FOR the last three decades the annual Golden Lure tournament has repeatedly raised the bar.
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That appears to be the case again this year when the week-long event starts on Friday, January 10 with a briefing and calcutta.
Port Macquarie Game Fishing Club president Janeck Kaczorowski said numbers would remain consistent in 2020 although there had been an increase in female participation.
"We'd be happy with 50-plus boats which would be around record numbers," he said.
"With that, there would be about 200 anglers and another 15 ladies and 15 juniors on average."
Kaczorowski said it was showing an "upward trend" on previous years.
"We work very hard on ensuring that it's an even competition with lots of categories for lots of different people," he said.
"There's something for the ladies, for the juniors, for males, for big boats and for small boats so that's why we get a very good mix."
The event is one of the few around Australia that runs over the week, allowing organisers to pick the best days for competition.
"One of the great things about the Golden Lure is you can go just up to Point Plomer and catch a marlin or you can go out wide on a continental shelf and try and catch the big blue marlin," Kaczorowski said.
"That's what a lot target."
Competitors are expected to travel from the Gold Coast, Sydney, Newcastle and Port Stephens by sea.
"We also have trailer boats from all over the state who come up for the annual pilgrimage."
The event will run for the 36th year and Kaczorowski said they were always looking at how to make it better and improve every year.
"Capacity-wise we're just about on capacity so for us it's just about fine-tuning the event," he said.
"I don't think we have a facility here in Port Macquarie that could cope with 100 boats for example.
"The main thing is that everyone's coming up and having a good time and getting their value for money across the prize list."
A number of competitors have competed in the event for many years.
"That's what we find; everyone's always asking for the dates for the following year as they leave," the president said.
"That tells us we're doing something right if it's already on their mind to book in the next year."
The Golden Lure features one of the top three or four prize pools for an event with somewhere around $50,000 to $60,000 on offer.
The top three events in terms of prize money are the champion boat tag and release, the tag and release (blue marlin only) and the champion boat that has the heaviest marlin.
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