What an awesome 5 days fishing thanks to the Game Fishing Club Of SA and the Blue water classic. This event gives Trailer boats the opportunity o get out wide and deep in the pristine waters off Port Lincoln with the comfort of having the bigger boats around. Justagirl had one crew of 5 enter the comp. 3 fished AGFA and line class rules ( Helen, Trace and Amanda) while Kerry and Nic fished the daily prize pool part of the comp. There is something for everyone even a daily whiting prize.
The wrap up and end results where ( Only 2 Trailer boats) justagirl won the highest point scoring Trailer Boat and Highest Tag point Trailer Boat. Helen took out Highest Tag point scoring angler Trailer Boat and Amanda took out the highest point scoring angler Trailer Boat. There are no woman’s division in this event.
Kerry and Nic had huge success with earning $800 in prize cash money, 2 Seamaster vouchers and 4 Port Lincoln Boat supplies vouchers. This is the last time this event will be run due to lack of participants, This is a sad thing as the club run this event so well. We were fed every day they even set up a camp base with showers etc. Fuel was driven in everyday and anything we need was supplies. The ground Crew were exceptional a big thanks to Steve Morris, Paul and Bart. A Dingy was supplied to bring us into shore each night.
The wild life need to get a mention, between the brown snakes, Pelican and kangaroos there was always plenty to see
Day One go off to a late start due to a very enjoyable skipper Brief the night before, we launched at 9.30, with lines in at 8am we were clearly going to have a slow day. After a brief stop at Taylors for some King George Whiting we got to Memory Cove late afternoon
Sunday saw that team bright and perky ready to hit the water and up before the sun. We headed
out to the Cabbage Patch on the roughest day with 3m swells and 20 knot winds. We were able to tag 7 Tuna and capture 2. The conditions were bad and it looked like we should come in, but Kerry was still to catch a Tuna, so the team persisted after dropping 3 Tuna, she finally managed to get hooked up again, but not before more drama. As Kerry was reeling in her fish, the reel detached from the rod…. after fixing that up, sadly she lost her fish 10 mins later on the outrigger as a wave came down. Eventually Kerry had her tuna and we started the slow steam back to Memory Cove.
Monday was Shark and Eagle Ray fishing day, Skipper hooked up a small Bronzie around 27kg for the competition, then Helen hooked up a nice size Bronzie approximately 9ft. After a 90 minute plus fight, Helen was spent but didn’t give up! We finally managed to get the shark tied up to the boat but somehow it managed to get loose. Casualty of the day was our fixed gaff, a top shot one, lost rod and reel, Kerry tore her calf muscle whilst trying to gaff the shark, Amanda had charge of the pointy end of the shark holding the leader bruising her arm and injuring her shoulder. As Nic held the tail rope our shark found a new lease on life and dragged her down the side of the boat as she yelled…Skipp launched and pinned her to the corner making sure our Bronzie didn’t take Nic with him… So as Nic crawled across the deck thinking she broken her knee and Skipp surprised that she hadn’t broken Nic’s ribs with a tackle that the All Blacks would have been in awe over! The injured crew decided to limp into shore with a dent in their pride and a lost Shark. Skipp found a nice pinnacle on the way so stopped to drop a line and get a snapper for the daily cash prize but alas Kerry’s line wrapped itself around the prop – so that was enough to call it day and limp back into shore. Everyone was exhausted and it was time to chill out.
Tuesday was spent out at Neptune Island chasing Tuna, Kingfish and sharks. The Tuna were little small mainly around 65cms, so we decided to pull in beside Galaxy Star and Spartacus to try our luck at another Shark. We manage few nice Trevally. But no Sharks or Rays
Wednesday was the last day of the comp with lines in at 4pm, we headed out for a bottom bounce,catching some nice size Nannygai and Blue Morwong. So nice food for the freezer. That was the end of the comp so we headed into Lincoln to give the boat a much needed clean and scrub up
As we write this and get it posted we have just attended the briefing of the Riviera Tuna Classic and are back on the water tomorrow for 2 days see you all soon!! More pics to cpme