2014 MangroveJack Competition – final results and story
The Gold Coast Sport Fishing Club hosted its inaugural mangrove jack competition last Sunday in perfect conditions. A total of 27 teams took the challenge to take on one of this country’s best sports fish, the mighty Mangrove Jack, their ferocious bites and “Dirty” tactics make landing this fish difficult at the best of times. As the teams rolled in for the 12pm weigh in, the stories of woe were consistent amongst most teams…..they just couldn’t stop them, one competitor even gave his brother a fat lip in frustration after getting smoked by an absolute monster!!!! They were not alone as numerous teams saying they had the fish on to win the comp but just couldn’t hold them. The true testament to why this competition has the potential to grow in stature in the future! In the end it was team Jackoff, with team members Jake Nielsen, Kyle Fletcher and Joel Newton. Fishing a canal system in the Nerang River the young guns prevailed thanks primarily to an absolute cracking 59cm specimen taken on a surface popper at 6.30am by Kyle. When asked about the fight he admitted to going weak at the knees and yelling at other members to net the fish even though it was still 2m from the boat!!!! Afterwards all hell broke loose and the entire neighbourhood was awoken by the excited trio. Kyle explained they were fishing a stretch of pontoons and he cast to the opposite side of the canal in between two pontoons and then a massive explosion of water as the fished charged the popper! The fish was the biggest for the competition, earning Kyle the BCF Burleigh big fish and a $500 BCF voucher! They followed this fish up shortly after with a 36cm model, which was enough to secure the win. In second place was Team Sands, with local gun anglers Danny and George Sands. This formidable duo landed two jacks (48 and 44cm) for the morning, also conceding they missed some bigger fish. Rounding out the podium was Jack “guru” Mick Horn who was lucky to even be able to fish the event after having to borrow a boat due to mechanical issues with his. This didn’t dampen his resolve although it did make him reluctant to fish his honey holes in a borrowed boat. Mick travelled up to the top end of the Coomera River and fished his way back targeting the pontoons in the main system. His fish came sporadically and also admitted to losing some “BIG” fish. A fantastic effort fishing solo indeed! Hats off to Mick also for sharing his knowledge with club members at a recent club night and openly offering advice to assist in ensuring the competition ran smoothly. In the end a total of 19 Mangrove jack were caught. The other prize on offer was the biggest other species. The prize pack was proudly claimed by Kevvy Ballantine who battled a 1.4m Stingray for 20 minutes to claim the prize. The impressive capture came in the Nerang River on a bank he thought looked prime to hold a big flatty!!! A huge shout out to the VMR for allowing the event to be run out of their facility and to all the helpers who assisted to make the event very successful indeed, Bruce Andersen, Tamara Andersen, Emily Templar, Scott Gregory, Nathan Andersen. A big thankyou to Jay Cottrell and the team at BCF Burleigh for getting behind the event also!!!. Considering the event coincided with both the Pirtek Challenge and a GTS bream event at Ballina, we were stoked with the turnout and look forward to running this event again in the future. I have a few ideas for next year including having a split session format (morning and evening with a BBQ lunch in the middle). Thanks for the support and please feel free to provide feedback on how the event can be improved
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| Place | Team Name | Fish 1 | FISH 2 | TOTAL | PAYOUT |
| 1 | Jack Off | 59 | 36 | 95 | $390 |
| 2 | Team Sands | 44 | 48 | 92 | $180 |
| 3 | Tide Apparel | 52 | 34 | 86 | $100 |
| 4 | Puff and Catch | 37 | 39 | 76 | |
| 5 | 1 & Only | 36 | 36 | 72 | |
| 6 | The Jack Guides | 18 | 35 | 53 | |
| 7 | Dopey 2 | 38 | 0 | 38 | |
| 8 | Fins & Grins | 38 | 0 | 38 | |
| 9 | The Hairy Tacos | 38 | 0 | 38 | |
| 10 | Team Tackleland | 37 | 0 | 37 | |
| 11 | Lopts | 37 | 0 | 37 | |
| 12 | Yo Bro | 35 | 0 | 35 | |
| 13 | Tomrok | 29 | 0 | 29 | |
| 14 | Jetty Jaggers | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | 2 – Stroke | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Nautic Star | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Team on Strike | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Krispy Kremes | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Simrad Vidanet | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Kermit No Friends | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Strat Boys | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Lets Get Jacked | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Good Luck | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Double Shaka | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Jack an Off | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Meat Heads | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Sic Days | 0 | 0 | 0 |
