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Black Bass 2011 Invitational Fishing Comp has been run & won
 Some very good catches were had by one boat particularly, that being Black Tracker skippered by none other
than Mark Hore & his side kick Robbo (Stuart Robinson).
Mark weighed in a great catch. A Papuan Black Bass of 9.22kg on 6kg line! Anyone who has fished for these
beasts can testify on how difficult they are to catch even close to line class. Not to be outdone was Robbo with a
117cm Barra on 6kg line as well. This fish was estimated at 19.65kg. Robbo being the gentleman that he is put a
lot of effort into releasing this old girl, from all accounts it took near 1/2hr to get her in shape for release. Well
done Robbo. Mark won a Gold Coast Custom Rod that will be the envy of all fisho's. In passing we would like to
thank Peter from Gold Coast Custom Rods for his support. We missed him this year round due to illness. We
all hope ya get better Peter & look forward to seeing you next year. If you're after a special river rod for Jacks,
Barra or Black Bass Gold Coast Custom Rods are the go, give Peter a call & I'm sure he will help you out.
Only 6 Black Bass were weighed in. Most of these fish came from the Laloki River area. The big push up tide
slowed things down current wise & on the turn the few fish that were about caused their usual panic on boats.
Grassy Creek (or Vanapa River now) was one area that produced 5 Bass. The Bass in this section of the Reach
usually produces Bass to around 10kg. This year they were down to 6-8kg. The top end of the Reach did
produce Bass but only juveniles.
| Score Sheet |
| Heaviest Black Bass | Mark Hore 9.22kg on 6kg line for 338.07 points |
| Runner up Heaviest Black Bass | Rob Doyle 7.82kg on 15kg line for 114.69 points |
| Highest point Scoring Black | Bass Rob Doyle 6.24kg on 10kg line for 137.28 points |
| Runner up Highest Point Scoring Black Bass | Rob Doyle 6.16kg on 10kg line for 135.52 points |
| Champion Angler | Rob Doyle with a total of 387.49 points |
| Committees Choice | Stuart Robinson with an estimated 19.65kg Barra for 491 points |
 A special mention to Mr Paul McLaren who caught 2 Black Bass at 5.08 & 7.22 both on 15kg line. These fish are
the first to be caught on Albert Tans new boat "cross dresser".
Now for the NAFA stories and there were a few around this trip.
The "popular" winner was Craig Burrows on Spel Check. According to "others" Mr Burrows turned up on Sunday
looking the worse for wear & advised all & sundry that he hadn't been to sleep since Friday morning. With Jakey
Burrows on board all was set to go eventually. But as luck would have it the battery was down & not kicking the
motor over well. Word went out around the ramp for anyone with battery leads & or a spare battery. As luck
would have it Guy Lamont was around & put up his hand to walk up the hill back to his truck to get his set of
jumper leads. Unbeknown to Guy, Robbo gave Craig some instructions in between times on priming his fuel
leads & after a few more attempts the motor kicked into life.
Robbo advised Craig to get going as Guy wasn't going to be happy when he got back & it would be very
uncomfortable fishing all day long with those leads stuck up were the sun don't shine. Craig being Craig was very
happy to take the advice & left just as Guy got to the ramp with leads in hand.
Lynn copped some fish abuse & a black eye to help things along when posing for a photo. The 10kg Flowery
Cod she was holding slapped her in the face for her troubles. She put on a brave face at the presentation on
Tuesday & looked beautiful as ever. Amazing what makeup can do to cover up fish abuse!
Albert decided to push his new boat "cross dresser" around the Reach. He got "sucked" into a creek looking for a
lost lure. How you get "sucked" into a creek is beyond me. He also decided to cross over in the Laloki & put the
boat up on sand bank. So out he gets again to push his guests around. That's one way to keep the miles off that
90hp Etec motor as well Albert.
 BC got a mention this comp with two broken rods. This left him with a 3kg stick to catch Bass with. His first rod
had a tip rap & a snag in current all at once. The outcome is that 5cm is now missing. The next rod was just bad
luck as the tip "just fell off". BC's guest was Brad Trevor or "prodder" to his mates, old prodder couldn't catch a
breeze poor bugger & he came all the way from Brisbane to catch a trophy fish. They didn't get in the swing of
things & had a nil score card.
Rob Doyle was cursed again (through no fault of his own may I add)
- Snap swivel not done up correctly resulting in a straightened snap after a Bass hit it on the first pass on
Sunday morning.
- Chris Hagan's boat knife was "accidentally" thrown over board when trying to cut a lure off in very heavy
current
- Re tying the line after this incident, Chris was kind enough to lend his braid scissors to Rob, well they
fell apart on the first go & are not repairable
- Being the gentleman that Rob is he took over the tiller so Chris could try & get on the score board only
to have the throttle go bugger up on his Merc motor.
The next comp is the SBS Electrical Overnight Comp to be held on the 3rd & 4th of September. This is a great
comp & is bait only & open to our usual line classes. From all reports there are plenty of Fingermark & Grunter
around. So make the effort & get on the water.
The following comp after the SBS overnighter is the Boroko Motors Barra Comp. There has been a huge amount
of Barra being caught in the last 6 months & this comp is looking to be the best in many years. So start planning
ladies & gentlemen.
Happy Fishing
Captain Jack
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