35th ALLIANCE TAG AND RELEASE TOURNAMENT
Champion Team for 2024 – the crews from Rogue, Pandemonium and Knucklehead
The annual pilgrimage by Victorian boats to pre-fish during the week leading up to the Alliance Tournament was, in 2024, a terrific success. The weather was kind and the marlin were hungry with several boats boasting multiple tags each day.
By Friday, however, the forecast had taken a turn for the worse and this probably restricted entries to 26 boats. In all 112 anglers gathered for the briefing and team draw and enjoyed a catch up with old friends – hopeful, as anglers always are, that the weather would be better than forecast.
Conditions on Day 1 were not comfortable but reports of tagged marlin quickly began to come through to tournament base and at the end of the day Pandemonium was leading the way with 5 marlin tagged. They were closely followed by Relentless Pursuit and The Cuban with 3 each. Results after day 1 were 32 marlin, 2 mahi mahi and 1 mako tags recorded. Marlin had been tagged in all of the individual categories with Texas Gawne leading the small fry with a marlin tagged on 15kg and Nicholas Gilham had bolted to the front in the junior, tagging three. Casey Harris on All Bar One and Kristin Sandy on Akira were fighting out the ladies with two each although Casey had her nose in front by virtue of the lighter line class. Beau Dunn tagged all three fish on Relentless Pursuit to lead Marcus Hickey on Bent Over for the male angler.
Beau Dunn – Champion Angler Day 1
Aaron Davidson, fishing on Rocky from the Swordfish and Tunny Club, tagged a mako on day one to take out the trophy for the Champion Angler Other Species.
Champion Angler – Other Species – Aaron Davidson
Sea conditions were better than expected for the start of day 2 and with most boats reporting in the first sched, the crew of Mr Hooker had to rethink their earlier decision for a lay day. The got their first bait in the water at 11am and had tagged three marlin by 2pm to take out the leading boat for the day. Nicholas Gilham on Pandemonium tagged another to give him a strangle hold on the junior award and Texas Gawne maintained his spot as leading small fry. Casey Harris on the family boat All Bar One tagged another two marlin to easily win the ladies and Marcus Hickey on Bent Over overtook Beau Dunn for the male angler title by tagging another three to bring his tournament tally to five. Jamie Bell and crew on Rogue persevered on day 2 to tag another marlin to give them the win in the Champion Boat under 7.1 metres category.
On day 2 a further 20 marlin were tagged, making a total of 52 for the tournament – a creditable tally.
The disreputable crew of Mr Hooker – Highest Point Scoring Boat Day 2
The trophy for Champion Team was once again down to the wire. The winning team was Pandemonium, Rogue and Knucklehead. However had Kane McKill and crew been able to get their tags in prior to cut off, the result would have changed. That’s tournament fishing!!
Champion Male Angler, Champion Angler Billfish and Highest Point Scoring Angler Day 2 – Marcus Hickey
Champion Female Angler – Casey Harris
Champion Junior Angler – Nicholas Gilham
Champion Small Fry Angler – Texas Gawne
RESULTS
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CHAMPION TEAM |
KNUCKLEHEAD |
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PANDEMONIUM |
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ROGUE |
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CHAMPION BOAT OVER 7.1 METRES |
PANDEMONIUM |
LVGFC |
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CHAMPION BOAT 7.1 METRES & UNDER |
ROGUE |
BBGAC |
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CHAMPION MALE ANGLER |
MARCUS HICKEY |
BENT OVER |
BSGFC |
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CHAMPION FEMALE ANGLER |
CASEY HARRIS |
ALL BAR ONE |
LVGFC |
|
CHAMPION JUNIOR ANGLER |
NICHOLAS GILHAM |
PANDEMONIUM |
LVGFC |
|
CHAMPION SMALL FRY ANGLER |
TEXAS GAWNE |
LA DOLCE VITA |
BBGAC |
|
CHAMPION ANGLER BILLFISH |
MARCUS HICKEY |
BENT OVER |
BSGFC |
|
CHMAPION ANGLER OTHER SPECIES |
AARON DAVIDSON |
ROCKY |
STC |
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HIGH POINT ANGLER DAY 1 |
BEAU DUNN |
RELENTLESS PURSUIT |
CGFC |
|
HIGH POINT ANGLER DAY 2 |
MARCUS HICKEY |
BENT OVER |
BSCFG |
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HIGH POINT BOAT DAY 1 |
PANDEMONIUM |
LVGFC |
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HIGH POINT BOAT DAY 2 |
MR HOOKER |
CGFC |
The crew from Pandemonium – Champion Boat Over 7.1 metres and Highest Point Scoring Boat Day 1
The crew of Rogue – Champion Boat Under 7.1 metres
Winner of the 2024 President’s Trophy – Alan Gowland from the Swordfish and Tunny Club and a great supporter of The Alliance since its inception