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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.
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Not too many reports from the reef today as many boats re-stock and changeover in preparation for the tournament. We were joined in Watson’s Bay last night by Castille III, Moana III, Reel Ripe. Many more are in today for the briefing this evening.Capt. Tim Dean heads to the rock after a few top days on Calypso with three fish in the 9-950lb range. Yesterday, Capt. Steve on Kianja got one about 700lb on Number 5 Ribbon and Capt. Tim Richardson tells me he saw 6 yesterday including a nice big one with two males along side but no bites form them. He released a small on on Number 10.Mike Hallam skipper of trailer boat Reel Nice sent me this pic of an estimated 300lb-er they got for angler Steven Woody while the weather was still good (looking great for next week too!) This was Stevens first billfish and was released at Linden Bank last Wednesday.
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.
The view from on the way to Cook’s Look on Lizard Island this morning The fishing is still hot hot hot and the action has moved down the reef.Watchdog finished their trip with their Tasmanian visitors on a high with four for the day including one over 800lbs and a sailfish on Number 7. Brett reports they saw many more. At Number 5, Reel Ripe did likewise with going four from four with one a piece for his anglers – 800lbs for Shane Thompson, 700lb for Campbell Parker, 150lb for Peter Parker and 250lb for Brendan White! Also in the middle Capt. Tim Dean on Calypso released another big fish yesterday at 950lbs.Back at Number 10: Boats fishing up from the bottom were Tradition and KEKOA. Capt. Tim went two from 4 while Capt. Luke release the one early in the day and battled rubber hook syndrome for several others. Capt. Luke also tells me he saw the boys on Iona II release a big one at 10 as well.Fishing from the top, the Lizard Island boat came back into the island with two tag flags flying, releasing fish at 700 & 400lb for their anglers. Spartacus with one tag flag also. Capt. Darren on Allure tells me they went one from two at 800lbs and lost the other of similar size. Capt. Darren also reports they released one that would go the mark earlier in the week adding him to the grander list.The fishing is just getting better and better. —Fraser CoastSome news from Barry Alty and the team on Mistress on the Gold Coast who have been getting into some more blue marlin off Breaksea Spit. The boys went two from three blues (and two yellowfin) Thursday including one about 350lbs that charged the boat twice but didn’t do any damage because the bill was above the coverboards!
