G'day Johnno

Nice coloured water, nice photos, whats that big boat in the back ground, what rigs did you hook the Sails up on & more importantly HOW did you spell the name of your boat, rumour has it you changed it, can be bad karma or just weird sense of humour, I thought it was funny, cheers Balls.

Hi Balls,

That boat in the background was just passing through the area during the comp.

All sails were hooked on Skipping Gars using of course your cork heads. Had 1 Sail take a real interest in a 600mm swimming Queenie which he proceeded to belt the p.ss and pickhandles out of but would not swap back onto the garries. Teasers were the ever reliable bird/squid daisy chain with the sails only taking an interest in the baits which swam close to the teaser lines.

As for the name change lets just say Thundastruck now sounds familiar to Gruntstruck after a renaming from you Ballsy. By the way my missus is looking to get even on that one as well.

Catch ya soon.

Cheers

Johnno

I and 2 others were keen to do the comp bufound it just to hard to justify the entry $$$

fishing cost's a lot with out the added cost of entry to a comp......just my thoughts

G'day 2 Rods

I agree, its expensive, unfortunately everything costs, then add fuel bills, new or replacement gear etc & your talking more $$$$$, Billie's are the worst $$$$$ pocket removers out of any fish I have chased, but fruck its fun when it comes together, having said that when I was at work looking out at the water during the Billie comp I know where I wanted to be. Probably on a sadder note with costs for comps it really restricts the opportunities for juniors to be involved. Hmmm might have to think of a way to get some assistance for kids on that one.

On another note good luck on your Timor trip with all of the other Forum members, I saw the add in the paper & checked it out but work committements interfered again, it should be a really good trip & an eye opener for any one who hasn't tried different styles of fishing. Hopefully not to many boats with out riggers, there a pain in the freckle to fight fish around, looking forward to the stories arising out of that trip, cheers Balls.

Hey Johnno make shore ya wave those photos in front of broksies face for me. (i asked him if he was fishing the comp)

Hey 2rods it can be cheap as chips if ya keep the distance down. Like not running to marie or flat top. First sail in darwin waters only took 100hrs.

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thats a nice fish there and great conditions ,similar to when we were out there on the Sat. .Whos was the green boat with a couple of blokes standing on the gunwhales (with canopy as support)acting as spotters,we seen them at nth gutter and again at fenton

two of my crew have had to pull out of comp and im looking for crew members comp goes from 14 to 22 nov but will be fishing for three days only wont be there for entire time just five days 2 of them travel time it is a 15 to 24 kg comp with good sails and some big marlin showing up so if you are interested let me know by next tuesday all tackle supplied .

I hear ya balls...it all costs $$$ but I would rather a comp like the blue water classsic...(but better organised) cheap to enter and relaxed.

IF juniors were free I would get 1 rod in there in a flash....I know I would even have a deckie or 2 willing to help him....I would drive all day to see him land a sail


It is hard to justify $450.00 per person for a shirt a hat and a feed....for us adults

G'day 2 Rods

I did a double check on the entry fee as $450 didn't sound right, it was $350.00 & 10% refund on fuel, its still a lot of duscha, but the costs aren't just for the shirts, hat & a feed, advertising, equipment hire etc all impact on the fee which impact on the comp running at a loss for the club due to lack of numbers.

On the kids, I was thinking more of subsidized entry fee to encourage more kids to get involved, may look at businesses in that area & or government agencies to support subsidizing juniors, keep them off the street & in a healthy environment.

The junior classics have been an eye opener for me on the number of people who won't take their own kids fishing & I don't mean the Classic competitors, I won't get into that as I find it pretty ordinary.

Hope to see a photo of 1 Rod with his first Bille & the proud 2 Rods beside him. My daughter Montanna wrote a poem about fiishing which made me proud, the last line was based on it didn't really matter whether a fish was caught, it was time spent with her Dad, that said it all for me, cheers Balls.

Think you might need to review your comp structure if your running at a loss every year.
Our local comp runs around 30 teams and turns a profit every year.
Good trophys and prizes including Tiagras, Toriums, Saltists etc....

G'day Dodgyone

Thats what I said further up the page, we need about 30 teams to make it viable, just out of curiousity what club are you in & what comp do you run, our main focus is the NT Barra Classic, hope to keep the Billfish comp running & improve each year, cheers Balls.

Im a member of the Port Hedland Gamefishing Club. We couldnt run a comp of that size based on entry fees alone. Sponsorship plays a huge part and sponsors have to see the value of their cash for them to back up again year after year. Im sure you know all that stuff running the Classic.

Fortunately we have done well enough for it to be worth offering a second comp for the year. Being the first year we are hoping to get enough attention for it to be able to stand on its own feet for years to come.

2009 PilBarra Tournament will be ran for the first time 28th,29th of this month out of Port Hedland. Hopefully a few of the Karratha boys come up and have a crack.

G'day Dodgyone

No worries, some great fishos out of those areas, a few fish the Classic, very good anglers & great blokes to boot. The first few years I fished the Broome comp about 15 years ago a few of the teams were from Port Headland & Karratha used to fish it every year, can't recall the team details, but they were good fishos & good blokes, you should have a good comp, hopefully the weathers good. Will you have a link to view the comp as it progresses, cheers Balls.

I thought I would put in my 2 cents worth in the post tournament comments.
We had a great time out on the bluewater for 3 days. We had great baits,
great teasers and were in the right areas for billies, but if the fish don't wanna play the game....that's fishing.
I think Debbie,Leigh, and the DGFC did a fantasic job with putting on another Billfish tournament. The entry fee of $350.00 has attached a few comments.
I note that the Broome tournament this year was $300.00. In the past we have travelled to Broome for a least 6 tournaments. That adds up to a fair
bit out of the "ol back pocket when you take into account travel time, fuel and accommodation. When I run the Billfish tournaments off Darwin on behalf of the DGFC from 1991 to 1994, the entry fee then was $275.00 per angler and that was 15 years ago!
If anyone thinks that $350.00 is a bit steep, put $10.00 away each week and you'll have $520.00 next year to play with.
We had two juniors fishing on our boat this year (The father/son rule!) and they are both saving out of their own pockets for next years tournament! (their idea, they don't wanna miss the next one)
I'm looking forward to the Tournament wrap up and competitors survey
as the only comment I would like to make is the Presentation Night be held after a days break. A relaxing Sunday arvo around the Casino pool having a BBQ could have been a option for this years comp.
I have also read the comments on the great teaser debate, I have seen teasers made from beer cans, A hose reel for a wave walker, and even a Barbie doll on a mini surfboard (Billfish Barbie). So,what ever YOU are happy with, go for it!
Peter Pakula came up for a seminar for one of the Billie comps in the nineties and I remember him saying that if the angler is not happy with the lure/bait that is out the back of the boat, that angler will not get a strike. It must have a bit to do with Karma, if your excited and happy with what your presenting to the fish, your chances of a hook up increase 10 fold.
We're heading out to the Pinnicales Sat and Sunday for another shot at the billies. With a bit of luck we might see one, or even better, catch one.
That doesn't make much sense to someone that doesn't fish.
Tight Lines

Thu Jul 29, 2010 4:05 pm Post subject:
Hi All,
Balls,
I'm sorry to say it mate but I'm yet another bloke to put my hand up and say that I'm not able to justify the dollars to fish the Billie Comp, despite being more than keen to do so.

To explain why I need to point out a few things to put the entry fee costs in perspective. Firstly like alot of the guys out there that do bill fish it costs me to do it, thats a given, unlike alot of the guys my costs are fairly reasonable at a basic level for example an average trip comes in at pretty close to $100 a day for me. So if I am to fish the comp my minimum cost would be me and Mrs. DB @ $350 a head plus $300 to run the show for three days minus about $15 for the fuel rebate

So there you have it, close enough to $1000 for the comp with only two crew because I already asked my regular deckie and his reply doesn't
bear repeating so he's out anyway. And my running costs are VERY LOW.

Put in perspective $1000 is 10 days fishing or will get me enough fuel to tow the boat to Broome and back with change to spare.

Not trying to tell anyone how to suck eggs but maybe the Darwin GFC needs to think about what they are trying to achieve here. By this I mean who is your target audience? Is the DGFC catering to local crews or trying to bring in interstate anglers? Because what needs to be realised is that most years there just aren't enough fish in the surrounding area to attract a many interstate crews when they have Broome and Cairns firing around the same time. If you are trying to attract local crews I can tell you right now the entry fee is too much. Yes I know, you have stated that it all costs money and you can't run at a loss, well I'm here to tell you if you keep going the way you are that's exactly what will happen especially when the fishing from the last comp didn't exactly set the world on fire.

Maybe the question needs to be asked "Why exactly do people want to fish a Billfish Tournament?" Well here's an answer for you, to meet and fish with a group of like minded people and perhaps gain the cudos that comes with winning or being runner-up in said tournament. There may be the odd mercenary dick that wants the cash but I am willing to bet for most entrants it's a nice thought but not why they are there. So with this in mind here's the next question "Why would people want to fish OUR tournament" if you halved the prize money for each category and brought the entry fee down to say, $200 I am willing to bet you would get alot more local teams entering, if this was the case I would be the first in line with a team of 3 (the deckie muttered something about $200 being a fair thing). Now, if you wanted to get interstate anglers in how about making the entry fee $150 (ie. $50 a day) based on 4 anglers(so you are receiving $600 per boat in entry fees) and approaching local guides to make a fixture of the comp as part of their charter packages for the year and promoting it on their websites, I can't talk for the guides here but surely the enticement for them would be to have the structure of the comp to base a three day trip around with the bonus that they can run it out of town and be home with their families of an evening for a change. The enticement for interstate anglers then becomes the fact that they can fish a Billfish comp in the tropics in (hopefully) calm weather as part of a team without the logistical nightmares usually involved.

Just some food for thought from the perspective of someone who would fish the comp if it was more financially justifiable.
Cheers,
John.