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2007 Dampier Classic

On our recent holiday to Karratha in WA I was lucky enough to be invited to compete in the 2007 Dampier Classic aboard "Black Label" a 71/2 metre Sea Rider, skippered by Steve Tatham, one of the best fishos in the area. This competition is the North West's biggest GFAA sanctioned fishing tournament and is held over 4 days culminating with a presentation on the Tuesday night with over 35 prize divisions. We were competing in the Billfish Tag and Release section which Steve and his crew, Gavin and Blake have been runner up for the last three years. There are thousands of dollars of prizes including a $500.00 daily cash prize for heaviest Mackeral. The comp is hosted by the King Bay Fishing Club and this year attracted approximately 130 Anglers in 43 boats.

 Whe my son in law Gavin, emailed me to ask if I was interested in fishing the comp, he did say "It's not for the faint hearted" limp wristed nancy boys (maybe a Bass Fisherman Haha) He was not wrong, the forecast for the first two days were for 30 to 40 knot winds and easing on Sunday and Monday to 20 to 25, and the seas, huge to frightening. I thought we would have a couple of days in the many bays targeting Mackeral for some of the cash, wrong. We were on the water by 4 am, after jigging some live baits on one of the many channel markers we set off to the shelter bay on Malus Island to rig all the gear for the days fishing. The plan was to set skipping Garfish on the outriggers and shotgun in the middle, and run a bridle queenie on the down rigger and try different baits on the other short corner. We also had two live baits set up in the tubes ready to use for drop backs. We also were going to run two teasers, now we were ready to go and with much anticipation, as I have never been Billfishing before, we set off to the fishing grounds which is where all the carriers anchor up offshore to wait their turn to be loaded with iron ore in the Port of Dampier. The first two days were a little dissapointing as we trolled all day and raised about 12 fish with no solid hook ups which could have been a blessing in disguise as the seas were very rough and I think it would have been a battle to get the fish to the boat to tag. We spent most of the time untangling bait and lines from the teasers and they were long days, not getting home until 8.00pm in the evening.

Day 3 started as the first two, up at 3.00am, on the water by 4.00am. The forecast was a little better for the next two days, 20-25 knots, easing to 15 in the afternoon. We jigged our livebaits and set off to the bay at Malus Island to rig all the gear. The wind and swell had not got up yet so it was quite a good trip out to the Billfish grounds where we had to wait about half an hour for a little bit of light. At about 5.45am we got the baits in the water and started to troll, afetr about ten minutes we had our first strike for the day on the Port Outrigger, a good solid hook up and after a 15 minute fight we had tagged our first sailfish for the comp. It was brought aboard for a quick photo and release with a nice bright orange tag in his side, the information logged in on the radio at 6.11am.

What a buzz and what a team effort to get all the gear in and clear the deck so as Steve has no worries about fighting the fish, you also need a good Deckie to drive the boat to keep the fish in the right position. We have 3 more sailfish tagged by 1.00pm, all being between 6-8 ft and I guess 50-80kg. We trolled all afternoon until the sun went down with just a few fish raised but no hook ups. We were all pretty happy on the run back to the ramp where we were leading the tagging section of the comp.

Day 4 and my last chance to land a Billfish. The day started the same as the past three and the weather was as near to perfect as you could get, as we approach the area we planned to start trolling we saw a free jumping sailfish so we headed in that direction and within 5 minutes it was game on. We had three baits taken and there was line going in all directions. After a few minutes of complete madness we lost all the fish. While all this was going on Blake had dropped one of the live baits that we had in the bait tubes over, and was free spooling in and out amongst the school of sailfish and with instant success, after a 20 minute fight the first Billfish of the day was tagged, the information recorded and logged in on the radio at 6.11am, deja-vu.

Day 4 was very similar to day 3, we caught three more sailfish by 1.00pm and were very happy because our nearest competitor had only logged in 4 sailfish. Over the closing hours of the comp he had narrowed it to one, with the last hour being very tense as all they needed was a double hook up or a Marlin which was double points. This happened to the boys last year but this year it was not to be. It was great being part of the winning team, although I didn't land a sailfish I learned heaps and can't wait to get a Billfish here in Queensland and send the photos over to the crew in WA. Thanks again Gavin it was a great comp.