Port Vila Game Fishing Club held its annual tournament

The Port Vila Game Fishing Club held its annual tournament - the Wilco Hardware & Tusker Gamefish Classic 2010 - late last year.

The original date set for the tournament was November 27 and 28 but, due to very rough weather, the tournament was postponed to December 4 and 5.

Although there was a reduced field due to international anglers unable to extend their stay, their were some great results.

The run-down of the tournament was:

Champion Boat

First Place            Escapade with 1685.2 points

Second Place      V-Factor with 816.6 points

Third Place           Te Waka with 323.4 points

Champion Male

Went to Russ Housby with 1500 points tagging and releasing a Blue Marlin on 15Kg line Class on board Escapade, skippered by Herve Picarda.

Champion Female

Went to Sarah Carley with 323.4 points with a Dolphin Fish and Barracuda on board Te Waka, skippered by Pullon Carley.

Champion Minnow

Went to Sam Strid with 95.5 points with Skipjack Tuna on board Ahi, skippered by his dad.

Other notable catches were Steve Bean with a Sailfish tagged and released on 15kg line class on board V-Factor and Gary Vasconnsales with a captured Short Billed Spearfish on 15kg line class.

The next tournament for the Port Vila Game Fishing Club is the Ladies tournament called the Fish 'N' Chicks Angling Tournament. This is for ladies and junior females only and is being held on Sunday March 6. It is a one day event with fishing starting at 7am and lines out at 1pm. The weigh-in will be held at the Anchor in from 1 - 3pm on the same day, with the presentation at 4pm.

The Grand Hotel and Casino Vanuatu Marlin Classic will be held from June 5-11, 2011, and this year is sure to be bigger and better as Troy Neel has taken the reins once again along with the help of Doug Bailey and Charles Wheeler. This tournament is a tag and release Marlin-only tournament and there will be some great prize money up for grabs.

Anyone who is interested in fishing the tournament shouldn't leave it much longer to arrange a boat as places are filling fast. If you are interested in fishing call Crusoe Fishing on 7745490.

With the amount of cyclones around this season, they have been playing havoc with the charter boats not being able to get out but when we have had opportunities to venture out we have been encountering some small Blue Marlin which are proving hard to stay attached to at the moment.

Escapade headed to the islands for a few days and encountered some Dog Tooth Tuna along with a tagged Blue Marlin around the 180kg mark. V-Factor did a trip to Vulcan seamounts and tagged a Blue Marlin and came home with some Wahoo and Yellowfin Tuna. Reel Capture has been amongst them as well with their outstanding day of raising 5 Blue Marlin, hooking 4 and tagging 1, along with landing 4 Yellowfin Tuna around the 20kg mark and also a shark around the 30kg range as well.

Hopefully the water temperature will start to drop and we won't have to worry too much longer about any more cyclones on the horizon.

Tight lines until the next report!  Michelle, Crusoe Fishing