After the great Yellowfin Tuna bite two week-ends ago when we caught three Yellowfin up to 73 kilos I was really keen to get out there again. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the following Wednesday when opportunity arose.

Wednesday was going to be our last chance before the weather moved in. Unfortunately reports that I’d read from the previous two days were less than exciting, irrespective we were going.

I put the lures in at around eighty fathoms and headed to where I had found the fish on Sunday. Where we were there was plenty of bait near the surface and Gannet were diving on it. I wasn’t really surprised when a Striped Marlin popped up behind the Lumo. What did surprise me was that it had one swipe at the lure and disappeared and didn’t come back for another shot.

We continued out with no further action other than that the bait was thinning and the water cooling, not what the charts were showing. Anyway, we arrived at the spot and it was dead, no birds, no bait no nothing. As you do I was listening in on the radio and in amongst the usual garbage I picked up that the Yellowfin had moved North, wide of the bait station. So I pointed Ambition North and off we went.

It was about an hour’s trolling to get to where the fish were. On the way the water cleared up and warmed with bait starting to show. Eventually, I saw the boats ahead and also our first ‘bust up’.

Throughout the rest of the day we  trolled the area which was definitely fishy but the action was very slow. The Yellowfin were coming up irregularly in small groups and were not staying up long enough for anyone to get to them, a very frustrating scenario. A couple of boats caught the fin on blind strikes, ‘Little Audrey ll’ tagged  a Marlin and ‘The Sheriff’ caught a Wahoo taken.

We had a nearly forty mile run to port by now so I turned for home. Everywhere you looked you could see baitfish flipping undisturbed on the surface. We also saw pods of Dolphins and Pilot whales moving amongst the bait,  obviously well sated. One of they guys on deck spotted a log not far off. On passing we had a double hook-up, a good sized Mahi Mahi and the smallest Kingfish I have ever see, the hook was bigger than the fish.

As we neared the shelf and inn near darkness a Marlin came up and swiped at the lumo but again not hooking up and yet again not coming back, so frustrating.

As predicted the weather went bad but should be good by Thursday. Will the Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna still be there ? I don’t know but you can be sure I’ll be going out to find out…

To join us on a Yellowfin charter in Sydney, give me a call!

Tight lines,
Ivan

LINKS :

CSIRO
Bureau of Meteorology
N.S.W.
Bluelink
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