Day 2 of the Bertram Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic started out with an early tag for Janice on Althaldo, just minutes into fishing, with most of the 16 fish I recorded for the day on the first two skeds (before 3pm).
Again there were some stand out fish tagged including one that Capt. Daniel McCarthy put at 1000lbs for Sergei on Moana which was also the first fish satellite tagged for the Great Marlin Race.
And On Site added to their fish on Day 1 with another big fish that Capt. Glen Hunter put at 900lbs.
Little Audrey was also on the scoreboard early with a relay coming through of a 750lb black marlin released on the lower Ribbons just after start fishing.
Meanwhile the team on one of the smaller boats fishing on board Bite Me also had a blinder of a day releasing two fish at 650 and 250lbs and dropping a third.
But it was 2012 winner’s, the team on Top Shot with angler Tomonori Omi and Capt. Ross Finlayson that were the standouts on Day 2. After three early tags on smaller fish (including one that Ross put at a teeny 75lbs!), Tomo tagged a nice one at 750lbs to put his team on 4 tags for the day, Day 2 winners and early comp leaders by a nice margin.
At cease fishing it sounded like we may have another big fish recorded for the day with Capt. Jim Dalling on Billy The Kid reporting hooked up and fighting to one that ‘may take a while’, but unfortunately, approximately 45 minutes into the fight, word came through that the line had broken on the big fish.
Other boats tagging fish on Day two included Viking II, CGirl, Kanahoee, Askari, Reel Chase and Iona II.
That puts the current leader board (by my count) at: Top Shot in front on 4 tags from Althaldo, Kanahoee, Askari, Bite Me, Viking and On Site behind on 2 tags each. And with 1 tag a piece, Everwilling, Little Audrey, Moana, Iona, Reel Chase and CGirl.
13 out of 30 boats on the board now!
Outside the tournament:
Keith “Stretch” Heaney, back on deck on Chamois Free reports one from four at 900lb for Bonnie Rylands down the bottom. Capt. Ian “Wobbles” Ford on Hot Shot returned into Cairns yesterday for a 1 from 3. He also fished to the south of the Ribbon the day before on Sunday and released one about 450lbs at Anderson Reef. I also heard from Raffi who is back on board the 70ft Bertram Revive skippered by Capt Leigh Bradshaw. They fished Number 8 Ribbon Reef and started with a triple hookup of yellowfin. They then released a feisty small marlin for William Vautin and finished the day with a cracker 60kg dogtooth for Steve.
Back down off Townsville, more from Myrmidon – photo at top if of OB1‘s 200lb-er by Bernie Koppe on the weekend (great shot!). I also had a bit more info from TGFC weigh master Renee who reported from on board Reel Crazy with an approx 800lber for herself on Friday (1 from 4). Saturday morning fired again with 1 from 2 approx 300lb, a first billfish ever for chippy Dellan. They had 2 first timers on the boat that were absolutely in awe of what was going on and plenty of yellowfin action as well. Photo of Renee in action below.
John who is also still on the way up on the learning curve only releasing his first fish a few weeks ago on Maximus reported a 2-1-0 – better luck next time John!
