Stuart and Deb Newnham from the Isle of White are here in Exmouth again for the fishing.  The couple have been targeting the shoreline around the west side and getting good runs from spangled emperor using squid for bait. This has been during the middle of the day around the high tide. Stuart's brother Cliff and his wife Sandy are also here this time. The two went out from Coral Bay on a charter and Cliff caught his first marlin! What a great start to their first visit to the northwest.

Seth Nafte from Sydney and Neil Silver from Perth are up getting a bit of practice in for Gamex. The boys fished last Saturday and tagged five marlin - not a bad practice day! They also brought one marlin in to weigh, which turned out to be a state record of 155kg on 24kg line class. The weighed fish gathered plenty of attention at the rec centre gantry and was soon filleted and smoked up.

A few sharks have been about in all areas of late. A two metre shark was spotted under the footbridge in the canals, while a large tiger shark spooked a couple of free-divers off the Murion Islands. Some people have been observed dumping fish carcasses into the water where people swim around the west side. We'd like to request (once again) that people be mindful of sharks and place carcasses in the shire bins or well offshore, rather than where we all swim.

The Shire of Exmouth will be doing excavating of the sand in front of Tantabiddi Boat Ramp on the 11th -13th of March.  This will limit the use of the ramp for those days, but hopefully it will ensure a better launching and retrieving area for the ramp.  The boating community -including the Exmouth Game Fishing Club - would like to thank the Shire of Exmouth for their efforts and hope that the ramp will be in good condition for Gamex, Easter and the start of the whale shark season.

Brothers Damian and Shane Bowman from Margaret River and Adelaide are here on a fishing holiday with their 12ft tinny. The boys have been having a ball inside the reef near Ned's camp and targeting sportfish on light spin outfits. They have had success with golden trevally, chinamen cod, spanglies and even got on to a few mackies and coronation trout outside south passage. They were using soft plastics and C'ultiva Shads.

This week's pic is of Braden Cooper with a fine cobia caught using a golden glitter soft plastic and 10lb braid off Tantabiddi. Braden is one of the keen local anglers that we're sure will be competing in Gamex in years to come. If you haven't got your entry in for Gamex 2009, you'd better hurry up or you will incur the late fee.  Don't forget that there is a Pirates dress-up theme for the presentation dinner. If you want to be involved or find further info check out the club's website on www.egfc.com.au

 Text and pics © Bluewater Tackle World