Storms pause for Trailer Boat Fisho's
by Tony Poole on 18 May 2009
2009 Champion Senior Troy Radford with his Champion Boat Crew - 2009 Club Marine Trailer Boat Fishing Tournament Kirk Maclean
Heading up to Port Stephens for the 2009 Club Marine Trailer Boat Fishing Tournament the rain was so heavy I was half expecting to be passed by a few boats towing cars up the Pacific Hwy. While the rain and floods stopped a few northern anglers, almost 1100 anglers towed 430 boats to d’Albora Marina Nelson Bay this year. The Gods smiled and competitors enjoyed good weather for a top weekend of fishing and entertainment.
Thursday night's Competitor Registration, Briefing, and Lucky Draws saw the weather clear up and a lot of people took the opportunity to enjoy the fine fare offered by many of the d’Albora marinas tenants.
Come Sunday and the anticipation was high that the Broughton Island Gang would arrive just prior to the 1200 close of fishing deadline and wipe everyone off the board. Alas, this year the hardy island campers came up short and the anglers who came home and had a comfortable sleep each night came up trumps.
This Tournament is a very sociable event, with the rules specifically designed to be easy to follow for the first time competitor (over 50% of people each year) and junior anglers while providing a challenge for the skilled anglers having a shot at being the Champion Angler.
This year, Troy Radford from Tanilba Bay was crowned Champion Angler with 12 Points by placing second tag and release Marlin, first and second place in Luderick, and third place Tuna while James Yerbury from Manly was Runner Up with eight points with first and second places in Tuna. All Senior and Junior Species winners won Shimano rod/reel combos as part of their prize packs.
The Junior (under 16) section was fiercely competitive with over 100 competing. William Falko from Trangie won with a convincing 17 points by placing second in Bream, first in Flathead, firsst, second, and third in Mulloway while Zac Mason from Corlette got nine points for first, second, and third in Drummer. There were a number of other Juniors on nine points including Amba Ward from Muswellbrook who got first, second, and third place in Kingfish.
Seeing so many Juniors enjoying their fishing with parents and friends augers well for the future of the sport. When you see the fish the Juniors catch, and consider that these youngsters have to hook and fight their fish
without any adult assistance, there are some truly meritorious catches each year.
The smile on a child's face openly displaying their sense of self-achievement and pride is enough to warm the coldest heart.
In addition to having the Champion Angler onboard, Stephen Chrystie from Wallsend won Champion Boat with a very happy crew of five onboard 'Critakill' from James Yerbury onboard ‘White Lighting' with a crew of two.
This tournament is particularly hard to win because of the point system. There are 14 eligible species, with points only awarded for the best three fish in each species. Therefore, the winning anglers usually need to be on the board in a number of species to get on the podium. This system also works well because, for example, once a 1.5kg Bream (live only) is in third place, there is no point bringing in your fish unless it is over 1.5kg. By using this system, only around 200 fish are weighed in over the three days, with many of these weighed live, released into the Evinrude Big Tank, and then released back into Nelson Bay after the Tournament.
While the Bream weren’t huge this year, it was memorable for the quantity of quality fish just under 1 kg, probably due to the rain flushing the creeks. Grant Wallbridge won this species with a healthy 1.471 Kg fish. Notable captures amongst the Seniors included John Ambrose’s 16.445kg Cobia, past winner Ben Doolan’s 19.997kg Kingfish, and Ross Mayne’s 8.465kg Snapper.
The effort that the volunteers from Shoal Bay Fishing Club, lead by President John Ambrose and long-time Weigh-master Ted Mackay deserves special mention for their organisation and input. A small Fishing Club by any standards, over 40 members give up a lot of personal and fishing time to make sure the tournament runs smoothly over the weekend.
This year the Tournament was proud to help support and raise funds for Port Stephens Police & Community Youth Club, Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol, Coast Guard, and Shoal Bay Fishing Club.
Statistics:
The tournament attracted 1081 anglers with 101 Juniors and 430 trailerable boats. In 2009 the average boat length was 5.59 mtrs with 112hp on the back. 64% were alloy and six percent were multihulls.
Over 80% of competitors were visitors to Port Stephens meaning that the tournament was responsible for over 2600 room nights accommodation if we assume competitors only stayed the three nights of the tournament and bought no other visitors with them.
The 2010 Club Marine Trailer Boat Fishing Tournament will be held March 26, 27, 28 - always the weekend before Easter.
Full results and details are at www.tbft.com.au
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