- Another year, another Blue Marlin World Cup over! And congrats to the first (although still unofficial) repeat winner, Happy Hooker in Cape Verde who boated a blue marlin at 1097lb! For those not familiar with how the BMWC works, boats from all over the globe, fishing on July 4 (their timezone) compete for the biggest blue marlin above the qualifying weight of 500lbs. It’s interesting to watch the different timezones come into play. Once again in 2010 our part of the Pacific was represented by the team on Ultimate Lady fishing out of Vanuatu—fishing in the same time zone as Kona and were some of the last to compete. But fortunately for the team on Happy Hooker, they set the bar pretty high! Congrats to Capt. Berno Niebuhr and angler Chris Brand who I understand was the same angler to reel in the winning fish on Happy Hooker in 2006. Thanks to @BlueMarlinWC.
- Steve Tatham reports there are good numbers of billfish around on the bait balls at the moment at Dampier promising another cracker tournament (if the WIND would quit as its been blowing!) 2009 produced 297 sails and 56 black marlin. Tournament runs at the end of the month.
- The Townsville Billfish Bonanza has been postponed to a tentative 17/18 July due to weather. Here’s hoping the tournament goes ahead so we can see what the little blacks are up to. It’s a good gear up for the main tournament, the Mike Carney Toyota Billfish Challenge in September.
- More from Brendan on the bluefin in Tassie. Last week 126kg, 115 and 101 southern blues were weighed at Eaglehawk Neck and rumour has it that more caught but not weighed? Brendan recommends Stuart Nichols and the Big Pig if you want to have a shot at a Jumbo Blue!
