Well what a season it was. It was the third good year in a row; 2001 was noted
for the number of Granders caught, with the biggest fish being 1388lb; 2002 was
notable for the sheer number of fish although a lot were small which reduced
hookup rates. In 2003 we got it all --- Lots of Big Fish.
What was unusual was that the fish stayed on #10 Ribbon Reef until mid/late
November and there wasn't much happening in the Middle Ribbons or on the Linden
Bank during this period. The fishing at #10 was so good that at one point I
counted 34 boats fishing between "The Marks" and the bottom of #10. This was
almost the entire fleet!
The location of the fish led to us doing most turnarounds/reprovisions at
Cooktown. Cooktown is 2hrs planing from the bottom of #10 at the northern end
of our fishing area, and 2hrs from the top of Escape Reef in the south.
Cooktown turnarounds certainly provide the flexibility to go either north or
south to wherever the fish are.
The Lizard Island Tournament was an outstanding success; 29 boats; 478 strikes;
319 hookups; 157 tags and one weighed at 1246lb. Perhaps most indicative of the
quality of the fish was 700 to 900lbs 27 tags and 900 to 1100 23 tags. There is
simply no other fishery in the world that can produce those sorts of results
from 29 boats in a 7 day Tournament.
