And the webster goes to...

The 2005 Trailer Boat Fishing Tournament held at Nelson Bay on March 18–20 continued the tradition of past events - it was an overwhelming success with a massive turnout of boats and anglers. The prize pool was considerably up from last year with sponsors donating more than $100,000 worth of products to be given away as prizes to both the lucky and the skilful.

As has been the custom, D'albora Marina was the focus for competitors and spectators with a huge tally board in pride of place to keep everyone up to date with who was hauling in the big and the not-so-big fish.

There's no doubting that it's a huge tournament for anglers young and old. There were 478 boats entered with 1277 seniors and 107 junior anglers taking part. Of these, 45 per cent were first-timers while 34 per cent had competed on three or more occasions.

It wasn't only the more successful anglers that picked up prizes. The structure of the event allows even the most unfortunate fisho (and we all have those days) the chance to walk away with a prize through lucky number draws in which every entrant has an equal prospect of winning.

The major prize was a Webster's Twinfisher fully kitted out with Mercury outboard, Lowrance sounder, trailer and many extras, while the second prize was a week in Tonga at Hakula Lodge with Polynesian Airlines transfers.

The only dark cloud was Mother Nature's: a gigantic grey and black one in the heavens literally overshadowed the event for the majority of the three days.

While there was little in the way of precipitation, unsettled weather in the days preceding the event ensured that there were plenty of swells and choppy seas for the occasion.

From Friday's opening day (when the worst conditions were flung on the fishermen and women), the question on everyone's lips was: "what's the bloody weather going to do?"

Conditions on the opening day were so rough-and-tumble that very few boaties even ventured past the heads to the deep blue, preferring to stick to the relative calm of Nelson Bay.

Some brave souls ignored the weather and headed out for the three days between Broughton Island while others went north to Seal Rocks and beyond. The enterprise of a few was well-rewarded, with one boat in particular claiming some big ones that definitely didn't get away (see separate panel story).

For the majority of competitors, though, the harbour was the best option with a surprising array of fish being brought into the weigh station including an 18kg mulloway and three tuna over 12kg - the biggest examples caught during Friday. All these remained at the head of the leader board for the three days.

Saturday proved somewhat better for outside fishing, but most had a little nose around and decided that inside was still the better option for more comfortable fishing in calm water.

The Trailer Boat team didn't have a lot of luck fishing but that didn't take away from us having a good laugh as we tried to outwit the fish and stay dry and balanced in the challenging conditions.

By Sunday, many competitiors had decided that getting wet on the inside and admiring the returning craft and their catches was a better alternative. By late Sunday morning a real party atmosphere had descended on the marina and the surrounding shops. The area was packed with people as they all sought vantage points for the prize-giving - and wasn't there some booty! Beside the major prizes, contributors like Lowrance, Shimano and Alvey ensured there seemed to be a never-ending supply of goodies to give away.

In fact, there was so much gear that it took over four hours for the judges to give it all away before announcing that David Holmes had won the grand prize of the Webster.

After witnessing my first Trailer Boat Fishing Tournament, I can safely say that I'll be returning: maybe not to work but to take part. All those prizes are too good for everyone else to win - I want some as well!

WINNING FISHOS
Despite all the inclement weather, there were a few journeymen fishos who were in the tourno for the long haul, heading out for the entire three days. A few returned to base for final weigh-in on Sunday morning with only seconds remaining before the time limit ran out.

The biggest fish of the weekend were five marlin tagged and released with no official weigh figure, but the ones that were captured were also pretty impressive. One fisho who will remember his catch for many a year was junior angler, Matthew van Oosten, who before the age of 16 has achieved a feat many spend a lifetime striving for - tagging a marlin!

An incentive for keeping fish alive was a huge tank used for the Starling fish-catch lessons seen at most shows around the country. The tank proved pretty popular, with some amazing fish added during the weekend.

Topping the scales for the weekend was a jewie caught on the opening day that weighed in at over 18kg - not a record catch, but nonetheless an impressive sight.

The most notable fisherman on the weekend was Noel Martin, who swept the board with three remarkable snapper. Noel has been hunting a 20-pounder since he was a young lad after seeing his dad nab one, but he finally cracked the big time taking three that totalled 24.272kg or 53.398lb in the old scale. And yes, he got his prize with a 9.413kg ball-tearer (that's 20.7 old-fashioned pounds).

He also nabbed the winning kingies, hooking 2.583kg and 2.268kg specimens to take out the Senior category of the tournament from Steven Hogg.

In the Juniors, Shaun Godfrey was the one smiling widest while the Champion Boat went to Michael Dall.

Other winners on the weekend were David Holmes from Cronulla who took out the coveted Webster's Twinfisher fully kitted out with a Mercury outboard and Lowrance sounder among many extras, while the trip to Hakula Lodge in Tonga was won by Allan Stauffer of Heddon Greta in NSW's Hunter Valley.