On the 50^th year anniversary of the Gold Coast Game Fishing Club, the Garmin light tackle masters held on the 11^th and 12^th of January saw 26 boats take part.  After weeks of great weather, the tournament saw a cold southerly developing and everyone watching every wind app they could for comparisons.

Friday night briefing went off without a hitch and the Calcutta saw French look had some clear III and Viking II as clear favorites to take out the comp.

All boats and crew where notified that we had been asked to take part in some special research and we had Clarisse and Russell from the University of Queensland also get involved for the day, doing some research on parasitic worms in Wahoo, Mahi Mahi and Mackerel for their PHD’s.  They addended at the end of day 1 to extract the worms themselves from the boats that brought specimens in. It was great testament to the Club and entrants to lend a hand to scientific research.

Conditions Saturday morning saw 10-15knt winds and by the 9am sked there where already 6 black marlin tagged and released, 1 x wahoo and 2 x Mahi Mahi.

11am sked Saturday saw another 6 tagged and released billfish and 1 Mahi Mahi, and there was a clear congregation of the fleet around Spot X with most boats opting for live baiting and drifting.  In addition to the fleet the spot was also producing a lot of activity from the tax man, with hook up and after hook up reporting sharks.

The weather for the Sunday had been upgraded with a strong wind warning being issued, resulting in the committee calling off fishing Sunday, and we now had a one day shoot out on our hands.

Congratulations to all the entered in which can only be descripted and trying conditions.

Champion Boat

1st	French Look III		20010
2nd	Unleashed	GCGFC	20000
3rd	Reelentless	GCGFC	20000
4th	Amigo	GCGFC	20000
5th	Seakeeper	GCGFC	10000
Other Point Scoring Boats:
Fido		GCGFC	10000
Sea Eagle		GCGFC	10000
Grinner		GCGFC	10000
Hot Deal		GCGFC	10000
Broadbill		GCGFC	10000
Aurora		GCGFC	10000
Viking II		GCGFC	10000
Team Tackleworld		GCGFC	20
Reelax		GCGFC	10
Nomad		GCGFC	10

 

 

 

Champion Boat OVER 8M

 

1

French Look III

GCGFC

20010

 

Champion Boat UNDER 8M

 

1

Unleashed

GCGFC

20000

 

 

Champion Angler Female

Position	Angler’s Name	Boat Name	Club	Score
1	Chelsea Hedges	Unleashed	GCGFC	20000
Other Point Scoring Female Anglers
Alisa Schofield		Hot Deal	GCGFC	10000
Pam Hart		Viking II	GCGFC	10000

 

  

Champion Angler Female Junior

Not contested

 

Champion Angler Male Junior

Position	Angler’s Name	Boat	Club	Score
1	Kai Davison	Aurora	GCGFC	1000

 

Other Point Scoring Junior Anglers

Liam Burt

Team Tackleworld

GCGFC

20

 

Champion Angler Male

1	Jacob Mibus		Amigo		GCGFC	20000
Other Point Scoring Male Anglers
Corey Donnelly		French  Look III		GCGFC		10010
John Carter		Seakeeper		GCGFC		10000
Joel Newton		Reelentless		GCGFC		10000
James Ferguson		Fido		GCGFC		10000
Ryan Henkey		Sea Eagle		GCGFC		10000
Darren Shingles		Grinner		GCGFC		10000
Joel Gartner		Broadbill		GCGFC		10000
Campbell Edwards		Reelentless		GCGFC		10000
Steve McQuire		French Look III		NPSGFC		10000
Triston Houghton		Reelax		GCGFC		10

 

Champion Angler Other Species Heaviest Fish

 

Not contested

 

Champion Angler Other Species Most Tagged & Release

Position	Angler’s Name	Boat	Club	Score
1	Liam Burt	Team Tackleworld	GCGFC	20

 

Other Point Scoring Anglers

Triston Houghton	Reelax	GCGFC	10
	Nomad	GCGFC	10

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Billfish Day 1

Angler’s Name	Boat	Club	Time
Steve Carter	Seakeeper	GCGFC	0725

 

 

Last Billfish Day 2

Angler’s Name	Boat	Club	Time
Steve Maguire	French Look III	NCGFC	1457

 

 

 

Fishing Stats:

 

 

	Day 1
Sked	1	2	3
Hook Ups	10	20	13
Strikes	10	15	12
Tags	9	7	7
Captures
Black Marlin	7	6	4
Mahi Mahi	1	1	1
Wahoo	1
Tuna			1
Spotted Mackerel			1