The Marlin and Mahi Mahi are coming…
It finally looks as though the currents out wide are stabilising and bringing the Marlin to us. The hope is that the fish will move in closer now, certainly more are being encountered.
I went out with Tom and his workmates on a two boat Charter with Wahoo last Wednesday chasing Marlin.
The first stop though was to have a shot at the Kings. This turned out to be a bad move. We first tried off North Head where in spite of the calm wind conditions the swell bouncing off the cliffs was making it very uncomfortable. Consequently several of the guys were feeling a bit seedy but after giving the 12 Mile a shot most had had enough.
Anyway, Wahoo ended up going back with the sick ones and I continued out after catching a couple of good Kings. Conditions were perfect away from the bounce back and the sea was dead flat. This was the calm before the storm.
Out over the shelf the current was still Southerly. However, the temperature was varying up and down by as much as half a degree over a hundred metres. We persisted and went out over Browns to the thousand fathom line not seeing anything, no bait, not even a bird. At about 1:00pm. the first breaths of the Southerly started to puff so I started trolling home.
By the time we got back to Browns it was still doing only fifteen to eighteen knots. The boys were unconcerned, enjoying the occasional brew. These conditions didn’t last long however and it was soon gusting to twenty five knots. I heard over the radio that it was doing thirty knots off Cronulla so the gear was pulled in and we ran for home.
On Saturday after hearing that the boat ‘Cintra’ from Tasmania had raised six Marlin the day before I went out with renewed confidence. I was doing something I haven’t done for a long, long time. I was working the deck for Mike Clarkson on his boat ‘Reef Magic’.
We put the gear in at the ’12 Mile’ and headed out towards ‘Browns’. Conditions had certainly changed since Wednesday. The temperature was up and not wavering and there was heaps of bait. There were even birds moving around, it was very fishy to say the least. Later, over the radio we heard Bob Curry had raised a Striped Marlin in 250 fathoms and another boat had tagged one inside ‘Browns’.
After working the bait for several hours with no result we left and headed North. We had just crossed the shelf when we had a triple strike and mayhem prevailed but luckily not for long. In short time two of the Marlin jumped off and we ended up catching Striped Marlin of around 70 kgs.
The client, Iano from Italy, was happy with a great Christmas present having succeeded in his first attempt at striped Marlin fishing. We were happy and it was time to go home.
Tight lines and a merry Christmas to all – may the fish be with you,
Ivan