Some more promising news for crews fishing any of the light tackle tournaments upcoming over the next month in North Queensland with a few first year marlin reported during the first two days of fishing at the Cairns BlueWater 6kg Tournament being held out of Fitroy Island at present.  On both Day 1 and 2, 3 billfish were tagged each day and a number more raised and lost.  And, what is most promising is that 5 of the 6 fish have been ‘first year’ black marlin in the 30-40lb range.

Last year the Cairns BlueWater comp, like the Townsville Billfish Challenge which follows next weekend (Sept. 2-7), saw the majority of all billfish tags being sailfish with only a single black marlin released.  (Likewise the 2010 Townsville Tournament saw all sails and a single black which was a bit larger than the usual first year model.)   Hopefully this is a promising sign that there are still some juvenile blacks around in the north and with weather conditions settling down considerably this weekend, hopefully more results will come through all the way down the coast from Cairns to Townsville.

Day 1 tags went to Nickers and Kanahoee which has Capt. Chris “Sharky” Miles at the helm this year.  (Sorry I don’t have the third boat’s name. Anyone?)  Day 2 tags to Marcel, Chaos and Hellraiser and so the tournament is still anyone’s to win with the final day’s fishing today.

(Apologies if I’ve spelled any boat names incorrectly. I do that!) Thanks Mick for the update!