The Betta Billfish Bonanza was another great success for the Exmouth Game Fishing Club. There were over 100 anglers and 23 teams that included 9 junior anglers for the tag and release competition.  Day one of the competition was a little breezy with strong southerly winds whipping up the west side of the cape. However, there were 9 marlin and 12 sailfish tagged for the day.

Day two was similar with 24 billfish tagged for the day including striped, blue and black marlin along with the ever present sailfish in the Exmouth gulf.  Interestingly, all but one of the marlin were caught on this day on the west side in the lead up to the high tide, then all the sails were caught in the afternoon as the tide ran out in the gulf.  Day two was the roughest day and the day that the juniors did best with several of them tagging their first billfish, including the youngest junior female and male, aged just 6 and 7! 

Day three was picture perfect with very light winds and glassy conditions. Team On Strike racked up a good seven sailfish and were in the lead.  The sailfish were rapidly feeding and chasing bait-balls in the gulf and team On Strike was racing between the commotions seen on the water as the crew cast at every fish they caught. Meanwhile, team In Deep kept racking up the tags as the last few hours became intense.  One marlin was caught by team Pelagic Hooker, and then recaptured by In Deep a few hours later. It was then seen again by In Deep, who cast a bait toward it, when a larger sailfish came up and snavelled the bait in one swift action. 

The results were:

•             Champion Junior.  Jack Dandie.  Runner-up, Hayden Michaels.

•             Champion Angler Tag and Release Sailfish. Chris Pol.  Runner-up, Gavin Pardington.

•             Champion Angler Marlin. Peter Maier (Boxy). 

•             Champion Team Tag and Release Billfish. In Deep.  Runner-up, On Strike

In all there were 79 billfish tagged for the three days: a fantastic result, especially considering the conditions on the first two days. Team The Bear tagged a blue marlin on day three estimated at 280kg, while a black marlin tagged in the gulf was estimated at 5kg!  Sailfish also varied from 6kg to 35kg in the gulf. The variety of species and sizes of fish show yet again, what an amazing fishery we have off Exmouth. There were teams from Exmouth, Perth, Karratha and Tom Price and I’m sure this result will add to the teams coming for the Australian International Billfish Tournament in March next year.

Sailfish