XXXX Billfish Classic

If you are into billfish, this is your home.
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Matt Flynn
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Post by Matt Flynn »

It was an interesting comp. Hard work for all as no single area produced numbers.

Day one we saw nothing as reported in my earlier post. We went to North and South Gutters and Fenton Wide. The water looked good but no bait, not a flying fish or even a turtle or dolphin. Just a few tuna at Fenton.

Day two saw us hit Lorna Wide and found very blue water and loads of bait. We landed two sails, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This area had lots of dolphins feeding and birds.

We stayed at Bare Sand Island that night for another go at Lorna Wide on the last day.

On day three, when we got out there, the bait was thick, but no sails. And then the bait disappeared, and the water started greening up even during the push in.

So we went to South Gutter where the water was blue (a few tuna), Fenton Wide (nothing much) and we trolled home some of the way as the wind powered up.

Weather for the comp was largely good, except for the end of the last day.

Bait seemed to come and go at whim in each area as some places reported as barren one day had people reporting lots of bait and tuna the next day. It seems to move around quickly, because we didn't even see bait on the sounder at South Gutter and North Gutter the first day.

Was definitely hard work finding fish. We had a 100% raise-strike-hookup ratio which gave us the runner-up spot in "boats less than 7.5m". This good hookup rate was largely thanks to Rob's Broome fishing techniques, which were very effective. We may have raised a third fish, but Justin was unsure about its ID.

A couple of other teams who lost multiple good fish, including marlin, would have been gutted, I reckon.

We managed to keep well away from mackerel - we hooked only a couple, and a tuna. Very few baits were stolen. We didn't see any free jumping bills.

A great comp, a credit to the organisers and sponsors - I am already looking forward to next year!
Last edited by Matt Flynn on Thu Nov 12, 2009 2:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Post by Matt Flynn »

DGFC PRESS RELEASE

2009 NT XXXX GOLD BILLFISH CLASSIC

The 2009 NT XXXX Gold Billfish Classic held from 29-31 October, saw 19 teams pit themselves against the elements in an attempt to tag the elusive billfish. The boats competed in three categories over the tournament, Billfish, Mackeral and Other Species.

The first day saw two sailfish tagged, one by Garry Simpson from Bill Collectors and the other by Russell Fry from Hunter. Shoal Bay Sport Fishing combined to tag two macks and three fish of other species. During the day there were 21 billfish raised, 9 hooked and 2 tagged.

Day two saw more billfish tagged, including the eventual winning catch of a black marlin by Clint Skehan from Team WFO. Geoff Browne from Gold Cat also tagged an elusive black marlin during the day that also saw sailfish tagged by Justin Jones, Rob Robinson, Mike Jones and Chris Gatt. There were also a number of macks and other species tagged during the day.

Day three was very tough with the weather turning during the afternoon and cutting the fishing time short. Two sailfish were tagged during the day, one by Esme Rolleston from NT Powercom and the other by Josh Ker.

FULL RESULTS
CHAMPION BILLFISH TEAM: Team WFO – Wol Osoba and Clint Skehan

RUNNER UP BILLFISH TEAM (over 7.5 m) Gold Cat – Karl Radonich, Mark Taylor, Geoff Browne and Tony Pearce

RUNNER UP BILLFISH TEAM (under 7.5m) – Classic Bluewater Boys – Justin Jones, Matt Flynn and Rob Robinson

CHAMPION BILLFISH ANGLER

Clink Skehan

FIRST BILLFISH TAGGED – Garry Simpson

CHAMPION TEAM Mackerel – Team WFO – Wol Osoba and Clint Skehan
CHAMPION TEAM Other Species – Shoal Bay Sport Fishing – Bob Morris and Jeff Morris
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Post by max »

well done to all the winners sounds like it was a bit tough going,I kept reading hoping to hear what Robs Broome sailfishing technique was :-(
double haul

Post by double haul »

Well done on the fish mat, we fished the same area as you(team 9 pog ma hom hope thats how is spell it) darren was telling me that wide ground is called the pinnicles. What did ya have at the front of you teasers as they where throwing up a hell of a spray?
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Post by Matt Flynn »

We were running a dredge and two bird lines with squid - the two top lines were topped off at the end with one of Robbo's medium-sized swimming queenfish. Coupla times I saw the queenfish "swimming" on the surface and thought it was a billie :roll:
double haul

Post by double haul »

Thought so, dont know if ya had a yak to mark from raysea but he told me he had a sail tangle up in 1. Looks like ive gotta spend more bloddy money. :bonk:
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Post by Balls »

G'day Double Haul

No worries, I take it you mean the presentation back at the Ski Club, last years feed back from competitors was to take the presentation some where else, as the tucka was pretty ordinary there & we aren't permitted to bring in caterers from outside to avoid that concern from competitors?

At this stage we will be looking at a few other options to try & make the Billfish comp viable to run, this year rules were changed to suit feed back from competitors & potential teams to encourage more entries, which in the end was less then last year, we know we lost a number of teams due to not being able to get out of the lock. Long story short if we can't come up with suitable options & or guarentee about 30 teams to cover the costs involved it may not continue, I hope not it as it has potential to become a good comp each year.

We would also like to try & look at the dates without clashing with other comps, early enough to still have an even chance at fair weather & increased Billie numbers, anyway its back to the drawing board at the moment.

Most of the people I spoke to said they enjoyed the comp, which is about the only part we can control, the fish just do what they want, when they want & leave us scratching our heads or buying more gear to try & out smart them, lucky their brain is so small or we'd all be stone broke, cheers Balls.
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Post by Matt Flynn »

I've already ordered a secret weapon for next year :mrgreen:

My only suggestion would be to put the presentation night on a couple of days after the event, coz if you miss a night or two's sleep while camping out then the presentation night can be a bit hard. It was only two or three hours after the comp ended, which was a bit tight for time.

Otherwise, top stuff. Hope there are 30 teams next time.
double haul

Post by double haul »

Looks like we have to round up more teams for next yr balls, id hate to see it end. As for the food i thought it was better at the ski club.

As for tacticts i think im going to have to go deep, as much as i hate to.
As far as im concerned haveing a billie trying to eat a teaser then pitching is the holy grail but the results are starting to speak for themselves.
Strip teasers n downriggers might be the go.
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Post by max »

Downriggers I can see the big spaniards smiling :grin:
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Post by Balls »

G'day all

We touched briefly on the set up last night at the monthly meeting, nuts & bolts will be looked at with the Billfish debrief, yep the number game would be the clencher, as we want to continue to develop the comp & also interaction with more fishos/improve information exchange on Billies/improve map reference weigh points which is just about finished & I will have placed on the FFF site. If you have any feedback good or bad pass it on to Debie so we can address any issues.

Matt/Double Haul

All of the different teasers etc have their goods & bads, or days when they would be more effective then other days, especially the secret ones, the further down you go the less likely you are to see the Billie (thats a bad for me, if I see them I increase my hook up rate), some of the secret gear raised a lot of fish this year (strip teasers), not one tag went in, I suppose you have to learn when to use it & when not to use it & or learn how to use it to best effect & results on given conditions. If you have a squiz at them you can probably make something similar without to much effort or cost. If you want to try a teaser that costs nothing & keeps them on the surface, daisy chain a heap of corks, if you want to improve on that, daisy chain them on a spreader bar, just use something to avoid tangling, if you try it & you will find its pretty impressive, down side is the Macks like them, hopefully they hit the end of the daisy chain & you just connect more corks, it doesn't worry me if you do or don't but its a pretty effective teaser.

Matt

How did Casini Island & no name shoal go??, cheers Balls.
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strip teasers/ balls and double haul

Post by reel easy »

IN REGARDS to strip teasers the only fault i found with it is that you need a bit of height to look down on it to see fish raising to the teaser.this year i have kept to the basic set up and have landed double figure sails so i know what im doing.been catching billfish since i was eight years old.the thing was it was the third time we trolled the dredge and unless you have trolled one getting weight right is critical.the dont go deep the sit just under the surface unless you troll live baits at 2 to 3 knots .sails do like to stick there head out of water to attack baits and teasers were marlin dont like to do it that often they strike from below most of the time.Balls what i have learnt is veiwing height is critical on these teasers and with a bit more trial and use things will change as for not putting a tag in thats just bad luck,and i know for sure these things raise more fish than other teasers.not one sail came up on the pakula digger daisy chain with squids and tuna belly flaps on the end just shows how good they are.will be talking to peter pakula about this as i know peter well he taught me alot as im from the gold coast and my father was a top marlin fisherman who had won quite a few billy comps in aust and overseas so i have a fare idea what im talking about this was something new it was worth trying and will be using it at groote next week this time boat will have tuna tower and will sit swimming gar just of it ready to drop down the buggers throat.most important thing with strip teaser dont let the buggers get in it they become fixaited on the thing and carnt get them out live bait would be great.will let you know how it goes in groote
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Post by Matt Flynn »

Good to have info from someone who has caught multiple bills :mrgreen:

I learned a heap during the comp. Darwin fishos need all the help they can get because of the low fish numbers. If more billfish are caught the comp will be better off.

Gday balls, Cassini was OK but apparently improved after we left. Free jumpers were in the anchorage again :roll:

No Name Shoal was too rough, we couldn't fish it for long. Big story about it in a coming NTMAG.
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Post by Balls »

G'day all

Reel Easy, I'm not having a go at you & or anyone else & I don't know which boats used what techniques, the point for me is all the teasers have their good & bad points, days they will be better then others, you hit the nail on the head with the height/elevation for strip/dredge teasers, the majority of the boats around Darwin don't have the height/elevation to look down which is an advantage whether the teasers are below the surface & or on the surface, whether the fish are sitting sub surface & or at the baits on the surface, also generally if the boat is big enough for the height/elevation its big enough for a skipper & a spotter. The lower you are the harder it is to see the Billies, glare, chop, angle of the dangle etc. An example for me if I had a downrigger, witch doctor etc down deep but had no trouble raising the fish to the surface on a particular day I would remove them, one less obstacle & one less item for the Billies to get focused on, if it got harder out goes the other hardware & yep those teasers are definitely going to raise a lot of fish. I've been lucky enough to pin a lot of Sails & a few small Blacks, if I had one choice/point to put accross to improve someones chances of pinning Billfish their first Billie is if you see them first before they get to the baits you increase your chances dramatically & yep most of the little Blacks take the swim bait for me. Good luck in Groote, its a great place, South Point is a great place to camp if there are no restrictions & nice & close to the fishing grounds, cheers Balls.
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Post by Johnno »

Has taken a while to get around to putting a post up. We also fished the Billie Comp as Team Thundastruck. As per last year we managed to find good fish only to lose them just out of tag shot reach. That's fishin I suppose but it still hurts....especially when the fish is that close to the boat that when the hook dislodges I got to wear it fair in the chest. I have posted a couple of pics of our fish from the comp so I hope you get some enjoyment from them.

Any way depending upon the timing of the comp next year it is less than 360 sleeps until we get to have another crack at this great tournament. I would encourage anybody whether it be novice or pro to get involved.

Cheers

Johnno[/img]
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