The 3rd annual Cairns Bluewater Billfish tournament was held at Fitzroy Island on the 22nd to the 25th August 2012. Twenty five boats competed in this year’s tournament, and what amazing fishing was to be had by all. The tournament has produced the best light tackle fishing for Juvenile black marlin off Cairns on record. As you can imagine, the bite was red hot. The final results for the tournament indicate that there were 342 billfish raised, 235 hooked up and 128 tagged for the three day competition.
Day one saw all boats heading out of the Fitzroy Island anchorage full of anticipation, with the first tag recorded 20 minutes after ‘start fishing’. The first day alone saw an impressive 53 billfish tagged. ‘Kanahoee’, Skippered by Chris ‘Sharky’ Miles took the honours for day one, with 6 billfish tagged.
Day two and three produced equally impressive results, with 76 tags recorded for the remainder of the tournament.
This year’s tournament was hotly contested, but was eventually taken out on a count back by ‘Secret Agent’, a 5.5m Kevlacat skippered by Don Eccleston. The team on ‘Secret Agent’ have won an invitation to fish the 2013 Offshore World Championship in Costa Rica, and we wish them the best of luck.
Below are the final results for the tournament:
Champion Boat over 7.5m: “On Strike,” with 10 tags. (Capt. Kim Andersen, John Pecl, Natalie Andersen, Brenda Pecl)
Champion Boat under 7.5m: “Secret Agent”, with 10 tags (Don Eccleston, Dean Grieve and Gene Payne.)
Champion Angler: Dean Grieve on “Secret Agent”, with 5 tags.
Champion Female Angler: Brenda Pecl on ‘On Strike’, with 5 tags.
Champion Junior Angler: Oliver Argyrou on “Kyrenia”, with 4 tags.
The 2013 Cairns Bluewater billfish tournament will be hosted by the Cairns Bluewater Game Fishing Club at Fitzroy Island, Cairns on 7th-10th August 2013. Copies of the tournament brochure and nomination forms are available at www.cairnsbluewatergfc.com.au
