Marlin on the bite for Exmouth’s Heavy Tackle Tournament

The Exmouth Game Fishing Club hosted the Heavy Tackle Tournament over the long weekend and 27 teams and more than a 100 anglers hit the water in search of big marlin and yellowfin tuna.

The weather was ominous with tropical cyclone Riley looming to the north and creating some concern for the organisers.

Luckily the cyclone headed west; however, the last day was cancelled because of forecast strong winds.

Small black marlin showed up for the teams in all areas, with several caught on the big gear and two blue marlin were encountered by team Mangrove Jack in the space of 20 minutes.

Over the two days, black, blue and striped marlin were all encountered, along with sailfish, proving yet again that this is a world-class billfish fishery.

Adding to the great fishing is the ever-increasing XOS sized yellowfin tuna being more readily encountered.

The camaraderie at the game fishing club was at an all-time high with some of the best anglers in the State pitting their skills against each other over the duration of the tournament.

The overall champion boat for the competition was Lockout, which made four tags, and Mangrove Jack came runner-up with three.

The marina has continued to show locals and visitors how healthy and productive it is with schools of bait, predatory species, big cod, hungry jacks and dolphins cruising through.

The mangrove jack comp has had a few new entrants and the prize pool is about $500.

The largest caught to date is only 43cm but we know there are bigger ones out there.

Spangled emperor have continued to show up from the shore around the west side.

Surface lures work really well at this time of year for them, and dawn and dusk are the best time to target them. You can also expect to get other predatory species such as trevally and barracuda.

Big queenfish have been more prevalent in the gulf than the west side and they are awesome to target on fly-fishing gear, if you’re keen to walk the flats.