Tuna and Marlin: Striped and Blue Marlin along with Yellowfin tuna , Mahi Mahi and some huge Tiger sharks are still haunting Sydney waters. When you consider that it is nearly June the fishing is quite incredible. I suppose what is really remarkable is sea temperatures still around 23 degrees.

Even though all the above species are still around you still have to work hard and have a bit of luck on your side to succeed.

I went out on Sunday expressly to stay out late and cube into the evening. While travelling out I heard that ‘Reef Magic’ had tagged two Marlin, a Striped and a Blue and ‘Murryfin’ had also tagged a Striped Marlin. It was looking good !

We saw loads of Gannets bombarding  bait schools as we travelled out but no lookers on the lures. We crossed that 2 degree temperature break that is so well defined on the SST’s but continued out, I wanted to see what was at the thousand fathom line. On the way I crossed another break where the temperature dropped significantly and there was a well defined thermocline below which I marked quite a few fish and bait. However I continued out to the thousand fathoms.

When we finally arrived at the area I wanted it was a marine desert. Neither birds nor bait were present but the water looked better than anything we’d seen on the way out. Never the less I decided to go back to the cooler break a couple of miles back.

 

 

We started cubing a little after 3pm., the wind was easing and the ocean glassing out.

It was an hour or so before a big Blue Shark turned up circling checking out the baits. Shortly after another much smaller Blue  turned up. Inevitably the larger shark took one of the baits and as Blue Sharks do, it did nothing. With maximum pressure applied it finally moved off and as it did bit through the leader. Unfortunately the sharks stayed with us, enjoying our burly, for a while then disappeared as silently as they had turned up.

As the sun neared the horizon one of the guys had a bite. Not a regular tuna bite, this fish was coming towards the boat. Shark was the call. The fish or shark started pulling drag, slowly at first but increasing in speed as it went. Suddenly after, it had taken a couple of hundred metres of line, it just took off at a thousand miles an hour, much faster than any shark I’d caught. Needless to say a 40 kg. leader can only take so much and inevitably parted and we were left with a mystery.

We had no further action, it was late and time to head for home. On the way I heard that  the boys  on ‘Carnage’ had weighed a 450 kg. Tiger shark at the club adding to a larger Tiger caught by a Port Hacking boat on Saturday.

Of interest I think is that the guys fishing for Tigers generally start burlying in about 80 fathoms. At present the sea temperature in that area is only 18 degrees and the water green. It poses a conundrum considering that Tigers are a warm water species. I guess though that we’ll never know what lies below.

Tight lines,
Ivan

LINKS :

CSIRO
Bureau of Meteorology
N.S.W.
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