lb and jumped 4 off, had another one up and jumped a sailfish off!On Tradition, the crew fish is running red hot as well. Fishing north of Jewell, they saw 7, had double header of 120lb dogtooth and a marlin on the 50lb pitch bait – the doggie stole the scad form the marlin on the camera. Later, they pulled off one about 700 or so and let one go about 900 on top of Jewell just before dark.

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Again day 2 started slow with no fish recorded on the first sked but a flurry of small fish started soon after. Moana III was first on the board for the day with a solid 500lb-er for angler Andrei Grigoriev. By the 3pm sked Spartacus was 5-5-3 for the day with smaller black marlin in the 150-200lb range including a double header. Then the bigger fish started to show up and in the last half hour of fishing, some big fish were tagged or still fighting.Hattitude, with Capt. Kim Andersen at the helm released one estimated at 800lb. John Hendry on Shaka sent me this picture of Hattitude in action on a fish earlier in the afternoon that they lost. Its something to see a 65ft Hatteras going backwards like that.Hart Throb hooked up at just a few minutes to go before cease fishing and successfully tagged an 800lb-er as well for Chris Hart, one of two for the day. Capt. Corey on Askari likewise hooked up just before cease fishing but it wasn’t until about 3 hours later that we heard his call on the radio to report the successful tag and release of another 1000lb black marlin at Number 2 Ribbon Reef.While Spartacus took out Champion Boat for the day, its Top Shot who have now taken the lead also with 3 fish on day 2 (to 300lb) to take their total so far to 4. In second place is Castille from Spartacus, Joe Joe and Hattitude on countback with 3 tags.– Outside the tournament, Cool Runnings released an 180lb-er south of Linden Bank for angler Karen who was still smiling hours later. Also at Linden Bank, Capt. Adam is back from his overseas trip and on Iona II and released a 150lb-er and missed another two including one that Adam said was way over the scale. On Sunday Adam was back at his favourite spot, the Bus Stop, where they released three massive whalers on 50lb standup.Tradition fished north at Hicks Reef releasing this one he called 550lb.And on the Sunshine Coast, Capt. Robert Smith on Triton IV has reported his first juvenile black marlin of the season at the top of Fraser Island.Greetings to the good fisherman of Phuket, Capt. Hook from Alan on Reel Chase!

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Castille III backs down on Parke’s 950lb-er on Day 1 of the Lizard Island Tournament. If you were following the tweets on Day 1, you’ll know that the day started out a little slow (there were no tags reported on the first sked) and then there was a little flurry of action in the afternoon that resulted in 15 tags for the day. The early fish were all small males but in the afternoon some of the big girls showed up including this one for Castille III, who were on fire with three tags for the day, a 600lb-er for Hattitude and a 550lb-er for Hard to Swallow all around the 5pm mark. Capt. Dean on Castille sent me this pic from a video still on board the boat. Its not a high quality picture, but you can get an idea of the size of the fish. More images to come.Also of note, young Daniel Carlson at the helm on Little Audrey for the first time steered the team to two fish.The final standings for Day 1 are Castille III leading with 3 tags, and in countback order, Little Audrey 2 tags, Hattitude 2 tags, Reel Chase, Hot Shot, Watchdog, Calypso, Maitai, Top Shot, Hard to Swallow and Bill Collector.Joe Joe was hooked up at cease fishing but I’m not sure what happpened with the fish. We heard this morning that it was successfully released and that it’s another entry for the ‘Thousand Pounder’ club at 1100lbs! —– Outside the tournament, Capt. Steve on Kianja released his team’s second 700lb-er for the week for the boys from Fish Head Tackle Store.A picture from Steve with Tim Wagner on the wire.Also doing some crew fishing on their time off, the boys on Tradition released three fish on Day Reef.And some news from Capt. Tom Francis on Ultimate Lady who have left Brisbane and are heading north. Tom reports they have been doing some more fishing at Mellish Reef which is where they captured the grander blue marlin in 2008 (read the story here – go to Oct 22, 2008). Fishing Wednesday last week they released a 700lb-er and on Thursday two 300lb-ers and a 500lb-er from 5 bites, raising a couple more including a decent fish that didn’t bite.As always we look forward to seeing the big blue boat coming over the horizon!

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Much of the fleet is now gathered in Watson’s Bay at Lizard Island this morning as we await the sailpast and Day 1 of the Shell Cove Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic. For many boats it was a direct trip to the island, no fishing but for the few who fished the top end there were still some fish around. KEKOA stuck there hooks in two and Calypso also released one in the 600lb range.For Shaka, it’s been a while, but the wait was worth it. Fishing from Number 5 Ribbon Reef at around 1pm the big girl – around 950lb – (and her smaller companion) turned up. She grabbed the big bait and took off, only to drop it after a short run. Smart work by Andy on the handline saw her back again, and this time she didn’t mess around. With the circle hook planted firmly in the corner of her jaw, she set off for the horizon with Capt. Jared in hot pursuit. After a great fight they had her to the boat within 20 minutes, tagged, released and off to fight another day. Photo a still from the video by Ant.Stay tuned for updates from the tournament today.