As much as I love it at Port Stephens it is great to be back in my home waters.

I brought Ambition back last Friday in ideal conditions. Fishing  out as wide as 1200 fathoms looking for those Yellowfin that habitually turn up at this time of year as well as the Blue Marlin that often accompany them. Unfortunately I didn’t find them and in fact saw nothing but flying fish the whole way back. Even the radio was quiet until later on the day I heard of a couple of big Blue Marlin lost down off Botany. On the surface it wasn’t looking good for the SGFC’s Peter Goadby Tournament  over the next couple of days.

What a difference 40 boats can make on a day. Whereas the previous day had been very quiet off Sydney on Saturday there seemed to be Blue Marlin everywhere. The main bites were North above the ‘Bait Station’ and South off Botany where the biggest fish were caught  including a monster of 348 kilo’s by the boat ‘Rabbit’ which obviously won the Capture section of the tournament. The Tag & Release section was also won in that area by ‘Little Audrey’ owned by Phil Webster the major sponsor of the tournament and skippered by Dan Carleson, tagging three Blues.

I chose to go due East where in 600 fathoms I found the remains of what I thought was a drift net supported by several bubble floats. As I app

roached we had a strike which turned out to be a small Yellowfin which was dutifully tagged and let go. It took a while looking to find the net again and in doing so tagged another couple of Yellowfin and keeping a couple of Mahi Mahi for dinner. We did have a Marlin come into the spread but we couldn’t induce it to eat, so frustrating. Interestingly and frustratingly there were big Yellowfin occasionally busting up in the area but they were up and down so quickly I couldn’t catch up to them.

Sunday was a very different day – because of what I’d seen on Saturday I went back to the same area only to find the water temperature had dropped a half a degree.There were still plenty of flying fish and the occasional shower of Sauries about but from the radio chatter it was apparent the bite had moved further South. The change in conditions was reflected in the results for the day which were dismal by comparison with the previous day.

In summary Sydney is living up to its historic reputation of having its best fishing for the big ones between end of March to May so there’s plenty more time to get amongst them…

Tight lines,
Ivan