This year’s Rumbly Bay fishing competition kicked off on the 22nd of October at Miller’s Point and was once again successfully and accommodatingly hosted by Cape Boat and Skiboat Club. Nick Gloyn Jones gave us some insider info as to what went down at the prestigious event.
The opening function commenced on the 22nd with a well-attended buffet of delicious snacks provided by the club. Due to the new format which decrees that each team fishes off their own boat, there was no boat draw stretching into the small hours and anglers were afforded the opportunity to get a good night’s rest before the big first day of fishing.
At 06h30 on the morning of the 23rd, 12 teams consisting of 36 determined anglers set off from Cape Boat and Skiboat Club. The weather wasn’t particularly sympathetic to the fleet of fishermen as a nasty 15-knot South- Easter threatened to ruin a good day of fishing and got even nastier around noon as it picked up to 22 knots, kicking up a swell of around 2.7 metres. The fleet of dogged anglers wasn’t to be deterred, though, and at the end of the day, despite a very bumpy ride in, a good amount of decent-sized tuna was hauled to the scales.
Nick took part in the competition as part of Team CBSC 4 (aboard Fish Tales). He was to be the only experienced hand on board as his three teammates were all novices in the tuna game – a developmental team of sorts. Nevertheless, his experience was seemingly a telling factor as he ended up leading his team to a podium finish.
Nick, fishing off the 20 ft Fish Tales set the trend for the rest of his crew when he landed a 79.55 kg Yellowfin after an hour’s battle. He boated the beauty at around 09h30, trolling behind a stern trawler and using the New Trail purple lure to entice the big tuna. Nick says the rod that did the job on this particular fish was a Profile Tuna Stopper with an Avet 30w reel and 30 lb IGFA monofilament.
However, his fish, although coming close to the 80 kg mark for which Honda Marine would award a stunning boat prize, just fell short and was bested by Nish Ibrahim’s 80.8 kg monster. Team Pedsac also enjoyed a prolific first day as they turned in four healthy Yellowfin, two of which were caught by Michele Zoonekynd and weighed in at 69 kg and 64 kg respectively. Nina Daniels also got in on the Yellowfin action, landing a nice 65 kg specimen for Team FBYC 2.
