Welcome to 2026 and Happy New Year, seems a bit late for Happy New Year, but since this is our first newsletter for the year I've said it anyway! Hopefully the fishing has been treating you well, there's been some amazing fishing from harbour fishing to Gamefish all around the country, as long as you time the weather window right.

The SIMRAD Summer champs are romping along with some fierce competition emerging with some doing their best to completely lockout some categories. All in the spirit of good competition of course and we have the rest of this month to do something about it! Go Hard! Don't forget our Prize Giving is at our Clubrooms on Wednesday March 11th.

You then get a month off and then we're back into the Big four, our final comp for the year. This year it runs from April 3rd through to April 27th and the Prize Giving will be held at our May Club night on May 13th.

Our February Club Night will be held at FIN Chaser Boats 7pm start at 4 Latham Court Frankton.(right across the road from Fin Chaser Marine) Ross and Max will be telling us all about how they design and build their magnificent craft.

That's it from me this month short and sweet, looking forward to seeing you all at the February club night.

Cheers

Bob

SIMRAD Summer Champs

1 Dec 2025-28 Feb 2026

$20,000 Prize Pool

GAME ON! Entries have closed and now the competition really gets going. We saw the first three Marlin Tagged and Released last week with Steven Sharp tagging the first Last Wednesday then Scotty Pritchard and Bob Gutsell getting one each last Thursday. This has really livened up the points competition! So this week you'll see below the full points tally for each category.

Dutchie has kicked Craig McDonald off the Kingfish Points table and one of Ben Cullen's fish down to third with a nice 108.5cm fish.

Dave and Rion Waitere have entered the first weighed wreckfish with a nice Bluenose and Bass respectively in the Adult Male and Junior Categories. No Other changes to the weighed fish section.

Geoff Preston has doubled down on his domination of the snapper category with a couple of outstanding fish he caught last week. The man's got a target on his back, I've heard lots of talk of plans to visit far off places with giant baits and lots of patience.

We've got another 3 day weekend this weekend so watch this space for more movement on the scoreboard next week.

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Safety First

Flares

Flares are an effective device for signaling distress and showing your position - they're highly visible on the water and from the air.

There are several types of flares, each with their benefits:

Orange smoke – when triggered, this lets off a cloud of orange smoke, which can't be extinguished due to heavy rain or howling wind. These are good as a line-of-sight distress signal, but because there's nothing burning (and so nothing glowing) they're suited for daytime use only.

Red handheld – effective as a line-of-sight distress signal by day and night, handheld flares are very bright with a good visibility range. They are very visible from an aircraft and will usually burn for up to 60 seconds.

Red parachute or rocket – capable of attracting attention in daylight for up to 10 miles depending on conditions and up to 40 miles at night. The rocket launches the flare up to a height of about 300 metres and the flare burns for 40-60 seconds as it slowly descends. But don't use this type of flare when there is a helicopter or aircraft overhead.

Be flare ready

Read and understand the firing instruction(s) for your flares before you need to use them.

Firing mechanisms vary so make sure that you read the instructions printed on the sides. It's not the right time to learn how to use a flare when you're in trouble on the water.

Always store flares in a waterproof container or in a dry designated area below deck. Make sure that your passengers and crew know where they are and how to use them.

Before each boating season begins, check the expiry date of the flares and replace them as necessary. Old flares become unstable and can be unreliable.

Dispose of expired flares in a safe manner (see below).

Firing flares

You're in an emergency and you need to attract attention. To help rescue services narrow down your position, it's time to let off your flares.

If you have multiple flares, fire only one as soon as you’re in distress and keep other flares for when you need to attract a searcher’s attention, such as when you spot a search aircraft or other boats searching.

Hold hand-held flares over the downwind side of the boat with your arm fully outstretched. Flares burn with extreme heat and can very easily damage your boat, your life raft or people.

Point them away from yourself, anyone else and the superstructure of the boat.

Flares are extremely bright and you should not look directly at the light as it will damage your eyesight.

Parachute flares should be fired downwind at ideally a 15 to 20 degree angle off vertical.

Note: never set flares off unless you are in distress, or are attending a properly organised flare demonstration.

Disposal of old flares

Old flares should not be kept as spares, because the propellant degrades over time. While an expired flare may still fire, there's no guarantee – and do you want a flare to fail when you really need it? Every flare should have a date of manufacture and an expiry date (usually 3-6 years after manufacture).

Leave the flares where they are if it is safe to do so and either call your local marine equipment supplier or Police on 105 to discuss the best process for disposing of the flares. Do not take the flares into your local police station.

Never leave them outside for someone to collect, or put them in the rubbish.

Never incinerate or let off expired flares. They're not fireworks!

Expired or very old flares should be treated like explosives, so handle old ones with care.