FROM THE PRESIDENT
Welcome to the Spring edition of Tightlines. This issue is celebrates our club champion boats and crews. The 2025 / 26 season saw some amazing fishing and some very close results. Thanks to all of our competitors. Spring is finally here, and with it comes the start of another exciting season for Sydney Game Fishing Club. The 2026/2027 Summer Point Score kicks off on 19th& 20th September, which will also be the first round of the Central Zone competition. After the winter months, I’m sure everyone is looking forward to getting back on the water and chasing some game fish. Looking ahead, we have two very important club events on the calendar. Our Gone Fishing Day will be held on Sunday 18th October, followed by our Kids Christmas Party on Saturday 12th December. Both of these days are highlights of our club calendar, but they simply cannot happen without the support of our members. We are calling on skippers and crew to put their hands up and help out. These events provide an opportunity to introduce people, particularly kids and families, to our club and to the sport we all love. Your time and boats make a huge difference, so please consider getting involved. Australian Marine Parks There is also an important issue currently facing recreational and game fishing anglers across Australia. The Australian Government has committed to increasing highly protected areas to 30% of Australia's ocean by 2030. The current Australian Marine Parks review identifies a need to add at least 523,980 km² of highly protected areas to meet that target. Public consultation is currently open and closes on 30 September 2026. This is an issue that deserves the attention of every recreational angler. We encourage all members to have their say and participate in the consultation process. Parks Australia states that recreational fishing is currently allowed in 97% of Commonwealth waters within 100 km of the coast, but the proposed management changes could affect how areas are zoned and managed in the future. We have posted information and resources on our social media channels and website to make it easier for members to understand the issue and provide their feedback. Please don't sit on the sidelines. Have your say while the consultation is open. Use this Link: https://www.gfaa.asn.au/marine-parks Looking Forward Now it's time to put the past season behind us and look forward to what 2026/2027 will bring. With spring arriving and the tournament calendar about to get underway, I'm sure there will be plenty of stories, big fish and good times ahead. I look forward to seeing everyone at the weigh station and around the clubhouse throughout the season. Tight Lines, Glenn Wright President Sydney Game Fishing Club
NSWGFA Tournaments Bill Heyward Memorial Tournament Hosted by Botany Bay GFC Feb 6th 2027 till Feb 7th 2027 2027 Garmin Billfish Shootout Hosted by Newcastle & Port Stephens GFC Feb 18th 2027 till Feb 21st 2027 2027 Raymarine NSWGFA Interclub State Championships Hosted by NSWGFA at Port Stephens Feb 24th 2027 till Feb 28th 2027
Broken Bay Invitational Tournament Hosted by Broken Bay GFC Mar 13th 2027 till Mar 14th 2027 2027 Peter Goadby Tournament Hosted by Sydney GFC Apr 3rd 2027 till Apr 4th 2027 Port Hacking 100 Paul Barning Memorial Tournament Hosted by Port Hacking GFC Apr 17th 2027 till Apr 18th 2027
Calendar of Events SGFC September 2026 1st - Club Meeting + Annual General Meeting 6th - 7th Start Summer Point Score 19th - 20th Round 1 Central Zone Round 19th -20th Summer Point Score 29th - Committee Meeting October 2026 4th -5th Summer Point Score 6th - SGFC Club Meeting (safety night) 18th - Gone Fishing Day 18th - 19th Summer Point Score 27th - Committee Meeting November 2025 1st - 2nd Summer Point Score 3rd - SGFC Club Meeting 7th - 8th Round 2 Central Zone Round 15th - 16th Summer Point Score 24th - Committee Meeting December 2025 1st - SGFC Club Meeting 6th - 7th Summer Point Score 12th - Kids Christmas party 20th - 21st Summer Point Score 29th - Committee Meeting
22nd 23th
LUCAS LIDDALL
CELEBRATING OUR CHAMPIONS
MIA WRIGHT MICHELLE EAGLE
GRAHAM WILLIAMS
WAWA
ON CALL
FLETCHER CHEESMAN
JAYDEN MILLAURO + PHILL MILLAURO
FREDDIE GRINDROD
Roberts Trading
FLYNN VERNON VERNONCONNOISSEUR
Shorething Charters
TANTRUM
GOLD HOOK
HINDSIGHT + CASEY
JAYDEN MILLAURO SYDNEY GFC VERNONCONNOISSEUR
LEE CHEESMAN
REEL SMART
ELPRlRATA
CONNOISSEUR
Winning Yellowfin 2026 Nick Chappell
TUNA SLAM 2026
Winning boat Bluefin El Pirata 2025
Congratulations to junior angler Lucas Liddall, landed himself a pending Australian record Whaler shark 92kg on 10kg line
## Timing and Conditions Snapper feed most confidently in low light and during tide changes. Dawn and dusk sessions, or a session timed around the run-in to a high tide, consistently outproduce the middle of a slack tide. A moderate current is actually an advantage — it concentrates bait and berley into a defined trail — while dead-calm, no-current days tend to be the hardest to fish. Water clarity matters too; snapper tend to sit deeper and feed more cautiously after a dirty, rain-affected swell has stirred up the close reefs. ## Gear and Approach Light and stealthy wins over Sydney's pressured reefs. Braided line in the 10–20lb class with a fluorocarbon leader gives the sensitivity to detect soft bites and the low visibility that pressured fish demand. Long, softish rods absorb the head-shakes of a big red without pulling hooks. Above all, patience with berley discipline — resisting the urge to keep moving spots every ten minutes — is often what separates a few reds in the esky from a flat session, since a well-established berley trail can take twenty minutes or more to properly fire fish up. Put together, the formula is simple: find clean structure holding bait, present a natural bait or lure into a working berley trail, and fish the light and tide windows when snapper feel confident to move.
# Our most delicious Trophy fish and Spring is usually one of the best times to fish for them. The one drawback of game fishing is a lot of the big trophy fish aren't that great eating, plus what do you do with 200kg of fillets anyway!! Not so our local snapper. Snapper are the most sought-after reef fish along the New South Wales coast, and the grounds off Sydney — from the Sow and Pigs off the Heads out to the wider reefs of Botany, Bondi, and the Hordern's Rise/Browns Mountain systems — hold solid numbers of fish year-round, with the best action typically from late autumn through winter into early spring as fish move onto structure to spawn. ## Reading the Structure Snapper are ambush feeders that relate tightly to structure: reef edges, rubble patches, drop-offs, and current-swept pinnacles. A good sounder is non-negotiable. Rather than anchoring on the first mark, idle over the ground and look for bait balls sitting just above broken reef, or for the classic "arch" signatures suspended near structure. Snapper often sit slightly off the bottom on the up-current side of a reef edge, waiting for the tide to sweep food past them. Marking bait and structure together, rather than either alone, is the strongest signal. ## Drift and Berley The most consistent Sydney approach is drift fishing with a berley trail. Set the boat up to drift naturally across a likely piece of reef with the wind or current, and deploy a berley pot or bag of pilchards and tuna oil to draw fish up and hold them near the boat. A soft plastic on a light jighead — 1/4 to 1/2 ounce depending on depth and current — cast up-current and allowed to sink naturally through the berley trail is deadly. Work it with a slow lift-and-drop retrieve, keeping contact with the plastic as it falls, since most bites come on the drop. ## Bait Fishing Fundamentals Where drift-and-plastics doesn't produce, anchoring up-current of a known patch and running a paternoster or running sinker rig with fresh bait remains highly effective. Fresh is the operative word — pilchards, squid strips, and fresh fillets of slimy mackerel or yellowtail consistently outfish frozen bait. A running sinker rig with just enough weight to hold bottom in the current lets a bait waft naturally, which wary big snapper prefer over a bait pinned rigidly by a heavy sinker. Circle hooks in the 5/0–7/0 range improve hook-up rates and reduce gut-hooking on fish being released.
SNAPPER TIME
NICCO MARSH YDNEY GFC VERNONCONNOISSEUR
NSWGFA COASTAL WATERS TROPHY 2025/2026 N.S.W.G.F.A. ZONE TROPHY Angler with the Highest Point Score for Tag & Release in Central Zone JAYDEN MILLAURO 396,500 POINTS SYDNEY GFC
SYDNEY GFC VERNONCONNOISSEUR
NSWGFA COASTAL WATERS TROPHY 2025/2026 N.S.W.G.F.A. YELLOWFIN TUNA T&R TROPHY Club Scoring Highest Total Points for Tag & Release of Yellowfin Tuna SYDNEY GFC 49,220 POINTS
NSWGFA COASTAL WATERS TROPHY 2025/2026 ADRIAN & MARGARET CROTHERS TROPHY Heaviest Tuna Captured on any Line Class up to and including 60kg NICCO MARSH 76KG BLUE FIN TUNA ON 24KG LINE SYDNEY GFC
Congratulations to all NSWGFA Coastal Waters Trophy winners for the 2025/2026 season.
NSWGFA COASTAL WATERS TROPHY 2025/2026 BOB LOWE TROPHY Angler Tagging & Releasing the LAST MARLIN of the Season FLYNN VERNON STRIPED MARLIN 17/05/2026 15.31PM SYDNEY GFC
NSWGFA COASTAL WATERS TROPHY 2025/2026 MILTON KENT TROPHY Heaviest Game Fish captured on 24kg line FREDDIE GRINDROD 154.5KG BLUE MARLIN SYDNEY GFC
www.tantrumlures.com
WAWA VERNONCONNOISSEUR
Michelle Eagle
The 2025/2026 Central Zone season has come to a close after seven exciting rounds, and once again, Sydney Game Fishing Club has dominated the Tag & Release competition, taking out the prestigious Champion Club Tag & Release title. A huge congratulations and thank you to all the Sydney boats, skippers, crews and anglers who competed throughout the Central Zone season. Your commitment to getting out on the water and representing Sydney has contributed to another outstanding result for the club. 2025/2026 Central Zone Champions • Champion Club Tag & Release: Sydney Game Fishing Club • Champion Boat Tag & Release: WAWA • Champion Angler Tag & Release: Nicco Marsh • Champion Lady Capture: Michelle Eagle, fishing onboard On Call • Champion Junior Capture: Flynn Vernon, fishing onboard Tantrum Congratulations to all our winners on an outstanding season. How the Central Zone Competition Works The Central Zone competition brings together neighbouring game fishing clubs, including Central Coast GFC, Broken Bay GFC, Sydney GFC, Botany Bay GFC and Port Hacking GFC, with additional two rounds named Wollongong and Lord Howe Island. There are seven rounds in total, with each club tournament contributing to the overall Central Zone competition. When you enter one of the participating club tournaments, your boat is automatically entered into the Central Zone competition. If you can only fish one of the two days, you can still participate. In central zone, Simply log onto the host club's sked at the end of the first sked, enter your boat name and Sydney Game Fishing Club as your club, and you are then officially logged on for that day. If you successfully catch or tag a fish, it is important that you complete all the required paperwork and hand it in to Sydney, so your points can be recorded. I would also like to remind all skippers and crew that you must complete the Sydney Game Fishing Club capture book and return it to the club. You can: • Email your completed capture book to the club, or • Drop it into the club and place it in the Point Score box located on the club bar. This paperwork is extremely important as it ensures your boat receives its Sydney club points as well as Central Zone points. Sydney Game Fishing Club has 14 days to submit our results to the Central Zone, so please don't leave your paperwork sitting at home. Getting it in promptly helps us ensure every fish and every point counts towards our club's Central Zone result. The 2026/2027 Season Is Almost Here! There isn't long to wait, with the first Central Zone round of the 2026/2027 season kicking off on 19th–20th September. This will also be the opening weekend of our Sydney Game Fishing Club Summer Point Score. So get the boat ready, check your gear, organise your crew and get ready for another big season on the water.
Central zone results 2025/2026
Gamefish Results MARINE ECOLOGY GROUP
Total stomach content of the marlin, small bullet tuna to the top, squid beaks to the top right and big unknown bones below.
MARINE ECOLOGY GROUP School of Natural Sciences
Close up of squid beaks.
Stomach Content Analysis Blue Marlin (Makaira nigricans) Analysing Researcher: Tristan Guillemin Capture Date: 21/02/2026 Capture Location: Port Stephens Weight of Fish: 80.9kg Total Length: 245cm Short Length: 211cm Sex: Female Main Result: A total of 346.5g of stomach content were found in your fish. For the weight of the fish, this gave a stomach fullness index of 0.43. This is a low value and suggests the stomach was close to empty. Of the 346.5g of stomach content, we found the following (pictures below): • 1 bullet/frigate tuna (Auxis sp.). Interestingly, bullet/frigate tuna are usually the most common prey item in blue marlin stomachs, however, this year they have been relatively absent. • Loose spikes belonging to a pufferfish (Tetraodontidae). • Bones from a large, unknown fish. • Beaks from 3 flying squid, most likely neon backed flying squid (Ommastremphes brevimanus). These results provide an insight into the feeding of marlin and help us identify the prey they depend on for survival and the areas they feed in. With further marlin samples, we will be able to get a big picture understanding of the species.
Hindsight SGFC BOAT On Monday 25th May 2026 Myself and Lee Cheesman ventured out south of Norah canyons for a shark fish onboard the mighty Hindsight. After getting to the shelf and drifting in a 3m swell we decided to put a 37kg outfit out and hooked a nice tiger shark. After a 2 hour fight we managed to get it boat side where all the action started. We weighed it at Lake Macquarie and it went 390kg. By Captain Mitch Liddill
Attached is an example of the toolkits that have been made for a club. You can expect to receive toolkits for all state-affiliated clubs by early next week. There is considerable urgency in this request. It is further proposed to hold a Zoom meeting of all GFAA Executive members and state Presidents, followed by zone and club representatives. If you have any questions, please give Leyland a call ( 0438 214613 or leyland@recfishwest.org.au ) and he can walk you through the planned campaign. A Zoom meeting for explanation is planned for 7pm AEST on Monday 24th August. Invitations to follow. Whilst the initial reviews are for the North, Northwest, Southwest and Coral Sea marine parks, as well as Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, many fishers from the states not directly affected do fish in distant waters. It is important that they share their opinions too. Access to documents for each club can be found at this link https://www.gfaa.asn.au/marine-parks – it is a simple process for all to participate. Further questions, please contact either Leyland or me. Regards
Hi all, The Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF), the national peak body for recreational fishing, and the Game Fishing Association of Australia (GFAA), the national peak body for game fishing, are leading a national campaign to protect access to important fishing areas. Every club has a role in helping protect the areas that matter most to their members. It is very important that the weight of numbers in submissions ensures that game fishers’ access to existing and proposed fishing grounds is not compromised. GFAA is leading the charge and proposes an organised campaign to that end. Critical to this are submissions to the review. As part of this campaign, GFAA’s Conservation Officer, Leyland Campbell, has put together an information package and a toolkit including templates for states, clubs and individuals to use. The toolkits for all GFAA-affiliated clubs have been prepared to help them with the marine park reviews.
Re: COMMONWEALTH MARINE PARKS REVIEW Public consultation closes 4:00pm AEST, Wednesday 30 September 2026
These toolkits have: 1. Campaign Overview 2. Club Committee Meeting Guide 3. Co-Branded Club Submission Template 4. Co-Branded Individual Submission Template 5. Frequently Asked Questions 6. Map of Australia's Commonwealth Marine Park Network GFAA will send these templates to the State Associations to pass on to states and clubs. The clubs will hopefully get their members to sign a club submission and return these submissions to the State Associations, which can copy them to GFAA for inclusion in a national submission.
Mon to Fri: 6.30am - 3.30pm Sat: 7.00am to 12.00pm
SAINTLY WHISPERS