SCGFC Members,
Well what a great first half of the year with over 130 Billfish tags in January alone, with 47 anglers and nearly 30 boats amongst the action. Our YTD total has raced to 325 Billfish,
Black Marlin 236
Blue Marlin 73
Striped Marlin 12
Sailfish 7
The membership is thriving on a mix of new energy, rapid skill development due to exposure to lots of fish and experience being passed down. The camaraderie and open communication between everyone to ensure we make the most of bites goes to show we work best as a team. It was fabulous to speak at the Feb meeting about kids as young as 7 through at the statesman Ed Martin at 92 tagging fish over January.
Our monthly winners were,
Ben Massurit – Jnr champion (also overall)
Jeff Oates – Senior champion (welcome back Phil)
Chaos – Over 7m
Never Home – Under 7m
The continued bite since Xmas has been just what we needed after a few hit and miss seasons. Hopefully now they have stuck around for 6 weeks we will have a prolonged season and see them in numbers for our Ben Campbell Building Group Classic in late March. It seems we are in the midst of one of the most competitive seasons in ages.
Other recent highlights include a solid round 1 and 2 effort for All Ports. We pulled together one of the larger fleets we have had and have tagged 5 Blues, 18 Blacks, 1 Yellow Fin and 3 Mahi Mahi.
Ben’s pending record small fry record of 32.7kg on 6kg line is now with QGFA and GFAA. We hope it all goes well.
Mick Reed also enjoyed a recapture off Chaos, a Black Marlin tagged at Fraser Island and recaptured off Rainbow Beach after 141 days at liberty.
As we look toward March & April we can only hope for a jackpot of blues, blacks and potentially sailfish. With competition so tight in our Sunshine Coast Waters Zone we most likely will also see the season finish on a competitive note at Fraser Island in our Qld Waters Zone.
On a final note please keep the activity sheets and tags coming fully filled out, just a few tips
- fill all the boxes in on activity sheet & tagcard
- If a special event write on activity sheet (rally day, All Ports etc)
- Write the Zone – Zone 1 under 80m, Zone 2 80-150m and Zone 3 150m+
- Please remember Zone 2 8kg = 800 points
- Refer to Club website for points & zones
On a final note IGFA rule changes are in play, two of interest include charges to backing and Angler assisting rules
https://igfa.org/News/ruleschange2017
Please note that these rules haven’t been adopted by GFAA so continue to fish under our Australian Rules.
Thanks again for a great ride this year, I’m proud to Captain such a dedicated bunch of anglers of all ages and experience.
SCGFC Club Captain
Brent Higgins
