Author: Bill Billson and Nathan Ghosn
Photography: John Ford, Tim Simpson, Dean Buters, Ray Alley Photographics, Janice Eggins and Darren Peak

The New South Wales Game Fishing Association's Port Stephens Interclub is a crucible where the cream of Australian east coast game anglers mix with a massive influx of newcomers, regulars, and spectators. It's a scene where new 'toys' are shown off and new strategies and plans are put into effect. It's also a place and time in which a lot of very good fish are caught.

The event is always held over two weekends: the last weekend of February and the first weekend of March. This is smack in the middle of peak season for the mid-NSW coast and the area's extensive reef structure, ocean current deviation point (Seal Rocks), healthy demersal and baitfish stocks, and a series of islands ensures that the fishing action is usually spectacular. The fact that the event is conducted over two adjoining weekends allows for weather to spoil one weekend, but rarely the whole tournament.

This year, the Toyota 2006 Interclub Tournament was graced with four days of reasonably comfortable seas and was even spared the effect of some frightening weather that occurred a few days before the second weekend just a few hundred kilometers to the north.

The tournament is called the Interclub because it was set up in 1963 as a friendly competition and get-together between the various clubs within the state. It still focuses on the battle between the clubs for the title of Champion. There are many other categories within the tournament, which are also fiercely contested. Each club enters teams comprised of five boats.

These compete amongst each other for the title of Champion Team. Then there are awards for Champion Boat and Champion Angler and so on. In all, there are 36 main trophies awarded at the end of the event, plus daily awards.

The tournament (and NSW general club gamefishing) is split into two entirely separate divisions. One is Capture, which awards points according to the merit of the capture, based on the ratio of line class strength to fish weight. It encompasses all eligible fish that are actually brought in and weighed. The other division is Tag and Release, which awards a separate pointscore for all fish released with an authorized research tag. In this division, line class - and therefore angler skill - is not taken into consideration. It is purely an equation of the number of fish caught. Because of this, many anglers who feel the sport is based on angler skill and not just numbers of fish are staunch supporters of the Capture division, even when they would much prefer to tag and release a large proportion of their qualifying but less than exceptional fish. Anglers are permitted to (and do) enter fish in both divisions but, since splitting your points into two completely separate competitions obviously decreases your effectiveness, most teams with a desire to win a division are forced to polarize their efforts into one or the other.

Regardless of controversies, the event is always a huge success. Anglers and supporting family members return year after year to join in the fun and festivities of the occasion. Even the locals see it as a major cultural spectacular. Each day of the event, huge crowds lined the shore to watch the procession of spectacular boats and huge fish. Many brought deckchairs and parked beneath the shoreline trees for hours on end to watch the sights and enjoy the commentary. Some were often still there, watching well into the night as the last of the boats returned home with a monster fish to weigh. Despite rumored protests by animal rights activists, the crowd this and all previous years has enthusiastically joined in and eagerly awaited a big fish turning up. In fact, several members of the public have complained each year that the swing to tag and release means that they get to see far fewer fish these days!

Steve Starling was the commentator on the weighstation/processing centre this year. He did a magnificent job, explaining to the general public the aims and ethics of gamefishing, the valuable scientific research being conducted on the fish brought in, and pointing out the fascinating attributes of the magnificent fish displayed. It was all very well received by the community.

This year, 930 anglers aboard 221 boats fished the tournament. The final tally showed 20 marlin were weighed in. Most of these were donated by the anglers to the local bible college, which gratefully received the fish to feed the students over many months. A further 278 marlin were released with research tags. Sixteen sharks were weighed and a further 16 tagged. Twelve tuna and other gamefish were weighed and 169 were tagged and released.

The Champion Team - Tag and Release was Newcastle and Port Stephens Team 1, comprising: Billistic, Born Free, Di-Da-Ke, Viking II and Calypso. Champion Team - Capture was Broken Bay Team 1, comprising: Avanti, Bravo, Rampage, Nakia and Ruckus. The Champion Boat - Tag and Release was Viking II and the Champion Boat - Capture went to Rampage. The heaviest marlin was a blue weighing 181.5kg caught by Janice Eggins aboard Athaldo. The heaviest shark was a tiger of 395.5kg caught by Adam Kirk aboard Ruckus.

At the close of the tournament there were the winners, the 'If only' stories, and the musings of those that didn't quite get it all together this time. Most were already constructing new strategies and making plans to get back to Port next year - it really is the highlight of the region's gamefishing year.

The New South Wales Game Fishing Association's Port Stephens Interclub is a crucible where the cream of Australian east coast game anglers mix with a massive influx of newcomers, regulars, and spectators. It's a scene where new 'toys' are shown off and new strategies and plans are put into effect. It's also a place and time in which a lot of very good fish are caught.

The event is always held over two weekends: the last weekend of February and the first weekend of March. This is smack in the middle of peak season for the mid-NSW coast and the area's extensive reef structure, ocean current deviation point (Seal Rocks), healthy demersal and baitfish stocks, and a series of islands ensures that the fishing action is usually spectacular. The fact that the event is conducted over two adjoining weekends allows for weather to spoil one weekend, but rarely the whole tournament.

This year, the Toyota 2006 Interclub Tournament was graced with four days of reasonably comfortable seas and was even spared the effect of some frightening weather that occurred a few days before the second weekend just a few hundred kilometers to the north.

The tournament is called the Interclub because it was set up in 1963 as a friendly competition and get-together between the various clubs within the state. It still focuses on the battle between the clubs for the title of Champion. There are many other categories within the tournament, which are also fiercely contested. Each club enters teams comprised of five boats.

These compete amongst each other for the title of Champion Team. Then there are awards for Champion Boat and Champion Angler and so on. In all, there are 36 main trophies awarded at the end of the event, plus daily awards.

The tournament (and NSW general club gamefishing) is split into two entirely separate divisions. One is Capture, which awards points according to the merit of the capture, based on the ratio of line class strength to fish weight. It encompasses all eligible fish that are actually brought in and weighed. The other division is Tag and Release, which awards a separate pointscore for all fish released with an authorized research tag. In this division, line class - and therefore angler skill - is not taken into consideration. It is purely an equation of the number of fish caught. Because of this, many anglers who feel the sport is based on angler skill and not just numbers of fish are staunch supporters of the Capture division, even when they would much prefer to tag and release a large proportion of their qualifying but less than exceptional fish. Anglers are permitted to (and do) enter fish in both divisions but, since splitting your points into two completely separate competitions obviously decreases your effectiveness, most teams with a desire to win a division are forced to polarize their efforts into one or the other.

Regardless of controversies, the event is always a huge success. Anglers and supporting family members return year after year to join in the fun and festivities of the occasion. Even the locals see it as a major cultural spectacular. Each day of the event, huge crowds lined the shore to watch the procession of spectacular boats and huge fish. Many brought deckchairs and parked beneath the shoreline trees for hours on end to watch the sights and enjoy the commentary. Some were often still there, watching well into the night as the last of the boats returned home with a monster fish to weigh. Despite rumored protests by animal rights activists, the crowd this and all previous years has enthusiastically joined in and eagerly awaited a big fish turning up. In fact, several members of the public have complained each year that the swing to tag and release means that they get to see far fewer fish these days!

Steve Starling was the commentator on the weighstation/processing centre this year. He did a magnificent job, explaining to the general public the aims and ethics of gamefishing, the valuable scientific research being conducted on the fish brought in, and pointing out the fascinating attributes of the magnificent fish displayed. It was all very well received by the community.

This year, 930 anglers aboard 221 boats fished the tournament. The final tally showed 20 marlin were weighed in. Most of these were donated by the anglers to the local bible college, which gratefully received the fish to feed the students over many months. A further 278 marlin were released with research tags. Sixteen sharks were weighed and a further 16 tagged. Twelve tuna and other gamefish were weighed and 169 were tagged and released.

The Champion Team - Tag and Release was Newcastle and Port Stephens Team 1, comprising: Billistic, Born Free, Di-Da-Ke, Viking II and Calypso. Champion Team - Capture was Broken Bay Team 1, comprising: Avanti, Bravo, Rampage, Nakia and Ruckus. The Champion Boat - Tag and Release was Viking II and the Champion Boat - Capture went to Rampage. The heaviest marlin was a blue weighing 181.5kg caught by Janice Eggins aboard Athaldo. The heaviest shark was a tiger of 395.5kg caught by Adam Kirk aboard Ruckus.

At the close of the tournament there were the winners, the 'If only' stories, and the musings of those that didn't quite get it all together this time. Most were already constructing new strategies and making plans to get back to Port next year - it really is the highlight of the region's gamefishing year.

The New South Wales Game Fishing Association's Port Stephens Interclub is a crucible where the cream of Australian east coast game anglers mix with a massive influx of newcomers, regulars, and spectators. It's a scene where new 'toys' are shown off and new strategies and plans are put into effect. It's also a place and time in which a lot of very good fish are caught.

The event is always held over two weekends: the last weekend of February and the first weekend of March. This is smack in the middle of peak season for the mid-NSW coast and the area's extensive reef structure, ocean current deviation point (Seal Rocks), healthy demersal and baitfish stocks, and a series of islands ensures that the fishing action is usually spectacular. The fact that the event is conducted over two adjoining weekends allows for weather to spoil one weekend, but rarely the whole tournament.

This year, the Toyota 2006 Interclub Tournament was graced with four days of reasonably comfortable seas and was even spared the effect of some frightening weather that occurred a few days before the second weekend just a few hundred kilometers to the north.

The tournament is called the Interclub because it was set up in 1963 as a friendly competition and get-together between the various clubs within the state. It still focuses on the battle between the clubs for the title of Champion. There are many other categories within the tournament, which are also fiercely contested. Each club enters teams comprised of five boats.

These compete amongst each other for the title of Champion Team. Then there are awards for Champion Boat and Champion Angler and so on. In all, there are 36 main trophies awarded at the end of the event, plus daily awards.

The tournament (and NSW general club gamefishing) is split into two entirely separate divisions. One is Capture, which awards points according to the merit of the capture, based on the ratio of line class strength to fish weight. It encompasses all eligible fish that are actually brought in and weighed. The other division is Tag and Release, which awards a separate pointscore for all fish released with an authorized research tag. In this division, line class - and therefore angler skill - is not taken into consideration. It is purely an equation of the number of fish caught. Because of this, many anglers who feel the sport is based on angler skill and not just numbers of fish are staunch supporters of the Capture division, even when they would much prefer to tag and release a large proportion of their qualifying but less than exceptional fish. Anglers are permitted to (and do) enter fish in both divisions but, since splitting your points into two completely separate competitions obviously decreases your effectiveness, most teams with a desire to win a division are forced to polarize their efforts into one or the other.

Regardless of controversies, the event is always a huge success. Anglers and supporting family members return year after year to join in the fun and festivities of the occasion. Even the locals see it as a major cultural spectacular. Each day of the event, huge crowds lined the shore to watch the procession of spectacular boats and huge fish. Many brought deckchairs and parked beneath the shoreline trees for hours on end to watch the sights and enjoy the commentary. Some were often still there, watching well into the night as the last of the boats returned home with a monster fish to weigh. Despite rumored protests by animal rights activists, the crowd this and all previous years has enthusiastically joined in and eagerly awaited a big fish turning up. In fact, several members of the public have complained each year that the swing to tag and release means that they get to see far fewer fish these days!

Steve Starling was the commentator on the weighstation/processing centre this year. He did a magnificent job, explaining to the general public the aims and ethics of gamefishing, the valuable scientific research being conducted on the fish brought in, and pointing out the fascinating attributes of the magnificent fish displayed. It was all very well received by the community.

This year, 930 anglers aboard 221 boats fished the tournament. The final tally showed 20 marlin were weighed in. Most of these were donated by the anglers to the local bible college, which gratefully received the fish to feed the students over many months. A further 278 marlin were released with research tags. Sixteen sharks were weighed and a further 16 tagged. Twelve tuna and other gamefish were weighed and 169 were tagged and released.

The Champion Team - Tag and Release was Newcastle and Port Stephens Team 1, comprising: Billistic, Born Free, Di-Da-Ke, Viking II and Calypso. Champion Team - Capture was Broken Bay Team 1, comprising: Avanti, Bravo, Rampage, Nakia and Ruckus. The Champion Boat - Tag and Release was Viking II and the Champion Boat - Capture went to Rampage. The heaviest marlin was a blue weighing 181.5kg caught by Janice Eggins aboard Athaldo. The heaviest shark was a tiger of 395.5kg caught by Adam Kirk aboard Ruckus.

At the close of the tournament there were the winners, the 'If only' stories, and the musings of those that didn't quite get it all together this time. Most were already constructing new strategies and making plans to get back to Port next year - it really is the highlight of the region's gamefishing year.