The girls, strangers from Broome, quietly collected their entry bag and returned to the boat to meet the skipper. The challenge was high. New waters, different depths, different conditions, much larger fish, thousands of people, hundreds of boats, new team member, skipper, deckhand, bigger boat, heavier tackle, different techniques, different climate, no traditional "practice day" and now, lots of curious onlookers!

There was a competition right from the start for the sailpast. A prize was offered for the best dressed boat, however the girls were not aware of this until the night before. Improvising with the little resources they had, the girls decided to wear their bikinis with Shimano jackets and raise their bra's and nickers up the outriggers to prove that they were an all-female team. This worked very well and they certainly proved that they were an all-female team. Many boat crews took photos, whilst others looked on in disbelief. Some boats didn't even realise they were fishing and thought the girls were just there as part of the models that the event organises for photos each day. The amount of vessels circling each other before the procession of all the boats for the sailpast was an amazing sight. After lots of attention the girls finally made it out through the heads for their first day.

The conditions on the first day were almost perfect. The water was like glass and there was no wind. The sun was warm and the girls felt at home with the calm waters. Glen and George use the switch bait technique. For those of you who don't know, this involves pulling lures without hooks and switching to bait after the fish has been sighted. Many crews also run teasers such as "witchdoctors" and "daisy chains" when switch baiting. The "witchdoctor" is a Pakula teaser that is made from a length of wood that has lead inside it to keep it deep in the water. It has mirrors on all sides and other flashy bright colours. It is shaped to shimmer through the water with the light reflecting deep and wide to attract marlin. A "daisy chain" is a surface teaser that is made up of a row of plastic squids. Some have an imitation bird attached to simulate a bird chasing a school of squid. The marlin are attracted firstly by the boat, then by the pattern of teasers, in particular the lures with the sweet tasting belly flaps.

The girls didn't raise any fish the first day and therefore couldn't return to the weigh station with tag cards that evening.

On day two the wind and swell picked up. Jeni had been on strike all day Saturday and was on till the first fish was raised. Different crews have all different ways of sharing the strikes for fish. This particular tournament the girls decided that for all the effort Jeni had put in to organising the event, she was entitled to the first fish. She sat patiently in the cockpit, eyes fixed on the teasers as they trolled for hours. Finally it got the better of Jeni and she decided to have a look at the view of the spread from the tower. As soon as she reached the tower and sat back to look at the spread of teasers, Jeni spotted a striped marlin coming in on the right. Like Batman down a pole, Jeni scrambled in to the cockpit and grabbed out the live bait ready to send back in the water. Glen teased up the marlin as Tracey, Sara and Lisa cleared the decks. The live bait was too tempting for the billfish and it hardly took a look at it before striking with aggression.

Jeni fought the fish on 24kilo stand up tackle for 20minutes before Glen managed to tag it close to the boat. They estimated it at 80kg. It then took a deep dive and took another 30minutes to raise it back up and retrieve the hook!

The girls were elated and hardly had the gear back in the water after tagging the first fish when another marlin was raised. Tracey dropped back a bait and in no time was connected to her first marlin. She fought it well for a good ten minutes before it jumped and spat the hook. It was unfortunate, but at least they were on the scoreboard and they all proudly raised the tag flag on the starboard outrigger at the end of the day.

The tournament runs over two week-ends with other events held during the week. These include: -Ladies Day, where only women compete -Sportivo Day, a tournament where all entrants go in the draw for a brand new car -Trade Day, an exhibition similar to a mini boat show where people display or source goods and merchandise related to fishing and create useful contacts -Seminar nights detailing everything from scientific research to rod building and fishing techniques -other social gatherings such as barbeques

Ladies day began well, with Sara catching a black marlin before 8.30am. Lisa followed suit with a striped marlin not long after. That day the girls were extremely happy with two tag flags flying for the day as they returned to port.

Tracey caught her first marlin on the Sportivo day. An impressive striped marlin, which they tagged and estimated at 90kg. Jeni then hooked up to a big black, which jumped just once, put its head down and headed east. Two and a half hours later after trying all different techniques to raise the fish, including circling, keeping tension, full free-spool and creeping up, the skipper decided to set the reel to "sunset." This term is given to putting the lever drag at full strike. Jeni had fought the fish on 24kilo stand up for over two and a half hours and then put the drag up to 14kilos. The extra pressure is intense, however, the adrenaline kept Jeni (who only weighs 50kg!) going and the fish came to the surface wondering what all the fuss was about. The little yellow tag went in and they set it free to continue east. The girls were sure it hardly knew it was hooked.

That night a big storm came through and the girls were the last boat home. After dinner and before the draw of the car, the girls were asked to make a speech on stage about themselves and Broome. The response was positively electrifying as everyone was curious to hear their story and very supportive of their aspirations.

The TODAY show came up from Sydney to film with the girls and planned on going out for the Sportivo day. Unfortunately they had one too many people and it was arranged to fish the Thursday aboard a larger boat. However on Thursday the wind was too strong and they postponed the filming to the following year.

Saturday was another no-show day for the girls and Sunday the conditions turned bad. However, the girls had another film crew aboard and this was the last day. The film crew were a little under the weather due to the choppy conditions on the continental shelf with a 25knot wind and 3-4m swell. Sara hooked up to a black marlin, which she had to the boat in a matter of minutes. The film crew hardly had time to get a shot in before the fish was tagged and released in the rough conditions. Lisa then hooked up to a striped marlin that paraded for the camera to the point of almost landing in the boat.

The girls happily returned to the officials that day with the two tag cards after many boats aborted the day due to the weather. Overall the girls raised nine marlin, hooked up to eight and tagged seven. An impressive first time effort for anyone, male or female.

The presentation night was a huge event to top off the 10 days and by the end of it all many more people knew of the girls team (then known as the "Fish'n'Chicks") and Broome. The girls didn't have much of a choice; they had to return for 2002!