Decisions, decisions, which way to go  –  do I go North or South, stay here or keep looking . These dilemmas are what I suppose most of us face every day we head out.

These were the thoughts going through my head as I headed out last Friday. In previous days other boats found Yellowfin  East and South of Sydney   between five hundred and a thousand fathoms. However I liked  a patch of water showing on the charts to the North -East.

Because of the weather conditions I decided to go East, work my way South and come back with the wind.

Inside the shelf I found heaps of bait  so put the lures out hoping for a Marlin which didn’t happen. We pushed on to the area were   previous reports indicated Yellowfin encounters but there was no sign no life, no birds and no bait. I worked the area for a while to no avail. To save the day we put out a Stripy lure and caught a few Striped Tuna which as a fringe benefit cured some seasickness.

So Saturday came around and there was no decision to make. We were going North-East to the patch of water in three hundred fathoms.

Again , around the shelf there was a good build up of bait so we put the Marlin lures out in anticipation  as well as a  Stripy lure for insurance. We didn’t catch a Marlin but we did get a couple of Striped tuna. Then  in the middle of nowhere the rigger with Blue Illusion went off and it definitely wasn’t a Stripy.

After a  short fight before a very excited and less than experienced crew , as can be seen on the video, we landed a Yellowfin of around 25kgs. Photo’s taken we continued on. At this stage one of the clients who was quite sick  started looking really bad with a couple of the others also looking the worst for wear. So with a nice fish on board we made the decision  to head back. However since we were still in fishy waters I suggested we continue trolling for a little longer . Unbelievably another strike , Blue Illusion again, from obviously a much bigger fish this time and remarkably  within a hundred metres of were we caught the first fish.

This Yellowfin went through two anglers and after and hour they brought to gaff. Back at the club it weighed in at 69 kilo’s.

Interestingly we caught both ‘fin  on blind strikes with no indication of bait or bird life and in much shallower water than previous  reports indicated. It makes you wonder just how many fish we drive over.

The other thing of interest is the build up of bait on and around the shelf . I don’t think it will be long before the Striped Marlin become more prevalent.

Tight lines,
Ivan

LINKS…

Weather and  Sea State :
Buoyweather
Bureau of Meteorology
Radar
Seabreeze
Weatherzone
Weathercams
Ripcharts
C.S.I.R.O.
N.S.W Bluelink
Fishing Tackle :
Pakula Tackle
Global Tackle
Otto’s Tackle
Melton Tackle
Aftco
Campbell’s Pro Tackle
Electronics :
Furuno
Keogh’s Marine Electronics
Olectric Systems

Home…