The NSWGFA Interclub Tournament has finished for another year – once again for all involved the event came and went all too quickly.
The second weekend of competition for the 2010 event provided anglers with a stark contrast to the previous weekend thanks to a howling 20-knot nor-easterly that greeted crews as they passed through the heads on Saturday morning. A choppy 1.8m sea and passing rain squalls did little to help the comfort levels of competing teams.
Things get wet on the deck of In A Meeting. Pic: Chris Yu
Despite ordinary weather conditions, the fishing was still good enough to keep most boats out there until the 5pm finish. Born Free claimed honours for the second last day, tagging five marlin, while several other vessels found 2-3 fish a piece. The “other gamefish” made more of an appearance on the second weekend, as one boat managed to find a patch of yellowfin tuna and caught six for the day. A couple of nice mahi mahi were taken, and many more were tagged.
The bulk of the fleet had focussed their attention to the grounds around the “carpark” and to the north of it up to around 32.50S; this was in contrast to the focus being further to the south on the first weekend. This was perhaps due as much to the NE weather as it was the fishing itself as few crews would have been keen to bash their way home north straight into the chop.
Sunday the 7th March began with much the same conditions as the previous day. The wind and sea however tended to abate at certain stages throughout the day and provided some clear windows. The fishing too proved a little better on the Sunday as more boats found better numbers of fish.
Bravo found yellowfin tuna with seven for the day, while Aluhra tagged five marlin (four blacks and a striped), as did local boat Diversion. Once again the sched reports contained a very balanced mix of black and striped marlin; the ratio was almost 50/50 and on some scheds there were decidedly more black marlin tagged than striped.
Champion Boat Amokura – Pic: Chris Yu
A very serious situation arose mid-afternoon as a boat reported in to tournament base that it was taking water and in danger of sinking. As the crew fought a double of marlin and backed down into the heavy sea the boat suffered a broken shaft seal and took several big waves over the transom. This proved too much for the boat’s bilge pumps to cope with and the boat took on more water than it could expel. Fortunately the crew were able to get the boat up onto the plane to help drain some of the water and reduce the amount that was flooding in.
Every boat fishing in the same grid zone responded immediately, ripping in their lines and racing towards the approximate location of the vessel in danger. Within minutes there were several other vessels circling the stricken boat. The crew of Seaka then sacrificed its remaining afternoon of fishing to shadow the troubled boat back to port. It was most reassuring to witness the instant response from the tournament fleet as soon as the call for help was made over the radio. All of a sudden, fishing was the last thing on peoples’ minds as they immediately raced to the aid of their fellow anglers. Fortunately no one was injured and the crew made it back to shore safely.
Runner-up Champion Boat Born Free – Pic: Chris Yu
All in all it was another successful year for the NSWGFA Interclub, and although the fishing wasn’t as a hot as it had been earlier in February, it was consistent throughout the entire four days of competition and provided action that is still hard to match in most other places along the East Coast.
Note – scroll down for full results of Interclub and news of AIBT event held mid-week.
Another successful Interclub out of the way – NSWGFA secretary Pat Jones (right) and president Don Goswell.
The crew of In A Meeting at the end of a successful day. Pic: Chris Yu
The final results for the major trophies were:
Champion Team T&R: Newcastle & Port Stephens GFC – Team 2 – 478525.00 Points
Runner-Up Champion Team T&R: Broken Bay GFC – Team 2 – 258000.00 Points
3rd Place Champion Team T&R: Lake Macquarie GFC – Team 2 – 233500.00 Points
Champion Team Capture: Lake Macquarie GFC – Team 1 – 122631.00 Points
Runner-Up Champion Team Capture: Sydney GFC – Team 1 – 80915.46 Points
3rd Place Champion Team Capture: Newcastle & Port Stephens GFC – Team 1 – 72917.75 Points
Champion Boat T&R: Amokura, LMGFC – 151500.00 Points
Runner-Up Champion Boat T&R: Born Free, NPSGFC – 130025.00 Points
3rd Place Champion Boat T&R: Gunrunner, NPSGFC – 122000.00 Points
Champion Boat Capture: Offshore, LMGFC – 45296.00 points
Runner-Up Champion Boat Capture: Gloriana, LMGFC – 42191.78 points
3rd Place Champion Boat Capture: Askari, SGFC – 35630.46 points
Champion Male Angler T&R: James Holt, Diversion – 120500.00 Points
Runner-Up Champion Male Angler T&R: Aris Keramidas, Smartbill – 86000.00 Points
3rd Place Champion Male Angler T&R: Matthew Pritchard, Amokura – 50000.00 Points
Champion Female Angler T&R: Katie Lee, Gunrunner – 64500.00 Points
Runner-Up Champion Female Angler T&R: Kate Lamb, Anarchy – 40000.00 points
3rd Place Champion Female Angler T&R: Dianne Shultz, No Moor – 33000.00 points
Champion Junior Angler T&R: Jacinta Thomas, Amokura – 60000.00 points
Runner-Up Champion Junior Angler T&R: Kiara McMahon, Gunrunner – 34500.00 points
3rd Place Champion Junior Angler T&R: Sam Barning, Dark Horse – 15000.00 points.
Download the the complete list of trophy winners here: 2010 Interclub results.
Australian International Billfish Tournament
The 2010 Australian International Billfish Tournament (AIBT) was held at Port Stephens on March 3-4 to coincide with the NSWGFA Interclub Tournament.
The AIBT attracted 30 plus boats and produced some excellent mid-week fishing.
A stiff nor’easterly wind greeted entrants on Wednesday March 3 as they headed to the same fishing grounds that had proven so plentiful the previous weekend. A total of 32 marlin were tagged on Day 1; a balanced mix of stripes and blacks made up the bulk of the catch. The results from Day 2, Thursday the 4th of March were almost identical, with approximately 30 marlin tagged and released by the AIBT fleet.
The well-known vessel Little Audrey from the Sydney GFC took honours for the tournament, with seven marlin tagged & released earning the Champion Boat trophy. The boat’s catch comprised four striped marlin in the 60-80kg range and three blacks of 90-110kg. Runner-up Champion Boat on a countback was Amokura from Lake Macquarie GFC, which tagged & released seven marlin for the two-day tournament. Champion Angler was Aris Kermadis who tagged six marlin on Smartbill from Sydney GFC, and the Runner-up Champion Angler was Jacinta Thomas who tagged five marlin on Amokura. Not surprisingly, both of these anglers were also leading the NSWGFA Interclub tournament going into the 2nd weekend.
