Given that this season saw only one grander weighed compared to last year when eight huge fish hit the scales, you'd be forgiven for thinking 2002 wasn't Cairns' best year in recent times. You'd also be wrong. Indeed one look at the sheer number of blacks caught makes it clearly one of the best.

Most Cairns boats caught between 70 and 90 marlin for around 60 days at sea. If you look at past figures, these averages are almost double any other year in the past decade! All in all, the 2002 season will be remembered as an absolute ripper.

NAIL BITER
Early in September, Capt Ross Finlayson on Sea Baby IV made a beeline for the Ribbon Reefs and found the edge alive with bait and marlin. Capt Luke Fallon on Assegai couldn't believe the start to his season when the first two blacks his anglers caught and tagged were both 900lbers. Capt Dean Beech on the Mauna Kea also had a great start at Lizard Island; over the first 12 days of the season his team released 26 blacks.

A good roll-up of boats for the MSC Jackpot Tournament off Cairns in late September saw plenty of action on Linden Bank, and although there were a lot of small fish about having a shot at the baits, there were also some big mummas on the prowl.

A nail-biting three-way tie resulted on the last day of this big-dollar tournament, with Capt Bill Billson's Viking II, Capt Tim Dean's Calypso and Capt Hayden Bell's Don't Ask Me all on level pegging.

Calypso had a late shot and jumped off a potential winner, then Don't Ask Me connected with a black for a shot at the cash. Only problem was, the fish they hooked was an absolute animal and the last we saw was the clouds of diesel smoke from Hayden's boat as they chased the fish over the horizon. With a 6pm cut-off back in Cairns, angler Alan Doherty had to try for a quick shot at the monster, but unfortunately the line parted in the attempt.

Viking II won the jackpot on a countback to the first fish tagged. This was the start of an unbelievable season for the crew on board Viking II.

By October, the cobalt blue currents were still pushing hard against the reef and the bite was in full swing, particularly along the Ribbons. Sea Baby IV was still working No. 10 Ribbon Reef when the team weighed the only grander for the '02 season: a 1177lb fish. Regular angler Omi Tomonori fought the giant fish for nearly an hour, and Capt Ross Finlayson said the capture was one of the most exciting he's experienced in his heavy tackle career. Toward the end of the fight, the enormous fish jumped several times on the trace, and even stretched the gaff ropes in a last-ditch aerial display.

I fished aboard Kanahoee, and the team and I had an absolute ball during our 10-day stint. The vessel's owner Paul Caughlan fought several blacks that would have all nudged the 1000lb mark. Even the run of 500-600lbers were full of spirit and fought and jumped like crazy.

LIZARD RUNS HOT
For whatever reason, the October bite was the best I have experienced for many a year, and right smack-bang in the middle of it, the Lizard Island Game Fishing Club held its Black Marlin Classic.

The radio skeds during the tournament were just awesome to listen to, and the 17 vessels entered in the event had an incredible 493 bites, hooked 338 and tagged and released 176. This is a new record for the Classic, eclipsing the 174 tagged back in 1991.

Of this massive number of blacks tagged, there were also a few real horses released - Viking II tagged an estimated 1200lber.

Bob Lowe, tournament organiser and Lizard Island Game Fishing Club President, scored a remarkable achievement on his boat, Rebel, when fellow angler Craig Newton released his first grander with one of the latest pop-up satellite tags funded by the Game Fish Association of Australia Research and Development Foundation.

Capt Matt Fallon estimated the big fish at around the 1150-1200lb mark, and it's reportedly the biggest black released to date with one of these new hi-tech tags.

The champion boat T&R went to Viking II for the second year running (as I mentioned earlier, Capt Billy Billson and his crew Justin 'Flash' Reid and James 'Stretch' Bladin were on fire). Anglers David and Daniel Bedford and Terry Qazma released 24 marlin between them to claim the trophy.

Runner-up champion boat T&R went to Coocoran, skippered by Capt Nick Brady, and solo angler Peter Teacle tagged 23 blacks. This great effort won Peter the champion angler trophy. Champion female angler went to Debbie Dobbins on the private vessel Amy Dee.

BITE SLOWS
As the October moon reached its peak, the red-hot bite fizzled dramatically, and all boats experienced a lean period. Capt Bobby Jones on Mr Bill was lucky and unlucky when he hooked a big black, but unfortunately it died before they could release it. It pulled the mothership's scales down to 950lb. Capt Jim Dalling on Reel Chase got over a dreadful run of pulled hook syndrome and started making up for lost time. Jim released a grander as well, adding to a string of other nice fish.

Capt Craig 'Sparrow' Denham on Desperado also had a great month and looked like repeating last year's 1389lb effort with another absolute monster. They hooked up off the edge of No. 4 Ribbon and the fish made all the moves of a real horse when she cruised up into the shallows before heading off to the east. The big mother never jumped at all, and 'Sparrow' only got a glimpse of a very long, thick shape when she cruised within 30-40ft of the surface. We'll never know how big it was because the line parted after an hour and a half of intense rod work.

November arrived, and everyone was expecting the marlin to come right back on the tooth again. However, some strange weather patterns developed and a northerly current set in, which kept the fishing very quiet for the first half of the month.

Our team started our November trip from Lizard Island and the trade winds pumped every day for two weeks. It was unusual conditions to say the least. It was like fishing the cool September weather when fresh southeast winds are the norm. We still raised fish every day, but the damn things were biting funny and the strike-to-capture ratio was pretty ordinary. The best day we had was three from eight, and one of those was a 900lb fish.

Capt Darren 'Biggles' Hayden on the Allure was one of three vessels fishing a combined team of American anglers. Although the bite was slow, he managed to find them a nice one around the 900lb mark to really make their long trip down under worthwhile.

ONE TO REMEMBER
As the month slipped by, the weather finally started to improve, and with it came some much better fishing. Capt Paul Whelan on the new Riviera 36 Maverick had owner Patrick Ricci out on Linden Bank when a grander climbed on one of their big baits. Patrick had a taste of heavy tackle fishing at its best, and they released the fish after a thrilling but tough battle. I'd suggest the Maverick team might be back in 2003!

As the season started to wind down in early December, the fishing remained very good and Capt Brian Felton on the Kanahoee even found a line-burning blue marlin among a string of blacks not far off the edge of the shelf.

The Calypso had a quick visit from Mr Black Watch, Graham McCloy, and they had some great fishing in calm conditions on blacks up to 800lb. Last I heard, Mr Bill tagged eight fish in three days and Don't Ask Me, Maverick and a few other private vessels were still picking up some damn nice fish as well.

For many of the regular charter vessels, it was the best ever season. And it was great to see how many marlin were released to fight another day.

Indeed, one vessel that had a brilliant season in every way was Viking II. At one stage they looked like rounding off the year with an incredible 99 marlin.

Late on the afternoon of their very last charter, the crew was winding up the baits when number 100 climbed on. When you consider the number of marlin they lost during some light tackle days, 100 fish for the season is a great achievement.