Garmin Billfish Shootout – Newcastle Port Stephens GFC

The annual shootout was held out of Port Stephens over the weekend, and aside from the storm that caught some competitors at sea the biggest turnup of the comp were the blue marlin with stripes still mostly MIA.

594 anglers competed on a fleet of 135 boats for two days of fishing.  On the Tag&Release side of the competition there were 19 fish tagged on Day 1 made up of 15 blue marlin, 2 black marlin and 2 striped marlin. Day 2 produced a similar number with 15 tags made up of 12 blue marlin, 2 black marlin and 1 short billed spearfish.  Ivan Bennett’s Ambition took home the Champion Team T&R in a tight pointscore result that came down to line class with the top 3 boats all recording 3 tags.  Ambition tagged all three of their fish on Day 1 (2 blues and a black) leaving them a nervous day of fishing Sunday with Karly Curtis on the Curtis family’s Ningaloo hot on their heels with 3 blues.

The Capture side of the comp came right down to the wire with a 214.5kg blue marlin for the team on Lumpy taking home the jackpot.

Tag & Release Winner & Points
Champion Team 1 Ambition – SGFC 30,000 points
Champion Team 2 Ningaloo – NGFC 27,000 points
Champion Team 3 El Nino NPSGFC 21,500 points
Champion Team 4 Hoodlum SGFC 20,000 points
Champion Team 5 Offshore – LMGFC 18,500 points
Champion Team 6 Little Audrey- SGFC 17,500 points
Champion Team 7 Lone Wolf – NPSGFC 17,000 points on C/B
Champion Team 8 Wasabi Botany Bay GFC 17,000 points on C/B
Champion Team 9 Gale Force – SGFC 15,000 points
Champion Team 10 Team Garmin – FINFISN – CCGFC 12,500 points

Champion Female Junior – Not Won
Champion Male Junior Not Won
First marlin Tagged by a Junior Not Won

Heaviest Marlin Over150KG Lumpy LMGFC 214.5kg Blue marlin on 37 kg
Heaviest Shark Min 350KG Not Won

Champion Boat T&R under 8m Team Garmin – FINFISN CCGFC 12,500 points

Congratulations to all of the winners! Thanks to Nigel for the results!

Gold Coast Black Marlin

Some great shots above and below from Glanville Heydenrych on Mufasa from the weekend showing good skills to combine the photos with driving!  They went 4 from 5 on Saturday with fish up to 80kg.