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NEWSLINESCairns history: Almost a grander double
B
ack in the spring of 1971, New
York financier Virgil Price made
his first visit to Cairns to fish for
giant black marlin. The first week
of his trip was spent fishing aboard Pacific
Islander, skippered by Alister Dodd, and
his luck was in when he caught his first
grander, weighing 1122lb (508.9kg).
For his second week he fished aboard
Tedditoo, with Capt Dennis ‘Brazakka’
Wallace at the helm. The fishing was
hot and Virgil scored an incredible day,
becoming the first angler to land two black
marlin in one day with a total weight of
more than 2000lb.
The first fish was caught mid-afternoon,
leaving time for the baits to be put back
out before dusk. In late afternoon, Virgil
hooked his second monster, fighting it
into the night. By the time they had it
secured it was way past dark. In those
pre-GPS days, Brazakka had to tentatively
thread a careful course back through the
reef opening and past the threat of coral
bommies to reach the safety of their
anchorage behind the reef. By that time it
was too late to weigh the fish that night.
The next morning, 18 hours since it had
been caught, and having lost considerable
liquid in the heat overnight, the first of
Virgil’s marlin weighed 1008lb (457.2kg),
while his second fish weighed 994lb
(450.9kg) – taking him within six pounds
of being the first angler to capture two
granders on the same day.
Virgil returned to Cairns in 1972, this
time fishing from the boat Avis, landing
another black marlin grander of 1045lb
(474kg).
Back for the 1973 season, Virgil chartered
Samarai and was accompanied by his US
captain Doug Guy and filmmaker E Jenkins
from San Francisco. Virgil was President of
Action Films Incorporated and planned to
create a colour film about the marlin off
Cairns for national television in America.
Virgil captured his third grander black
marlin on this trip, weighing 1067lb
(484kg), which prompted him to state,
“Cairns is the greatest marlin fishing
centre in the world. The only comparable
place was Cabo Blanca in Peru in the
1950s, where 38 black marlin weighing
more than 1000lb each were caught by
gamefisherman. However, off Cairns in
seven years there has been 60 black
marlin weighing more than 1000lb.”
And there has been a lot more granders
caught off Cairns in the years since then.- Ray Joyce
Back in 1971, Virgil Price came within six pounds of
becoming the first to catch two grander black marlin
in a single day. His two Cairns blacks weighed 1008lb
(457.2kg) and 994lb (450.9kg) after lying on the deck
of Tedditoo all night.