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There are tournaments you want to fish, tournaments you want to cover and tournaments that, simply because of what they represent, you want to say you were there for. The 60th Anniversary Cairns Black Marlin Tournament was firmly in that last category. And I’m still kicking myself for not figuring out a way to make the trip.
Held in September off Cairns, Australia, the event commemorated one of the watershed moments in big-game fishing history. On Sept. 25, 1966, Capt. George Bransford and deckhand Richard Obach went fishing aboard the 32-foot Sea Baby I. Obach returned with a 1,064-pound black marlin caught on 80-pound tackle, the first 1,000-pound black marlin landed in Australian waters and, at the time, a world record on 80-pound tackle. More important, the catch showed the international sport-fishing community what was swimming along the edge of the Great Barrier Reef.
What followed was not simply the development of another great marlin destination. Cairns became synonymous with giant black marlin. Anglers, captains and crews traveled from around the world to fish the Ribbon Reefs between Cairns and Lizard Island, building an entire charter culture around the annual arrival of some of the largest billfish on the planet. Decades later, the Great Barrier Reef remains one of the most important and prestigious heavy-tackle fisheries in the world, a place where the possibility of encountering a true giant remains very real.
That history gave the 2026 anniversary tournament considerably more significance than an ordinary week of competition.
Across four days of fishing, the fleet released 72 black marlin. Action remained remarkably consistent through the first three days, with 22 releases on Day 1, 21 on Day 2 and 20 on Day 3 before a shortened final day produced another nine. When it was over, Viking II claimed Champion Boat honors with six releases, finishing ahead of Reel Work with four and Askari with three. Behind them, Relentless Pursuit, Mood Swings, Bounty Hunter, Tataki, Zulu, Rum Chaser and Mauna Kea also finished with three releases, leaving a large portion of the leaderboard within a fish or two of contention heading into the final day.
The victory aboard Viking II carried additional meaning. The boat has a long association with legendary Capt. Billy Billson, who died in September 2020 after becoming one of the defining figures of the Cairns heavy-tackle scene. Billson built a remarkable career on the Reef, captaining numerous granders and helping cement Cairns’ reputation as the place to encounter truly enormous black marlin. Seeing Viking II atop the leaderboard during the 60th anniversary celebration was a fitting result. Jeremy Goon added to the team’s week by earning Champion Male Angler honors with six releases, ahead of Baiden Sager and Michael Hill with three apiece. Karen Wright aboard Bounty Hunter earned Champion Female Angler with three releases, while Zachery Trefz aboard Infinity claimed Champion Junior Angler with one release on countback.
Daily honors illustrated just how competitive the fishing remained. Askari opened the tournament with three releases on Day 1, Reel Work answered with three on Day 2, Relentless Pursuit won Day 3 with two, and Zulu closed the event with two releases on Day 4. The truly giant fish Cairns is famous for were relatively scarce, but the tournament still produced several impressive blacks. Calypso led the way with a fish estimated at 900 pounds, followed by Moana III with an estimated 800-pounder and Centrefold with a fish estimated at 700 pounds.
One of the tournament’s most meaningful releases came aboard Tataki, where the team successfully deployed an auctioned Black Marlin Foundation satellite tag into an estimated 650-pound black marlin. It was a fitting connection between the fishery’s celebrated past and its future. Research and tagging programs continue to expand what scientists know about the seasonal aggregation of adult black marlin along the Great Barrier Reef and where those fish travel after leaving the area. For a fishery that has helped define heavy-tackle marlin fishing for six decades, continuing to better understand and protect that resource is every bit as important as celebrating the history behind it.
That history was further recognized during the Cairns Game Fishing Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where seven people were honored for their contributions to the Cairns game-fishing community. Capt. Barry Cross was recognized for his pioneering charter career, Capt. Bradley Craft for more than four decades on the Reef and his advocacy for marlin conservation, and Errol “Snudge” Schembri for his skill and dedication as a crewman. Craig “Pirate” Smith was honored for documenting the fishery through art, film and writing, while John McIntyre was recognized for preserving its history alongside a remarkable angling career. The late John Mondora was honored for five decades of fishing journalism and photography that brought Cairns and Great Barrier Reef game fishing to readers around the world.
Kelly Dalling Fallon was also inducted after more than two decades of photography, storytelling and promotion of the Cairns fleet. Anyone who follows this fishery from the other side of the world understands how important that work is. Kelly also provided the tournament updates and information that helped put this recap together, and her recognition during such an important anniversary could hardly have been more appropriate.
That is ultimately what made the 60th anniversary so significant. It connected generations of captains, crews, anglers, boats, scientists, photographers, organizers and storytellers to the fish that started it all in 1966. Great fisheries do not maintain themselves, and traditions do not survive simply because they are old. They continue because people care enough to protect them, document them and keep showing up.
I missed the 60th, and I’m still kicking myself for it. Hopefully I’m still somewhere in the mix when the 70th or 75th rolls around. And if medical science, good fortune and a generous interpretation of the calendar cooperate, I’ll gladly put my name down for the 100th. Until then, cheers to everyone who keeps this remarkable Cairns tradition alive, and especially to those working to ensure the Great Barrier Reef remains one of the places every serious marlin angler dreams of experiencing at least once.
