Following up from the list of winners and grinners at the Golden Lure, as report with huge thanks to Janeck Kaczorowski, President & Tournament Coordinator.
The Garmin 33rd Golden Lure Tournament was held January 8th – 16th with a record number in attendance – 47 boats and 206 angler – to match some fantastic fishing over the week.
Saturday Day 1 kicked off with the traditional sailpast after which half the fleet headed east to the shelf with the rest heading north to the inshore grounds to find the bite.
And with almost zero current on the shelf it was interesting to see that the first tag & release of the tournament was a black marlin by LMGFC boat Compton on the edge. This fish was followed closely by a some blue marlin as well as a few striped marlin . While the inshore grounds were comparatively quiet, the few black marlin that were found were solid fish testing the anglers.
The highlight of the day was the boat Whitedog from NPSGFC getting their first grand slam T&R with a blue, black and striped marlin in the one day, all on lures. There were also a few big blues lost in the fight including one for junior Ryan Kaczorowski after a 3.5 hour battle.
Sunday Day 2 was similar with warm water and little current. But the inshore fleet started to hone in on the black marlin. Once again solid fish reported with Mark Brown on Rarely In enduring a 4hr battle on 100kg black before it was successfully tagged. Offshore there were black marlin along with some big mahi mahi but the blue marlin had gone quiet.
Thursday Day 3 was met with a southerly change. The inshore fishing fired with the juvenile black marlin showing up around the Hat Head grounds. Out wide there were a few blue marlin around but the interesting thing was the large number of juvenile black marlin reported striking at the large lures set for blues on the edge of the shelf. At the end of the day there were 67 tags presented to weigh station for black marlin.
Friday Day 4 and the fleet was met with a raging current out wide and a forecast of a strong North East wind by 11am which made trolling the shelf almost impossible. A blue marlin was tagged early in the day but once again the again the attention centred on the inshore reefs and the blacks.
At the conclusion of the fishing there were 129 marlin Tagged & Released made up of 11 blacks, 10 blue and 7 stripes. There was also 1 sailfish tagged along with 35 ‘Other Gamefish’
On Tuesday 21 boats also entered the Tammy & Richard Kirkby Ladies & Juniors Charity Day. A fantastic time was had by all and in excess of $2500 was raised for the Mid North Coast Cancer Institute at the Port Macquarie hospital. Champion Lady T&R was won by Hannah Wykes on Reel Trouble PMGFC, Champion Lady Capture was Kerryanne Thompson on Milo NPSGFC with a 137.5kg blue marlin. Champion Junior T&R was Cooper Frith on Frito 2 NPSGFC and Champion Junior Capture was Zac Danby on Chicka PMGFC with a 135.8kg blue marlin.
The Port Macquarie Game Fishing Club would like to thanks all ocompetitors for a fantastic tournament and hope to see everyone again at the 34th Golden Lure Tournament January 5th-13th 2018.
Photo: at top taken by Kaysie Fancett aboard Weekend Detention
