I don’t have phone service where we are right now so I haven’t heard from the horses mouth, but the reef Grapevine tells me that several BIG things happened yesterday. Firstly, Capt. Brett Goetze’s Amokura had another top day on the reef going 6 from 9 including another couple of nice fish(!) and Glanville Heydenrich’s charge Happy Hooker also added a fish that he has put at 950lbs yesterday as well.
Update: I did hear from Brett on Amokura who tells me their 6 from 9 included a triple header. The fish were 100,150,300,700,700,900. Of the triple header they only landed the one fish about 700, jumped a smaller one off but stayed connected to a really nice one, unfortunately having the main line snap about 40 minutes into the fight. What a day! I also heard from Glanville who tells me that while they’ve only fished 3 days heavy tackle this season, they’ve been three crackers going 6 from 7 overall!
Catch up from Little Audrey’s Capt. Daniel Carlson, who tells me they’ve had an awesome week as well with 8 over 700lb in the last 14 days including a 910lb blue marlin and a 1148lb black marlin and also released one of the biggest fish Dan’s says that he’s ever seen.
Catch up report from Iona 2 via Alicia who says that they just finished a great 5 days going 10 from 15 and a sail fish. Photo is of a 700lb caught by Fitzy and the largest fish was a 950lbs at top.
Catch up from Capt. Brent James’ Mauna Kea who finished a 5 day trip with 11 fish 5 over 600lb. Lockie says they also had a late bite off a big one and fought it until 9:30pm. Photo a fish that Capt. Brent put at 850lbs.
Also a catch up report from Peter Jenyns on the private boat Tsukiji who has finished their ‘little; season with a few nice fish added to the tally over the past week. They recorded a 900lb-er on The Bank on the first day, a 500, 350, 300 and pulled hooks after 30mims on one that was right up there on Number 5 a couple of days ago.
Capt. Tiger (Alan) Geale on Althaldo with Janice and Lochie Eggins went two from three yesterday including a fish that Tiger put at 1000lbs.
On Capt. Luke Fallon’s KEKOA we started a new trip yesterday after a day off in town with a 500lb-er for Jason followed up by a frisky mako that did the marlin bite on the big bait.
Capt. Simon Carosi’s Reel Chase went 1 from 3 with a small fella for the young fella on a bait that he’d caught and stitched up himself earlier!! Watch out, the juniors are taking over! :-)
And Capt. Tim Dean’s Calypso also topped off a big trip with a small fish on the way in after raising yet another monster.
Port Douglas Marlin Challenge
Thanks to Heff for the report!
The Port Douglas Marlin Challenge was conducted between the 5th-8th November and the fleet enjoyed fantastic conditions and good fishing. The tournament was dominated by the Hellraiser crew who tagged 5 black marlin and was challenged at various times by the Think Big team who came runner up with 3 tags. The Wild Turkey team encountered two marlin over 1000lb pound during their tournament quest.
Opal Ridge proved to be a hotspot for many vessels, with Anderson Reef and Linden Bank also producing its share of the action.
Tournament Statistics:
34 Strikes
29 Hook Ups
16 Tags
Major prize winners included:
Champion Angler – Peter Barry onboard Hellraiser with 3 tags
Champion Female Angler – Sharon Poulter onboard Think Big with a 950lb black marlin
Champion Boat & Skipper – Steve Ahlers Hellraiser
The Port Douglas Marlin Challenge next year will run from the 10th-13th November 2016.
Thanks to all participants and our valued sponsors.
