Memberships

AIBT

Gamex 2010

Fishing/RECFISH WEST clinic

Dates for your Diary

Bottom Fishing Comp

Junior Anglers

Tag Cards

Download the March 2010 newsletter.

The briefing starts on Saturday at 4pm. There will be a bus service from several pick up points in town and we recommend it as there will be a cruise ship in on that day too! If you are a local and want to get down of an evening to see what fish have been tagged and caught for the day, you are welcome: fishing days are Sunday-Friday inclusive. There will also be a social night on Tuesday March 23rd with live music and a Mexican dinner. There will be prizes awarded for best-dressed team and if you want to enjoy a night at the new EGFC clubhouse, then ring Josh on 0458 136 848 to book your ticket as numbers are limited.

Meanwhile the marlin fishing has been firing for the lead up to Gamex, which is perfectly timed (lets’ not jinx it though!)  Pictured this week is a small black marlin that was tagged by Mike Smith’s 15yr old nephew, Liam. It was the fifth marlin that Liam had caught in two days on 15kg spin tackle!! Mike and John Prince had been out for five days and tagged 17 fish in total.  Other anglers have reported seeing over a dozen billfish a day. This should make for an interesting competition.

Smithy marlin

Other game species such as mackerel and wahoo have showed up as well, not to mention the ever prevalent dolphin fish.  At time of writing this report there are close to 60 boats entered and the EGFC would like to thank all the supporters, sponsors and volunteers who have brought it all to this point. The clubhouse will be complete and ready for use and thanks must go to the diligent workers who have been excellent from DLR.

Two representatives of EGFC travelled to Port Stephens to gain knowledge on the running of the Australian International Billfish Tournament AIBT. EGFC will be hosting this event in 2011 and 2012.  It will be the first time this event is to be held away from the East Coast. The two women promoted Exmouth while there to various anglers from 232 teams from two tournaments. It is expected that this will be another big event for Exmouth and will be held on March 15,16,17 in 2011, to be directly followed by Gamex 2011 on March 19-26th 2011.

The NSW venture was successful with the EGFC members placing the new Exmouth Holiday Planners in each team bag and displaying information on Exmouth and talking on stage to the crowd. There were two competitions, one with 192 boats and the other had 30. Information gathered from these events will be implemented to improve the tournaments in Exmouth and the running of the new clubhouse.

Mangrove jack have been cunning in and around the marina with reports of screaming runs and dropped fish along the rock walls.  The jacks have also been feeding well in the creeks in the bay of rest, along with estuary cod. Mulie is a good bait to use for this, but a fresh hardy head is hard to pass for many of the local shallow-water predatory species.

Northern salmon have been reported along the west side by shore-based anglers targeting fish on small soft plastics and light line.  A few squid have been seen along the shoreline too, but they don’t seem to be keen on taking to jigs.  One angler tried using a squid-spike rigged up with a small garfish and she mentioned that it created more interest.  Small reef sharks have been showing up in the shallow waters, particularly at night. A few of the junior anglers have been tagging the sharks over 1m in length. It will be interesting to see some results of where the sharks roam from these tags if the sharks are recaptured. Trolling for pelagic fish west of the Muiron Islands at this time of year usually produces good catches of small black marlin, wahoo and the odd sailfish. 

The EGFC has two special guests this year with Peter Pakula doing a fishing clinic prior to the event and John Payne from Sea Surface Temperature showing anglers how to read the currents and water temperatures to improve chances of finding billfish.  The results of many sailfish from boats in the gulf recently should make Gamex an interesting competition this year and the EGFC hope to see some recaptured billfish through this time.

PIC: The Nelson Bay beach and marina with over 60 of the 192 boats bringing tag cards and fish in to the gantry on day 1 of the tournament in NSW.

Nelson Bay Marina

The GT’s have been fairly active around the islands in the gulf with Shaun Battye from Karratha visiting last week and releasing around a dozen over a two day period. Shaun was hoping to get out to chase some blue marlin, but had to hang close to shore with the strong winds and rough seas forecast over the weekend. Interestingly, although the forecast was not flash, they spent time of the north western side of the Muirons and said it was only 4-5knots for most of the day. It was calm and not too hot, but when they came back across the gap between the mainland and the island, the heat from the mainland hit them like a sauna.

The hot temperatures have enticed more anglers to take to the water and spearfishing lately.  There have been a few green job fish and plenty of trout about, with the odd bluey. Surprisingly, the sharks have not been an issue with the spearos, whereas some of the mackerel fishermen have had hard times with sharks chasing the mackerel.

Well, it’s not far till Gamex and there are numerous bets about on whether the clubhouse will be finished in time. The answer (according to many sources!) is yes, it will be finished. The event will kick off with a rigging night on Friday the 19th. Anglers and visitors are welcome. Locals and visitors are welcome to come down to see the weigh-ins on the Sunday-Friday from 6-8pm. There will be a Mexican Theme night on Tuesday March 23rd with a live band playing (Weigh in that night will finish early). Numbers will be limited and tickets will be available for this particular evening. Please email info@egfc.com.au for further details.

So, if you are wanting to see and enjoy this new community venue in town, then grab a program from the local tackle store and join the excitement during this fun week.

Matt Gates Longtail

Meanwhile the Department of Transport are working together with the EGFC and GDC to try and have sufficient berthing pens available in the marina for the upcoming tournaments.  They need to know how many boats are interested in having a pen for the events of Gamex 2010, the AIBT 2011 and Gamex 2011. If you have a boat and require a pen for any of these events, please contact president@egfc.com.au or call 0408 905 448 and give details of your vessel so that coordination of this event can be improved.

There have been mangrove jacks and small emperor in the marina lately with the warm weather.  Baits have been working best, although sinking lures can work exceptionally well with the mangrove jacks.  Almost every day there is exciting activity in this area with bait schools being smashed up as predatory fish patrol through the waters on various tides. Squid also make their way in along the marina for a cruise and it’s always worth having a rod with you on a trip down there.

The shore-based fishing has certainly been doing well this week. There has been lots of bait in Lighthouse Bay being chomped by unknown assailants. Large GT poppers didn’t attract any strikes for one tourist but perhaps a smaller lure will do the trick.  The offshore fishing hasn’t disappointed either with Ben Knight pictured this week with a Robinson Sea Bream caught off the Muiron Islands. These fish are superb eating with bright white flesh. This one took to a squid bait drifted down with a light sinker on the change of tide.

Have you got a fishing picture and story to share with us? Drop in to Bluewater Tackle World on Maley Street or send us an email to exmouth@bluewater.net.au to share your fishy tale with the community.

Ben and Robinson Sea Bream

SAT 20th March - Briefing Night

SUN 21st  - FRI 26th March – Fishing

SAT 27th March – Presentation Night

Download the Gamex 2010 Brochure.

Download the Gamex 2010 entry form.

Download the Draft Gamex 2010 Rules.

Reef fish in the waters off the Muiron Island and Long Island have shown up some great catches of red emperor and gold band job fish.  Pictured this week is Joshua Meinema with is first-ever cobia. Joshua went out to the Muiron Islands with his Dad and a few of his Dads’ mates. They caught some sharks, trolled for some mackerel and Joshua also caught some squid. He even hooked a cod on his squid jig, which was very exciting, but fell off before being landed. 

Boats out wide chasing billfish have continued to bring in tag cards to the shop. Some boats have been right out to depths of 1500m and seen big blue marlin cruising on the surface, but not interested in feeding.  All these signs are great for the upcoming Gamex event in March.

Northern salmon have been caught along the beaches on the west side, along with common dart. Anglers roaming the beaches can see the fish clearly in the clear water when wearing polarised sunnies.  These fish can be great for kids too. In fact, we have had a few families that are travelling around Australia drop in to the store in recent weeks. Many are on the way north for winter and staying in Exmouth for a few months. The kids, of course, are very excited to be travelling, and with parents doing the home schooling, this is a journey those kids should benefit from for the rest of their lives.

Learmonth Jetty has had some giant herring show up in recent weeks. The creeks in the gulf have helped some people enjoy a fresh dinner of mud crabs and the odd estuary cod has been showing up on the line.

The committee for the new EGFC bottom fishing competition will be meeting this week to develop the format, sections and timing for this new addition to the EGFC fishing calendar. Stay posted for further information.

Picture is Mark, Joshua and Graeme with the cobia.

Spangled emperor around the west side on the incoming tide have also been continuing with a few medium sized fish attacking baits of squid and mullet. Soft plastics have also worked well with these fish, but the Charlie court cods are hard to get through at times.  The small cod do make for a tasty meal though and are a favourite with juniors and the seniors for a fresh feed.

The good weather that is forecast has created a stir around town amongst the boating enthusiasts.  There are at least four boats planning to do the trip to Long Island for a relaxing overnight stay aboard.  The water should be fantastic for a relaxing swim and dive and there are some good grounds out wide of there for reef fishing.  To top it off the crews could come home across the gulf and see the multitudes of sailfish that have been continuing to feed in the gulf.  We certainly didn’t expect the sailfish to be this thick at this time of year, however a few boats including Aqua and Weapon have seen up to as many as 60 fish a day! That’s amazing. With pods of ten fish a time at the stern smashing teasers and competing for bait, this would be a perfect time for fly fishing anglers to visit and try for a sail on fly.

The Gamex brochures are all around town and entries are already coming in for the six-day event. The event is planned to be held at the new clubhouse. There will be a two-day game fishing clinic for billfish onboard Reel Teaser, with lure maker Peter Pakula, on Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th March. If you want to learn more about fishing for billfish during this clinic, call Jeni on 0408 905 448.  Numbers are limited, so be quick.  The weigh-in each evening is open to visitors from 6-8pm.  The EGFC expect the presentation night to be fully booked, however there is an opportunity for the town to enjoy one of the social evenings which is a Mexican Night with a live band on Tuesday the 23rd March.  It will be a dress-up evening with Mexican food and a good chance to tell fishy tales. Tickets will be available soon from EGFC.

Bait ball

PIC: A bait ball like this in the gulf is what you will find sailfish and other predatory fish feeding on.

Junior anglers have been doing well over the school holidays with a few local juniors getting into some of the challenges of light tackle.  Young Jack and Alex Dandie have been targeting trevally, queenfish, mackerel and tuna on light line.  They have been learning how to tie all the joining knots and correct leader lengths to be prepared for Gamex in March.  Meanwhile small-fry Hayden Michaels has been tagging all sorts of species to compete in the Game Fishing Association of Australia’s annual awards.  Tayla Clatworthy has also been tagging pelagic species for the junior sections.  Other keen juniors include Luke Collins, Braden Cooper and Riley Smith.  I think that 2010 will bring some great results for juniors in fishing and once the EGFC clubhouse is functional, we hope to see more juniors enjoying learning more about recreational fishing as the club holds educational activities, fishing session, casting lessons and fun week-ends.

Mark Brown green jobfish

The reef fishing has showed up a mixed bag from all reports coming in to the shop. Pictured this week is Mark Brown with a green jobfish.  Ben Knight joined him for a day out and also caught a healthy long-nosed emperor.  The boys threw poppers for GT’s and soaked a few baits in shallow waters.  The GT’s were a little shy, but the reef fishing didn’t disappoint. 

Squid have been caught by many people in small tinnies off the marina.  Favoured colours are orange and most of the squid are average sized, but there have been plenty of them.  This can be a fun easy outing and great for kids. Some people have been getting squid trolling while kayaking, which can also be a bit of fun not far from the marina.

Ben Knight longnose emporer