host-boat system provides an excellent opportunity
for teams of friends and business colleagues to get
together in an exciting and friendly environment,
and many business deals have been cemented at sea
during these tournaments.
This year it was the Lae club’s turn to host the Titles
and, as usual, they ran a spectacularly successful
tournament based within the secure waterfront
compound and marina of the delightful Lae Yacht
Club. The tournament committee was able to raise
significant sponsorship from within the large local
business community, and with this they delivered an
amazingly generous array of food, drinks and prizes
throughout the tournament. Complimentary cooked
breakfasts were served each morning from 4am, and a
daily truck-load of boxed lunches took care of onboard
catering. This was crowned with a gala presentation
night for hundreds of guests that included spit-roast
pig and carved wooden gamefish table-favours.
The organisation and communications through the team
of volunteers running the radio shack was exemplary, but
by far the most impressive part of this year’s Titles was
the fishing. Smooth seas and an extraordinary run of
juvenile blue marlin – that far exceeded anything ever
seen in PNG before – delivered a real treat for the 321
anglers forming 123 two-day teams aboard the 34 boats.FISH ATTRACTING DEVICES
With a boat in Lae, you are surrounded with great
fishing options, from black bass in the rivers to
mackerel on the reefs and marlin just a stone’s
throw beyond that. The riverside city lies at the
apex of the Huon Gulf, flanked by rippling layers of
towering, jungle-covered mountains that continue
their precipitous plunge below the surface. Justbeyond the muddy river outflows, the purple waters
within the sheltered Gulf plunge to more than 2000
metres, with seamounts, ridges and coral reefs dotted
about its perimeter.
With the help of volunteers and sponsorship support,
the Lae Game Fishing Club was able to construct and
deploy 11 deep-water FADs scattered within the Gulf.
With the project completed almost six months before
Easter, all teams were eager to test them out by the
time the Titles came around. And it didn’t take long
for their worth to become apparent.
On the first day of the tournament, the Lae Yacht
Club Commodore’s boatSea Hawkfound action at the
memorial FAD dedicated to local personality ‘Muddy’
Edwards. Hosting a visiting team from Queensland,
representing the Gold Coast’s TSS boarding college
where a number of local children are educated, the
Sea Hawkcrew tagged three blue marlin and a sailfish
to rocket into the lead.CATCH OF THE DAY
Fishing aboardChasing Tail, Stephanie Ramu hooked
a 100kg blue on 15kg tackle, which in typical blue
marlin fashion raced off at blistering speed on its
initial greyhounding run. Her fiancé, Mark Thomas,
waited until the run settled then got down on one
knee, produced a ring and asked her to marry him.
Steph was understandably stunned, but once the
initial shock and screaming subsided she did manage
a “YES!” before getting back to the job at hand.
Mark was awarded the Catch-of-the-day during the
festivities back at the Yacht Club that evening.
Back at Muddy’s FAD early on the second day, the
Sea Hawkteam continued their hot run, tagging two
blues of 60 to 70kg in quick succession. Other boats
homed-in on the bite and soon several baby blues
could be seen in the air at once, tearing up the glassy-
calm ocean as boats and roaring engines carved
“Several baby blues could be seen in the air at once, frothing white trails in hot pursuit.tearing up the glassy-calm ocean.”
“Boats that
ventured
to Tami
Island were
rewarded with
world-class
blue marlin
fishing.”
58 facebook.com/BlueWatermagazine