Tournaments

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.

 The Port Vila Game Fishing Club held its annual 3 Species tournament on the 20th of July. Only a few vessels entered this tournament but we had a great day out on the water. Reel Capture ventured up to Monument Rock and Mataso after a 4am start! Fishing was aimed at targeting three species with line classes from 1kg—24Kg. This may sound easy but try catching one that qualifies! We managed to hook quite allot of fish on light line either to be broken off or they just fell off! After the end of the day, nobody won the tournament as no fish qualified at the way in but a great time was had by all.  

The Vanuatu Marlin Classic was held from the 8th - 14th June 2008 and Crusoe Fishing Adventures had five teams entered fishing from all three of our vessels. There was a total of seventeen teams entered this year and the weather was a little ordinary. Nevagivup Team B, skippered by Charles Wheeler, managed to hook four marlin for the three days fishing with Chris on a nice Blue around the 350lb mark on 30pd for 21/2 hours only to have the hooks pull at the back of the boat.

Reel Capture Team A who consisted of Tim, Leanne and Travis and skippered by Fred Temminck, managed to tag and release a small Blue Marlin on 50lb line to take out third place. The fish was caught by Travis Auton and this was his first marlin. There was only one fish caught for 1st and 2nd place but they were on 30lb line. Plenty of fish were lost and seen and once again it was a fantastic tournament.

If you would like to fish the tournament next year, you better get in quick as we have bookings already!

 May saw our team head off to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to fish the Rolex IGFA World Championships. This year 63 teams were entered. Our team was Grant, Chris, Michelle, Fred and John. We were all excited as Fred and I had fished this tournament before and with all of our tackle well prepared, we only needed the fish to co-operate. Fishing the four days in this tournament is a great experience as we saw 50-60 Striped Marlin a day and they proved hard to catch. With plenty of baits pitched to tailor’s, they just weren’t interested, which makes for very frustrating fishing. We managed to release 3 Striped Marlin for points and lost a couple at the back of the boat. Chris and John ended up with their first Striped Marlin release which was a great effort. With the Vanuatu Marlin Classic just around the corner, all of our teams are fighting for the title once again to head over to Cabo San Lucas next year! 

Don’t think its too late to fish the VMC as we still have one team still open on Horizon. There is also one spot left on Team A on Horizon. So want to fish for some great prizes, meet some great people who like to have fun, then don’t hesitate to send us an email to secure your team or spot.  

REEL CAPTURE TAKES OUT EASTER TOURNAMENT 2008

Five boats fished the Tusker Easter Tournament which was held from Havanna Harbour and was fished on Saturday and Sunday. This tournament is 6Kg and under and anglers are put to the test to fish light tackle. The other aim of the tournament is to fish grounds that we don’t often get to. Nevagivup and Reel Capture headed up on Friday afternoon to make our run shorter on the Saturday morning.

The plan for Saturday morning was to head to Nguna with reports of plenty of bait and action up there in the lead up to the tournament. After cease fishing on Saturday, Reel Capture who had Fred and Michelle, Gary and Ingrid on board, had landed a couple of nice Dog Tooth Tuna on 4kg, a Wahoo on 6kg to Michelle which was a new Vanuatu record and some Skip Jack Tuna. The fishing was quite hot on the Saturday with tailing Sailfish in the area as well. Reel Capture raised three Sails to no avail. Results after Saturday had Reel Capture in the lead, followed by Half Cut, V-Factor and Nevagivup. Paul fishing aboard Nevagivup landed a nice 2.4Kg Skip Jack on 2Kg line class which was also a new Vanuatu record.

Sunday sore the weather a little calmer as well and also the fishing was allot slower as it was the day after the full moon. Sunday was also a shorter fishing day with cease fishing at 12pm. Reel Capture landed another nice 17.6Kg Wahoo on 6kg line to Michelle (who broke her record from the day before) and a nice Yellowfin Tuna on 4kg to Gary. After hearing the scheds during the day, we knew that we had the comp in the bag. With 1 1/2hours left until cease fishing, Fred decided to head out wide to try and catch a Marlin on 6kg line. We stumbled across quite a few birds working and as soon as we started working the area we hooked a nice Blue Marlin on 6kg, only to have him fall off! The gear went back into the water and 5 minutes later we hooked another small Blue only to have him also fall off. Cease fishing was called and we didn’t want to leave the fish but had to head back to Havanna Harbour to weigh our fish in.

The final results of the tournament were;

Best Angler                              Michelle Temminck

Best Boat                                  Reel Capture

Most Meritorious Capture           Fred Temminck

Best Capture                            Fred Temminck

Second Place                             Half Cut

Third Place                                Nevagivup

All in all it was a fantastic weekend away with plenty of laughs and of course too many beers! This is the second year running that Reel Capture has won this tournament and we are looking forward to next Easter already!

If you are interested in fishing the VMC in June, you better get in quick to secure either a spot or a boat. Nevagivup and Reel Capture are fully booked and Horizon is still available.  So drop us an email to secure your spot.  For more information on the tournament go to www.vanuatumarlinclassic.com

NEVAGIVUP AND REEL CAPTURE - 1ST AND 2ND PLACE!

The 2007 PVGFC Tusker Game Fish Classic was held out of Port Vila on the 10th & 11th November 2007. There were 13 boats in total and the weather conditions were not so pleasant on the Saturday morning but the seas abated for Sunday’s fishing.

There were around 20 Blue Marlin hooked during the tournament and the aim of the tournament was to promote the skill of light tackle for all pelagics. The line class category was from 4kg-60Kg with points awarded accordingly.

Nevagivup tagged and released a Blue Marlin on Saturday on 15Kg line for maximum points on Marlin to Gayle McPhee and another Blue Marlin was tagged by Russ Housby (deck hand and his first Marlin) after there double hook up. Both fish were on 15Kg line and this was a great effort and unfortunately, Gayle’s fish was the only one that was eligible for points. This had Nevagivup sitting on 1500 Points.

Reel Capture also tagged and released a Blue Marlin on Saturday on 24Kg line for 1,000 points for Greg Procter. Greg also landed a nice Mahi Mahi on 24Kg line as well.

The round up for the Saturday afternoon was Nevagivup and Reel Capture on top of the leader board. Sunday morning saw a very hot bite of marlin around Devils FAD and there were plenty of fish hooked and lost. Reel Capture lost a nice Marlin on 15Kg after a one hour fight after pulling the hooks at the side of the boat! Nevagivup also lost a Marlin on 15Kg as well! So the end result was there being no Marlin tagged on the Sunday.

So the wash up of the tournament was 1st place - Nevagivup skippered by Charles Wheeler 2nd place - Reel Capture skippered by Fred Temminck and 3rd place - Lucky Jack. Reel Capture secured 2nd place with their weighed Mahi Mahi!

Congratulations to Gayle McPhee for cleaning up the prize pool and also to Greg with his 1st place Mahi Mahi and runner- up angler prizes.

Just another notch in the Crusoe Fishing Camp! Well done guys!

REEL CAPTURE TAKES OUT THE VANUATU TUSKER EASTER CHALLENGE

During the Easter break, 12 boats ventured out for a weekend of fun and light tackle fishing. Light tackle fishing is not common in Port Vila so the Port Vila Game Fishing Club hosts this annual event to promote this style of fishing. The target species for the weekend are all pelagic species.

Fred Temminck along with his wife Michelle with friends Paul and Shane headed off early Saturday morning and headed to Tuk Tuk fad and the Marlin Highway, crazy we know with fishing with 4kg and 6kg line class. The possibility of being blown away by a big Blue Marlin was always in the back of our minds. The morning was quite to what we are use to but Fred managed to land a new Vanuatu record on 4kg with a nice 6.6Kg Mahi Mahi.

After cease fishing was called, the fleet headed back into Havanna Harbour to join up for a swim, good feed and of course a few coldies. That night we encountered 2 Metres of rain! So to say that we were wet was an understatement.

Sunday morning we ventured further north to an Island called Nguna. The fish were not on the chew the day before but the Wahoo sure did make up for it. Sunday was only a half day of fishing and Reel Capture managed 7 Wahoo strikes, landed 5 and Fred did it again with another Vanuatu Record! This time it was a nice 10.2Kg Wahoo on 4Kg line class.

After cease fishing was called, there were a couple of boats very close to us in the point scores, so we had to wait for the weigh in. At the end of it all, Reel Capture took out Champion Boat, Champion Angler and also Best Capture.

I must say that this was indeed a fun tournament held out of a beautiful place, I cannot wait to fish it next year!