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July 4th and 5th

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Current News:

Scoreboard updated 8th June 2009: Get the up to date stats by clicking this link or hitting the Score Board button LHS of screen..   June Monthly Comp / QGFA Allports   The June Monthly two day comp held over the Queens Birthday long week end couldn't have been fished in better conditions with absolute dead calm seas. Unfortunately the early run of Marlin haven't yet turned up with boats unsuccessfully scanning the waters from Brittomart Reef in the North to the Southern Grounds off Cape Bowling Green and right on out to the shelf at Myrmidon Reef. Schools of Mackerel kept most boats busy though but were generally smaller fish only qualifying for a tag rather than the eskie. Trevor Albury took out the heaviest other game fish catagorie with this 16kg plus Wahoo pictured, Utopia accumulated over 1400 points to take out champion boat, Cassie Powis was the champion small fry and also had the heaviest mackerel for the comp, Bronte Florence won Junior and Kaye Hatrick had the heaviest Tuna. Due to the club comp finishing Sunday arvo, we had two weigh ins, one one the Sunday Evening and the second on the Monday so as to allow boats to stay out at sea and enjoy the rest of the long weekend. Around thirty members turned up for the Sunday weigh in to check out the capturers , scores and to have one of the very tastey meals from the new Motor Boat Club Restaurant. Best of luck for the final weekends of the club year.  All Ports 2nd Leg: The second leg of the QGFA All Ports Tournament must be held prior to the end of the financial year. As we can choose any weekend, we will choose one based primarily on forecast weather conditions. Please note that it may be held on any weekend between now and 30th June and members will only be advised via email with quite short notice (likely on the Thursday prior to the weekend once weather has been checked). If you nominated for the first leg (held during GGBFC last year), you are automatically registered for the second leg. If you wish to register for the second leg, you will need to fill out form and pay nomination fee of $22. We will have “sign on” on the Friday afternoon before from 5pm to 6pm at the TMBYC.

Back to back wins for TGFC/Kekoa at NSW Interclub

Well-known Townsville skipper, Captain Luke Fallon continued to prove that he is one of Australia’s most prominent Skippers as he led the Townsville Game Fishing Club Team to back to back “Champion Visiting Teams Awards” at this year’s NSW Interclub Tournament held at Port Stephens. Click here for more

Team TGFC/Kekoa Celebrate - From left, Shane Flynn, Anthony Richardson, Captain Luke Fallon, Theona Maguire, Decky Tim Ryan and Talina O'Brien

2009 Predators Tournament roars to life

 With the move to a bigger & better venue & tens of thousands of dollars in prizes up for grabs including a Boat, motor & trailer package donated by Townsville Marine, the 2009 Townsville Game Fishing Club’s “Predators Tournament” is shaping up to be the biggest and best tournaments in the events short history. At last year’s event, 20 - 25 knot winds prevailed and still over 550 anglers competed...Click Here for more

Myrmidon Continues to produce Magic (including a record Wahoo)

With the last monthly comp of the year fast approaching (this weekend) Club members would be crazy not to polish off there heavy tackle gear & head out to Myrmidon Reef to get amongst some of the spectacular fishing action that anglers have been experiencing in the past 4 weeks 

With good weather predictions forecasted & some awesome “Big Fish reports” I have a feeling that the Myrmidon Lagoon might be a little busy on Saturday Evening. 

If you haven’t heard through the grape vine, Team on ‘Oi Bud’ experienced a Big Marlin bite of a life time back on the 15^th & 16^th of November, with 6 Fish raised, 5 bites, 1 tagged & another big fish lost after a epic 4 hour battle into the darkness of the night.  All fish were between the 80lb – 500lb mark…..To check out Oi Bud's Report Click Here

Mean while, last weekend, Team Far Cry mad the trip out to Myrmidon & found immediate success with Club Junior, Zac Ryan successfully tagging an Estimated 500lb Black Marlin as well as a monster 40kg Wahoo, which is now a Pending Australian Junior Record, Congratulations Zac!!!!… For Far Cry's Report Click Here

Therehas also been reports (www.blackmarlinfishingblog.com) that  Captain Luke Fallon onboard well known Townsville boat Kekoa who is fishing his way back through the area from Cairns. The guys got 2 from 3 Black Marlin on Monday & another 2 on Tuesday including an estimated 600lber.

If you’re keen to be apart of some Myrmidon Heavy Tackle Action, now’s the time to do it!!! 

See you out there!!                                   Above: Zac Ryan with his Pending Australian Junior Record

The 2008 Pro Tackle Lucinda Light Tackle Tournament was held over the weekend of 1^st 2^nd & 3^rd of November and even though there was only 3 Billfish tagged (1 x Black Marlin & 2 Sailfish) for the tournament, as usual everyone who attended had a fantastic time

Once again the tournament was generously sponsored by Peter & Elizabeth Hazard from Pro Tackle Townsville who once again donated some absolutely fantastic prizes and together with the organization of the Ingham Rod & Reel Club and the hospitality of the Lucinda Point Hotel the weekend continued lived up to it’s reputation of being one of the best social game fish tournaments in the region. 

Out of the 13 Boats who fished 7 TGFC Boats made the trip North for the weekend & like last year it was the Townsville members who found success, especially for Team ELE which consisted of Anthony Richardson, Todd O’Shaughnessy & Talina O’Brien who were lucky enough to successfully tag a Black Marlin on Saturday Afternoon & took out the Prestigious Malcolm Florence Perpetual Trophy for Champion Team.  Last Years winners Levende came Runner Up with Theona McGuire following up last years form by tagging a Sailfish on Day 2. Other winners were Bronte Florence who took out Champion Junior.  Congratulations to everyone involved!!

Mark Hislop takes out 07/08 GFAA Award

On behalf of our President Tom Hatrick, the Committee & all our members I'd like to Congratulate Mark Hislop for taking out the prestigious Tom Bell Trophy for the heaviest Game Fish weighed (excluding sharks) in Australian waters in 2007/2008.  This was rewarded o Mark after his history making 1109lb Black Marlin capture in September last year at Myrmidon Reef off Townsville. This was not only Mark's first ever Billfish but the first 1000lb Black Marlin ever caught off Townsville & the first ever caught in waters South of Cairns.  I would also like to advise that this is the first time in 5 Years that a Black Marlin has taken out the title as the previous 4 years have been Blue Marlin.  Congratulations Mark!!

Photo Right:  The prestigious Tom Bell Trophy

Discounted Tournament Shirts

These magnificent Karen Foley designed Tournament Polo's & T-Shirts are still available in all sizes for a absolute bargain price of only

Polo Shirts - $ 22.00

T-Shirts - $ 15.00

Contact Tom Hatrick-Mobile:0427 581194 Work: 07 47712677  

Email tdh@mikunioz.com
 

2008/2009 Annual General Meeting Info

Kanahoee Does it again

I'm proud to announce that local Boat Kanahoee has once again taken out the prestigious Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic for the second year running.  Townsville Skipper Dave Pemberton together with TGFC Members Rod Mathiesen, Lindsey Pemberton & boat owner Robert Drane came from behind on the last day tagging 2 fish to finish the Tournament with a total of 6 tags. Congratulations!!!

For all the final stats & photos go to http://www.lizardislandgfc.asn.au/

TGFC Life Members recognised     

Recently at the 2008 Gilbert Group NQ Mining Billfish Challenge Presentation Night which was held at Gala Ballroom's of Jupiter Casino, the Townsville Game Fishing Club paid tribute to it's Clubs Life Members and presented them with a magnificent custom made Gold Ring to show there appreciation for all the hard work, commitment, dedication & participation that they have shown to our wonderful Club over the past 2 decades. The 6 Gentlemen in question were (from left to right) Mark Parkes, Mick Meiers, Russell O'Brien, Calvin Tilley, Jim Dalling & Peter O'Brien

Upon Presentation a member of the Audience also summed up how respected these guys are within the Australian Game Fishing Community by announcing that "These guys are some of the best ever skippers in Australia" & this is just one of the reasons why we are so very proud to have them apart of our Club and look forward to seeing there very popular faces for many many years to come.

Above - The magnificent Gold Custom Made Life Member Ring

Photo (Top) Courtesy of Kelly Dalling-http://www.blackmarlinfishingblog.com

Bowling Green Continues to Fire as Tournament fever hits Townsville

With Southern Boats starting to arrive for some pre-tournament fishing the Billfish continue to fire down at the World renowned grounds of Cape Bowling Green. With local & interstate boats averaging 6-8 shots a day and 2 boats this season receiving a massive 19 & 20 shots in a session the Billfish Season off Townsville this year is turning out to be nothing but spectacular. 

With the up & coming 2008 Gilbert Group NQ Mining Industry Billfish Challenge being the largest & most prestigious Light Tackle Billfish events in Northern Australia due to commence on the 5th September & run through til the 11th, Skippers, crew, anglers & everyone involved are finding it difficult to contain there excitement as its building to be the largest & most successful events in the Tournaments 26 year history 

If you are interested in participating in this magnificent event the Townsville Game Fishing Club would like to advise that there are still seats on boats available so if you are interested please contact Tom Hatrick on 0427 581194 or Mick Meiers 0427 804719

TGFC Continues to Support Local Community

Story by Eddie Riddle - Townsville Bulletin

The TGFC committee representing at least 200 or so of the region's keenest fishers donating a whopping $7500 to the Jerona Citizens Association

Townsville Game Fishing Club president Tom Hatrick said the money was well spent because plenty of the club's small boat anglers use the Barrattas Creek system for easy and weather-protected access to the world-renowned Bowling Green Bay billfish waters.

Photo Above: TGFC President, Tom Hatrick presents a Jeroma Representative with a $ 7,500.00 Cheque

While local members enjoyed there Presentation Night on Friday and then a superb weekend of Bill fishing action down at Bowling Green, well known Life Member, Mick Meier's traveled up to the Cairns Bluewater Light Tackle Tournament and fished aboard Sue & Ted Crocker's new Cairns Custom Craft, Seduca.

There team consisted of Cairns based TGFC Members, Sue & Ted, Mick and Roger Kuhnel.  With Cairns experiencing similar fishing action to Townsville, it turned out to be a very successful weekend with over 20 Billfish tagged for the 2 day Tournament.  Local Boat, Wild Turkey went on to take out Champion Boat Honors, with 5 Tags, mean while Sue was able to christen Seduca with it's first ever Billfish which ensured she went on to take out Champion Female, with 2 Black Marlin and a tuna.

Mick reported that he carefully transported some Bowling Green Yakka's up to Cairns which turned out to be a huge hit amongst the Cairns Billfish, as all marlin hooked on Seaduca were  caught on the CBG yakka's.  Mick joked "Once we ran out of the yakka's, we didn't see another marlin"

Congratulations to Team Seduca for a very successful weekend and a very special thank you to Mick Meier's and super baby sitter Cathy Bambling for making the effort to travel the 4hrs North

On Friday the 1st of August over 80 Club Members gathered at the Townsville Motor Boat & Yacht Club to celebrate the past 2007/2008 Season.

Once again everyone was entertained by the fantastic 'Year in Review' DVD and although it didn't have much Bill fishing action due to the disappointing Billfish Season experienced, the DVD clearly showed that it was the Annual Social events that made up for it!!

Once all the official proceedings finished, everyone enjoyed a fantastic night which continued into the early hours of Saturday Morning.

A special thanks goes to Russell O'Brien for once again organising a great night , to Karen Foley for organising some of her amazing framed art work for prizes & to everyone who attended as it truly was a night to remember

To get your copy of this years TGFC Year in Review, please contact Talina O'Brien at tobrien@rlsde.com.au and you can purchase your copy for $ 10.00.  Talina will also have copies available at the September Meeting

Please Click here to check out all the 2007/2008 Winners

Bowling Green ON FIRE!!!

With some good weather last weekend a contingent of Club boats hit the waters of Bowling Green Bay hoping to get amongst some 2008 Billfish action & boy was there some action.

With bait schools the size of football fields, gannets all over the place like they were 10 years ago, there were packs of 5-6 Billfish at a time terrorizing baits with multiple hook-ups not uncommon. Every boat experienced action sometime throughout the weekend but it was the stand outs such as Rose Red who had a massive 19 hits on one morning, Leigh O’Brien on his new boat OB26 who tagged 4 fish & Mark & Jan Parkes aboard there new Boat, Mojo with 3 tags. All fish have grown slightly compared to the early season captures with most fish up around the 15kg-20kg.

The crew aboard OB26 show off one of four  little Black Marlin tagged last weekend

2008 Predators Tournament Success

The Townsville Game Fishing Clubs Annual Predators Tournament was once again a huge success and even with a 15/20 knot offshore wind forecasted it still didn’t deter an estimated 400 Townsville anglers to participate in what is becoming one of North Queensland’s major fishing events. 

On Monday afternoon, the Townsville Game Fishing Club together with the Oonoonba Hotel welcomed hundreds of anglers, sponsors, & spectators to witness some outstanding captures which were made during the long weekend.  Although each of the 16 prize categories were won with some awesome fish, it was the  24.6kg Spanish Mackerel, a 14.1kg Barramundi and a monster (have to be seen to be believed) 2.175kg Mud Crab which received the loudest cheers from the excited crowed. 

This year the Club focused on encouraging families and especially the junior anglers to participate, with the first 100 juniors to sign up receiving a complimentary Tackle box which included over 300 pieces of tackle, and come weigh in time, it certainly proved that they put there new gear to good use, with some fantastic captures made. 

More exciting news to arise from the weekend was that 2 early season Black Marlin were tagged & released by Townsville Game Fishing Club Members.  Both were hooked on Halco Laser Pro Mackerel lures and both fish were smaller then average and were estimated between the 10-12kg mark.  

On behalf of the Townsville Game Fishing Club tournament organizing committee we would like to thank all the Sponsors, volunteers, the Oonoonba Hotel Staff and all the anglers involved for once again making the 2008 Predators Tournament a huge success. 

Please Click here to view all the Weekends Prize Winners

"Its all about the juniors"

Reece & Jordan O'Brien prove that Game Fishing runs in the family with Reece claiming the junior award for the heaviest Mackerel with this 6.44kg beauty

"Bring on the 2008 Billfish"

Wade Hislop with  one of the first Marlin Tagged & Released for 2008 and by the smile on Wade's face, you can tell he's looking forward to the up & coming Billfish Season

Well the 2008 Australian International Billfish Tournament is over with for another year and even though the beautiful Sunshine Coast provided us with Perfect Weather Conditions unfortunately the fishing on the weekend was extremely slow. A total of 29 Boats participated in the event with Teams coming from Dampier in the west, Cairns in the North & Port Stephens in the South. The tournament gave teams the option either to fish Light Tackle or Heavy Tackle and Team TGFC who were aboard well known Townsville Boat Reel Chase decided to fish Light Tackle. With 5-10knots conditions on Saturday morning, we were quick to arrive on the grounds (which mine you are only 19 miles offshore) to find huge schools of yakka's and dolphins and with start fishing called as you would imagine our expectations were high. Leigh O'Brien caught a 9.6kg Wahoo on 8kg which put Townsville on the scorers board and it wasn't long after that we raised a couple of little Black Marlin which weren't interested in taking the beautiful Live Yakka that we presented them. On day one, there was only 3 Blue Marlin tagged & 1 Sailfish.

Day two & the weather had increased to 15 knots and with a Strong Wind Warning forecasted for later in the day, most boats fished the inshore grounds. Once again the fishing was very slow with not even a handful of Billfish tagged

The Champion Boat went to Diversion from Port Stephens who successfully tagged & released 2 Blue Marlin.  

Even though the fishing was slow, great times were had by everyone & on behalf of the TGFC team we would like to thank Jim, Kelly & Brenton aboard Reel Chase for a fantastic weekend!!

Above Image Courtesy of Kelly Dalling of www.blackmarlinfishingblog.com

TGFC Thanks the Sponsors

Sponsors, business owners and members of TGFC gathered at the Townsville Motor Boat Club on Thursday evening to reflect on the wonderful work and valuable contributions these people and companies have made to the club.  It was a way of saying “thank you” to these people, and in return, the club has become a place where business and pleasure could be combined. 

Guest speaker and major sponsor, Greg Gilbert, explained how the club was a place where he could bring valued suppliers and customers and mix business and pleasure.  As a result, he has bought on board many new and valuable sponsors to the club.  Whether it was to invite them to fish a weekend competition or our major tournament in September, suppliers and customers enjoyed the opportunity to see how the club was run.  Many have made valuable contributions towards our tournaments and fishing competitions after experiencing the TGFC hospitality. 

Potential sponsors have also commented on the professional manner in which the club is run and the continued high standard of presentation of competitions, presentation nights and club videos. 

The TGFC committee would again like to thank our sponsors for their continued support and to business owners/managers for their efforts to introduce new sponsors to the club.  A great night was enjoyed by all.

(Story and photos Courtesy of Donna Nicolosi)

Gilbert's Take on the World

In February 2007, I asked newly joined Club Members and Sponsors Greg & Jan Gilbert to complete a Member Profile for our Monthly Newsletter and for those of you who can remember, one of the questions asked was “What’s your dream fishing destination?” There answer was “Ribbon’s Reef off Cairns”…Little did they know at the time, that 15 months later they would make the trip across the world to represent Australia in one of the World richest and most prestigious billfish tournaments ever held.

On May 16^th, the Gilberts together with good friends Ralph Czabayaski and Susan Mahoney of Adelaide will travel to what’s considered by bluewater anglers as the Striped Marlin Capital of the World, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in which they will fish for more then $1,850,000 in prize money in the 2008 World Championship Billfish Release Tournament.  Click here for more

Currents + Water Temperature = Billfish

Thomas Bridge, a Marine Biologist specialising in pelagic species was the guest speaker at our April club meeting.  

Over 40 club members attended the evening to listen and hopefully get a better understanding on the Billfish migration, water temperature and currents within our Bowling Green Bay fishery. Even with statistics and research going back to the early 1970’s, Thomas explained that there are still many unanswered questions relating to the migration patterns of the Black Marlin but can advise that the Eastern Australia Currents as well as the Water temperature do play a very important part. 

Over the past 2 decades scientists have studied the capture statistics of our Billfish and have compared them to the current patterns and water temperatures within the Bowling Green Bay area and have come to a conclusion that the Marlin follow the Eastern Australian Current into the region between the months of May – October but only if the average water temperature is between 25 degrees – 27 degrees. 

With the anticipation building amongst the club, Thomas was asked “So how is it looking for this year” he was unable to confirm or deny whether we were going to have a good season, but did advise a member after the meeting that all was looking good so far, and with reports of early season bait schools forming within the region, he is quietly confident that we will experience a great season…Let’s hope he’s right!! 

We would like to thank Thomas a very interesting night & look forward to working with him more in the near future

Townsville Game Fishing Videos on YouTube

After several requests from Club Members, family & friends I have now added some of my video highlights on the website You Tube which now can be accessed at any time at your own leisure.

For those of you who don’t know what YouTube is, it’s an online service that allows users to upload there videos for free, which then are able to be viewed by an international audience 

Some of the highlights include Utopia’s 900lb Black Marlin at Bowling Green, Glen Nutter’s 400lb Black Marlin which earnt him the GFAA Most Meritorious Award as well as the 2008 Gilbert Group NQ Mining Billfish Challenge Intro Video 

So when the weather is bad please don’t hesitate to here & check it out…make sure you add it to your favorites so you can visit regularly, as I will be adding videos on a regular basis

Tag & Release Report

The Townsville Game Fishing Club is proud to promote and support Tag & Release to ensure the conservation of our fantastic fishery. Please find the recent Game fish Tagging Report here received from our QGFA and GFAA zone representative Mick Meiers

Click image or here for story and pics.
 

NOTE:  A lot of club information on this site is available as PDF documents. You will need Adobe Reader to view these. This program is available as a free download from the Adobe website. Click here or on the logo below.