GAMEFISHING REPORT 31st BLUE MARLIN CLASSIC 2010.

Mark Maher

 

 

The weather forecasts for the Labour Day long-weekend were for strong east to north-east winds for the duration of the event. That was not encouraging for those with smaller boats, and no doubt for some big boat owners too.

Also, there were reports of a lack of fish out there, which may have put some off.

(However, like last year, the weather turned out to be better than forecast, and the fish were there too.)

 

So, it was not surprising that numbers were down on last year. Despite that, there was an air of excitement and optimism at the briefing night on Friday 26 February where 19 skippers are issued with their entry packs.

 

After the briefing formalities, Exmouth charter boat operator, Ross Newton of Reel Action gave an interesting talk on his most recent successes fishing Exmouth, and the Rowley Shoals off Broome.  His presentation was supported by slides of wonderful catches and the variety of lures he used to capture them. He also explained and demonstrated the clever way he has used a simple reticulation item and bits of spear gun rubber to stiffen and secure his hooks and traces to the lures.

 

 

Day 1. Saturday. As predicted, the winds were up, even at 7.15am when the competitors set out from the tranquil waters of Success Harbour, and lined up for the traditional shot gun start just north of the Fremantle Harbour north groyne.

 

Things got off to a ragged start, as tournament director Clayton Dodd could not make radio contact with the rest of the fleet. Never-the-less, commodore Alan Ledger fired the gun from FSC Success, at the given 8am start and the murmur of idling motors developed into a roar as the 19 boats gathered speed and raced off towards Rottnest. All except Graeme Allen’s High Seas that is, which blew a cloud of black smoke and stopped dead in the water. She had blown an injector in the port motor and had to retire.

 

These starts are a great excuse for the bigger boats to show off their raw power, with the likes of Ron Agland’s Weapon and Mark Chrystal’s new boat Jude, taking the lead for a mile or two before throttling back to save fuel, both have twin 1350hp Motors.

 

Whilst the sea was sloppy at the start, the further west one went the wind dropped of, and was described as “great” in the fishing grounds west of Rottnest after 11am. The sea was flat, and there was plenty of bait fish around, and contrary to reports, there were plenty of 2kg to 4kg mahi-mahi and yellowtail kingfish 3kg to 8kg at the FADs. It was really pleasant out there, and those conditions got better day by day.

Those of faint heart, who had stayed away, missed out on some perfect fishing weather.