It has been really hard to get online this year to keep the trip reports up-to-date for several reasons. The boring reason being that phone and internet service on the reef this year are tough (perhaps due to damage from Cyclone Ita that went through earlier in 2014?). But the really exciting reason is, because of the great black marlin fishing we have been having. Easily the best the fishing has been here for the giant black marlin season for the past 10 years! A reminder that I am keeping relatively up-to-date on Facebook which you can see here (even without a FB account I believe). So I am in catch up mode. This catch up is from mid-October and the Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic which was hosted out of Cooktown this year.
We had another great tournament with Alex and Brian returning to fish the comp with us again after a three year absence (and hoping to improve on their third placing from last comp). And while we had a slow start and didn’t figure on the leaderboard this year, we certainly had a good run off fish and made our way up the rankings in the end to finish firmly in the middle of the field (10th out of 23). And we got some really big fish at that! Among others, Alex got a new PB for his biggest black marlin at 900lbs on the second day. And then on Day 5, he beat that again with a monster fish that Luke put at 950lbs! Likewise Brian (who had whispered to us that he really wasn’t keen on catching any biggies – watch what you hope for hey Brian!) released two really nice ones at 800 and 900 and lost another two more that were certainly in that same range.
Alex’s fish was satellite tagged to give him entry into the Great Marlin Race and we look forward to seeing how that goes and where it ends up. We know the boys had a great time – and we did too. Great company and great fishing!
Some pics from the trip. The photos show just how good the fishing was (is!) in 2014!
If you are thinking of fishing the reef in 2015, get in touch now as days are already limited on the back of what has been the best giant black marlin fishing in so many years.
