Marlin

 The organisers of the Vanuatu Marlin Classic are proud to annonce that the Grand Hotel and Casino has become the naming sponsor and major sponsor of this yearly event. This relationship has been years in the making and is an obvious fit for both the Grand Hotel and the Vanuatu Marlin Classic Tournament. The Grand Hotel boasts high quality facilities including various well appointed and award winning dining venues, a world class Casino, a host of luxury accomodation and access to a wide variety of activities; all supported by their professional and well trained staff. We believe that this arrangement will provide an even better experience for our competitors and their family members that travel to support them and to enjoy quality time in the heart of Port Vila, Vanuatu. The Grand Hotel is offering special accommodation packages for competitors starting at $175 AUD/night. From the morning shotgun start (7am) in front of the Grand Hotel and the day’s activities to the evening weigh-in, fine dining and nightlife the Grand Hotel is where you will want to be.

The 2010 Marlin Classic will see a few changes in the overall format of the tournament. The first 6annual VMC competitions have all been based upon the best score over three days of fishing. Feedback from participants and local fishing enthusiasts has led us to modify our approach. Starting in 2010 there will be 4 major prizes rather than the three (1st, 2nd and 3rd places) we have always featured in the past. The 4th major prize will be awarded based on the most points scored on a single day of fishing. This will allow for single-day and two-day entries as well as the full three-day entry. Entrance fees are 150,000 vatu for a full 3-day entry, 100,000 vatu for a 2-day entry and 50,000 vatu for a single-day entry. The tournament is held over a 7 day period which allows team entered to choose their fishing days. The Marlin Classic is a tag and release tournament. Points are awarded based on line class of the tackle employed including: 130 lb, 80 lb, 50 lb, and 30 lb. Lighter line class captures receive significantly more points. There will also be prizes for the best Mahi Mahi, Wahoo and Yellowfin Tuna caught during the tournament. Visit the Grand Hotel and Casino Vanuatu Marlin Clasic website for further information; www.vanuatumarlinclassic.com The Vanuatu Marlin Classic is also a qualifying event for the IFGA Offshore World Championship held from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico each year.

The Vanuatu Marlin Classic is held from the 23^rd - 29^th May 2010.

For availability on our vessels, just drop us an email and we can let you know what we have available!

The Port Vila Game Fishing Club, Tusker Game Fish Classic was held on the 28th & 29th of November 2009 and was run out of the Anchor Inn with a total of 19 boats and 54 anglers. It was also great to see many international anglers coming from Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia to experience some great Blue Marlin fishing. Start fishing on Saturday was at 7am after a spectacular shot gun start in Port Vila Harbour. The seas were great for the weekend with 10-15 knots and seas to 1-1.5 metres.

Nevagivups team this year consisted of Rodney & Gayle McPhee, Michelle and our Skipper Captain Charles Wheeler. Unfortunately this year saw Rodney spending the whole weekend in bed with a mysterious illness so this left the girls to do battle with the rest of the field. Saturday saw Nevagivup tagging and releasing two Blue Marlin on 15Kg line class after raising four Blues for the day. Michelle encountered a nice 140Kg Blue Marlin and after an hour the fish was released. In between the next Blue, Gayle landed a nice Mahi Mahi, then we were pulling our hair out with a small Blue that just wouldn’t hook up, he took the lure 5 times before he gave up. Then half an hour later, Michelle was onto another Blue, after a 10 minute fight a small Blue around the 60Kg mark was tagged and released. After being on the troll again, Gayle hooked up to a nice Blue around the 100kg mark, after an hour into the battle with the fish just out of tagging range, the line gave way, bugger! What a great days fishing though, this put Nevagivup into the lead with V-Factor in second place. There was a total of 4 Blue Marlin tagged and released for Saturday. There was also a great range of other species bought to the weigh station as well.

Sunday morning saw the fleet head out early as start fishing was at 6am, the seas were calm and we were excited to get amoungst the fish again. As it always goes, we couldn’t even raise a fish for love or money! V-Factor was on fire on Sunday and tagged 2 Blue Marlin on 15Kg. It was neck and neck with two hours left of fishing so Charles decided that we need another species to get us over the line as there was only 1Kg separating 1st and 2nd. Gayle landed a nice 10Kg Wahoo that would have done the job but V- Factor could do no wrong and ended up with their second fish for the day. There was a total of 8 Blues tagged and released on Sunday.

Sunday evening saw the presentation held at the Anchor Inn with the last man standing draw and the presentations. The end results were great for the girls; Michelle took out Champion Angler overall (2nd year running), Champion Female Angler (2nd year running), Gayle with best Wahoo for the tournament and Charles took home Champion Skipper (3rd year running), not a bad effort from the girls and many thanks must go to our Deck Hand Andrew who did a wonderful job.

If you are after a great weekend of fishing and social fun, then you better get in early for next year as I’m sure that it will be bigger and better than this year!

 Father and son duo Steve and Joseph decided to escape the winter cold of Victoria and headed over to Vanuatu for some warmth. Joseph had decided that he wanted to catch a Blue Marlin as he had caught allot of other species. We ventured out on Reel Capture for a full day charter and worked the new FADS off Port Vila, with a nice Wahoo in the boat we decided to work North. After an hour or so, Joseph was hooked up to a nice Blue Marlin around the 130Kg mark, unfortunately his fish ended up tail wrapped and died, after a 2 1/2 hour battle the fish was in the boat. The guys decided that they wanted to head out again for another day on board Nevagivup. This time Joseph was on a mission and wanted to catch a bigger marlin, unfortunately this fished died and weighed a nice 165Kg. Steve also landed a nice Wahoo around the 25Kg mark. The guys had a great time and have vowed to return next year for a live aboard charter.  

  August and September have seen the Blue Marlin out in force once again ranging from 200pd—800pd. Reel Capture raised five Blues and managed to tag one. Nevagivup has been on fire with raising five and tagging one, the fish have been finicky to say the least. Horizon fished her way up to Epi Island and raised six Blues, hooked four and tagged two along the way! Let’s hope the bite goes right through till the end of the year! 

Nevagivup has added another record this time for Samantha Vale fishing with 10Kg Tippet fly fishing. The aim was to target Wahoo for the girls but instead we ended up with a Sail. This was Sam’s first Sailfish and the catch was a great achievement for her weighing in at 42Kg. The tease and fight was nothing but text book with everything going to plan. With Russ and Richard on the gaffs and Captain Charles Wheeler at the helm, this was a day to be remembered by all on board. Well done Sam!  

Sunday the 22nd of February 2009 saw five vessels take the ladies out  to fish the waters of Port Vila. The weather gods had looked down on us once again and the ladies had a great day out on the water with the odd glass of champagne being consumed.

Nevagivup skippered by Captain Charles Wheeler, with anglers Michelle Temminck and Samantha Vale and deck hands Russ Housby and Richard Moruk, took out the tournament with two Mahi Mahi to Sam and adding another 10Kg record to Nevagivup’s tally. We also lost two Blue Marlin, with the hard luck story of the tournament going to Michelle after a 1 1/2 hour fight with a 500pd Blue Marlin on 30pd line. Due to some minor problems on the boat, we had to cut the fish off.

All in all, it was a wonderful day out on the water and some of the ladies got amoungst the action.

January 2009 saw Horizon head up to Santo for a two week charter on Ratu Island, one of Santo’s newest resorts. After a hectic Christmas period, Michelle, Charles and Paul decided to bring Horizon home after her charter with Charlie and James and take a short fishing break.

The weather was superb and allowed us to fish off Santo for the first day mooring at Bokissa Island that night. This day Paul tagged and released his first Blue Marlin. The second day saw us head South to fish the rich waters off Malakula. We encoutered some rather large Yellowfin Tuna and Charles tipped the scales with a nice fin around the 70kg mark. We anchored at Port Sandwich at Malakula which is a large river with amazing scenary. Wednesday morning was an early start to encounter some large Dogtooth Tuna at the southern end of Malakula. Michelle encoutered some large doggies only to pull the hooks. We landed two nice doggies around the 20kg mark and landed a couple of Wahoo as well. We then trolled down to Cooks Reef and anchored off Emae Island for the night.

Thursday was also an early start as we had to make the passage between the islands where the currents meet. Here we encoutered some nice blue marlin as well with Michelle tagging a Blue around the 100kg mark and Paul tagging another blue around the 200kg mark. We also raised another two for the day and landed a couple of nice Mahi Mahi for dinner as well. We overnighted at Havanna Harbour. Charles decided that we would try for a Ladies 10Kg record. After trolling for approximately two hours, we raised the perfect fish for 10Kg around the 80Kg mark. The bite was perfect and after ten minutes, we had the leader at the back of the boat and just out of gaff range, then Michelle broke her rod! After the fish dissappeared into the blue yonder with the rod tip, we managed to get the fish up again after 30 minutes only to have the line part.

The trip was a wonderful fishing experience with many of the islands accessible to fish and we managed to get amoungst a wide variety of fish as well.

The Tusker Game Fishing Classic was held on the 8^th & 9^th of November from Port Vila Vanuatu and twelve teams entered for some fantastic fishing on Blue Marlin and the usual pelagic species. The weather gods turned it on with no more than 10 knots on Saturday and no wind on Sunday and it was hot out on the water. There were quite a few Blues hooked on Saturday and only two were tagged and the action hotted up on Sunday morning with the first Marlin being hooked at 6.15am. The bite lasted for about an hour and boats were hooking up one after the other!There were some notable catches of Mahi Mahi one being 10Kg caught on 4Kg and a new Vanuatu Ladies record on 24Kg for a 21.8Kg Barracuda. There were also some nice Dog Tooth Tuna bought to the scales as well.The team aboard Nevagivup consisted of Rodney & Gayle McPhee and Michelle Temminck skippered by Charles Wheeler and Deck Hand Richard. Rodney and Gayle were out to defend their winning title from last year. The first day we saw 4 Blue Marlin and 1 Sail fish and we managed to pull the hooks on two fish! Gayle landed a nice Mahi Mahi on 15Kg line as well. The team aboard Horizon, all Aussie anglers and skippered by Sean Winslett and Deck Hand James managed to raise 3 Blues as well for the day. Sunday saw Nevagivup turn into Reel Capture due to engine troubles and we hooked our first Blue at 6.35am only to have him charge the boat and throw the lure. Ten minutes later Michelle hooked a Blue around 130Kg on 15Kg and we had the tag in the fish after 15 minutes. The competition was hotting up with other teams tagging fish on heavier line classes and we knew that we had to tag another one on 15Kg to secure the lead. Rodney hooked a nice Blue on 15Kg at around 11.20am and after 25 minutes the tag was in! Horizon raised three Blues but the hooks were pulled as well. Between our two boats we raised 13 Blue Marlin and 1 Sailfish and landed a couple of nice Mahi Mahi.The final run down for our winning team on Nevagivup/Reel Capture was;Best Angler Tag & Release             Michelle TemminckBest Boat                                           Nevagivup/Reel CaptureBest Lady Angler                              Michelle TemminckBest Skipper                                     Charles WheelerAll in all this is a great tournament and the fishing and competition was enjoyed by all.

Horizon ventured out today with a group from Melbourne and Sydney and it was their second day fishing on board Horizon. At approximately 11am a nice Blue Marlin appeared in the pattern and teased everyone coming back 5 times before it finally took a lure. Gavin was ready for the strike and once the fish was firmly attached he encounted the next 3 hours on 80pd tackle with the rod bent and the drag on sunset for the last hour. Once the leader was in range Captain Fred told James to grab the leader and once he had the lure to cut the hooks. The fish was still green after 3 hours and Fred estimated the fish in the 700 -800pd range as it could not clear the water in its initially jumps which lasted more than 10 minutes. James restled with the fish and after cutting the line lost the lure. To everyone’s amazement, James dived over the side to recover the lure!

Gavin was relived to have tagged this magnicficant fish and the orders from James was no drinking Tusker until the tag was in!

Congratulations guys and to Fred and James a well earned cold Tusker once back on dry land!

 This June saw Horizon head back up to the Northern Islands for six days with the Caelli family from Melbourne on board. Charlie and James took them to their home islands of Paama and Ambrym and the family experienced the   hospitality of the islands with cultural dancing and some local food. Congratulations to Paul for his first Blue Marlin which was donated to the local villages. There was plenty of fun on board as the family enjoyed fishing for  Wahoo, Dog Tooth Tuna, Mahi Mahi and after snorkeling they bottom fished whilst dinner was being prepared. We offer Live aboard trips from April—December each year. Horizon is back to the islands in September so keep posted for more reports.