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

I have just completed my last charter at Port Stephens for this year though I might come back in August and give the Kingies a shot at Almark as well as try for an early season Striped Marlin too.

Out wide up here the water is still over 24 degrees, still running South and still with little life in it other than flying fish – but when that current eases allowing the bait to hold up anything could happen.

Inshore there are still Blacks showing up with the occasional Cobia to add to the mix on the inshore reefs. Closer in and even in the bay you can find Longtails, always exciting to catch.

The big news this week-end is the Sydney Game Fishing Club’s annual Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament which is always a great competition.

At this time of year off Sydney we catch the biggest of species and every year there are Blue Marlin over 200 kilo’s taken making the major prize of $25,000 for the biggest Marlin over 225 kilo’s quite attainable. Striped Marlin up to 150 kilo’s have been taken and quite often there is a run of big Yellowfin signifying the start of their run – always much anticipated.

So… the weather is looking good and you’ve got to be in it to win it.

Get that entry in ( available to download from www.sgfc.com.au)

Tight lines,
Ivan

At least the fishing over the last three days at Port Stephens was  in good weather in fact compared to the last couple of weeks the last few days were perfect – unfortunately the fishing was not so good.

On Saturday I went out wide both because of the ideal conditions and the charts showing good water over the shelf. We passed through several shades of blue, green and brown on the way out but on the edge the temperature rose to 24.5 degrees and the colour changed to that deep blue that we love to see and there were flying fish everywhere, it looked perfect for a Blue Marlin bite –  there just had to be Marlin out here. I went South to double zero and edged out to the thousand fathom line and then up to ‘Almark’ where we had a strike from a Striped Marlin but no hook up.

I decided to go out wide again on Sunday because of the conditions I’d seen out there and the strike we had had at ‘Almark’ .

As we passed ‘Almark ‘ we had another strike from a Stripy and co-incidentally in almost the same spot as the previous one the day before.  I worked the area for a while but all to no avail. We then trolled out wider and up to the Seal Rocks canyons. Again the water was perfect with flying fish everywhere and birds constantly searching but no fish. Meanwhile on the radio I was hearing reports of a few fish being found down South off Lake Macquarie and that the water inshore had cleared up and a few Blacks had shown up.

So, there was only one thing to do on Monday – in close trolling live and skip baits on the inshore reefs. It was surprisingly difficult to catch the bait but we eventually caught what we needed. To cut a long story short we ended up losing two Blacks and catching several 6 to 8kg. Mackerel Tuna which were stealing our baits.

The first Black we hooked was bigger, around 85 to 90 kilo’s, than you would normally expect on these reefs and on fifteen kilo line gave Lee a good work out for nearly an hour before wearing through the leader. The second was only about 40 kilo’s and for some unknown reason the ‘fluro’ leader just broke.

So that was my last week-end at Port. I hope to bring Ambition back to Sydney this week-end depending on the weather which is not looking great at present but we’ve got to be back for the Peter Goadby Tournament at the Sydney Game Fishing Club on the 8th. and 9th. – see you there.

Tight Lines,
Ivan

Another week at Port but now that the competition season is over it has become the quiet fishing village it was, the crowds are gone but the fish are still here.

I went out wide on Saturday to see if I could find a Blue only to find the water had changed and was cooler than the previous couple of days so I moved back in closer to the shelf where I picked up a nice Striped Marlin of around 80 kgs. on a lure which over the last couple of weeks has outperformed my favourite ‘lumo’.

Continuing South down the shelf there was increasing talk on the radio about a build up of bait on the edge. On arriving in the area  we were greeted with the sight of three boats all hooked up and fighting –  memories of several years ago when the Car Park was figuratively a car park.

I found the bait, it wasn’t hard, but after several jigs we only managed two Slimies and lots of yellowtail. We rigged the Slimies for skipping and proceeded to work around the bait. After about ten minutes I marked a fish and as I called out to the crew it struck but after a decent run for some reason it didn’t hook up.  We spent some more time skipping with no action and so in desperation we dropped a  Yellowtail down to the bait.

To cut a long story short the deep bait took off and we were attached to another nice Stripy which was dutifully tagged and let go. We managed one more hit which I’m sure was a shark but with two Marlin under our belt we headed for home.

The weather predictions for Monday were not good but we went out anyway and made our way back to 52′  where  unlike on Saturday there was no bait at all. I did hear that boats fishing on the previous day had found the bait another fifteen miles South. However we persisted for quite a while to no avail and because the wind was picking up again I started working North to give ourselves a half decent run home.

Tight Lines,
Ivan

The fishing here at Port has changed again. The hot water offshore has moved South with a couple of boats out of Lake Macquarie getting amongst the Blues and a Spearfish or two. Here though the cooler water and reduced current is allowing the bait to congregate on the shelf at the usual spots where a few Marlin were taken.

I fished out wide on Saturday and saw nothing, I was too far North.

Sunday saw me fishing in close on the inshore reefs for the Blacks which are increasing in numbers. Ivideo  spent some time South of the light and worked my way North. By the time I reached Broughton most of the action was over but I did manage a nice Black for Dani and her husband whose name I have forgotten.

Below is a short video taken by Dani on her phone of a very acrobatic Black…

Tight Lines,
Ivan

It was three days of remarkable fishing this year at the Interclub. Remarkable in that prior to the competition the inshore waters were cold and green and the small Blacks had virtually disappeared. On top of that the usual bait grounds on the shelf on which the Striped Marlin and so many fishermen had become dependant were being scoured by a 3 knot current of up to 27 degrees, however, there were Blue Marlin, a good run of them, the competition would be wide open.

A few boats hoping upon hope tried the inshore grounds but soon found it futile and moved offshore where by Saturday nearly all the fleet was fishing and in ideal weather too.

We opened our account fairly early on Friday hooking a nice Blue Marlin on my favourite ‘Lumo’ then to add to the excitement Greg hooked onto a Spearfish which took an ‘Evil Angel’ whilst clearing the lines; we had a double hook-up. However our euphoria didn’t last long because the Speary jumped over the line with the Blue and cut it off, I’d lost one of my favourite lures, but at least we ended up with a tagged Spearfish. A little later in the day we had a double hook-up on Blacks, surprisingly in 300 fathoms, we managed to tag one after the other managed to jump to freedom.

Saturday dawned another beautiful day but the fish proved scarcer than the previous day. We did manage to find and tag a nice Blue wide offshore after a typical Blue Marlin fight. We were now, with twenty five thousand points under our belt in the running for a placing in the tournament and the excitement on board was palpable.

Sunday was another sort of day, the weather report was benign enough but the ocean had other ideas and was big, short,  steep and angry. If we hadn’t been in the running for a trophy I don’t think I would have gone out, many had the same idea returning to Port early. We continued on and by the time we reached 75 fathoms were down to trolling speed which turned out to be a good move since it wasn’t long before we had a crashing strike on the ‘Evil Angel’ and a good Blue was doing its thing grey hounding to the shelf and we were struggling to keep up. Eventually and with a very wet crew we tagged the fish and after ‘high fives’ all around we were on our way again.

We had just crossed the shelf and again the ‘Evil Angel’, now on the shot-gun screamed off and when this one jumped we could see it was a good one. It took a while and we finally caught up to it and it went deep. It was then that I noticed on my AIS a tanker was bearing down on us and would pass by at a hundred metres or so in fifteen minutes.  The fish was staying deep, the angler, Monte, was getting soaked and tiring with the reel at ‘sun set’ and the tanker was coming – panic mode was fast approaching. I had decided to wait as long as I could then lower the drag, speed off and hope the tanker didn’t cut us off.

I was watching the AIS for any sign of deviation when to my surprise and relief at about a mile off it did indeed start to veer off, we were now in the clear. As the tanker passed it sounded its horn, two very long blasts the meaning of which I have no idea. I like to think he saw us fighting a fish and moved aside though more likely he saw my AIS signal and thought I was in trouble.

It took about two hours but we did eventually tag that fish, a Blue of around 180 kgs.  A very tired Monte had had the experience of a life time in tagging his first Marlin. Later in the day we tagged a Striped Marlin and a good sized Dolly both of which tried to eat the ‘Lumo’. We were now definitely in a winning position but my worst nightmare was coming to fruition. Because of the rough seas some of the boats had stayed inshore and the waters there had warmed up, the small Blacks were on the bite and being tagged. It wouldn’t take many caught on 10 Kg line to beat us.

We were now on tenterhooks.

As it happened and to cut a long story short we did hold on and beat our closest rival ‘Freedom’ skippered by Scott Torrington by only a few points.

Tight Lines,
Ivan

The week that ended as the fulfillment of one of my ambitions, no pun intended, did not start out so well.

I took a group of my friends out over a couple of days to check out the fishing around the Port before the ‘Newcastle Port Stephens Shoot Out’ tournament at the end of the week.

The inshore conditions up here have been changing so rapidly it is hard to keep up with them. I spent a couple of days inshore looking for the Blacks, one day a spot would look good with good water colour and temperature the next cold and dirty, in fact sometimes it even changed whilst we were there.  After a couple of days of that and only catching one Black at Seal Rocks I’d had enough and decided to try the offshore grounds.

The first day offshore the water went to that magical indigo blue at 80 fathoms so we put the lines in and you wouldn’t believe it the line was pulled out of Dom’s hand and a Blue took off in a screaming run doing what they do best. Unfortunately it came to an abrupt halt when on one of its jumps it landed on the line breaking it. The lines went back in, we hadn’t gone much further when the ‘Pakula Lumo’ was hit again but again this ended in tragedy when after a short fight the swivel was straightened. We ended the day losing another much bigger Blue which after taking the ‘Fallen Angel’ on the shot gun, just fell off the hooks, how they can do that constantly amazes me, and tagging a small Black in 200 fathoms. At least I’d found where I was going to fish during the ‘Shoot Out’.

The week-end came, the weather was not the best but we took off for the grounds an hour away. We put the Pakula’s in just short of the shelf in 25 degrees of beautiful water. A few boats were working some bait just on the edge but seeing no apparent action I continued to where we’d been the day before on a nice down hill run. It didn’t take long before the ‘Lumo’ was hit but no hook up, a few second later the ‘Fallen Angel’ on the shot gun was taken and after the usual screaming run charged the boat and went deep dogging it out for some time before Marchello worked it back to the boat where it was dutifully tagged. I’d definitely found a hot spot because in short time we tagged another two Blues, one on a ‘Lumo’ and the other on the ‘Fallen Angel’ all three being between 140 and 170 kilo’s. The crew of new comers were stoked having never experienced anything like it.

Day two of the ‘Shoot Out’ started and we were raring to go, we knew we were leading the competition now all we had to do was stay ahead, catch another couple of fish and we were assured of winning. Seemed easy after our success the previous day but old Murphy was watching; I couldn’t raise a scale and in the area I’d been fishing the day before there were now ten boats, the only fish we saw were on other peoples lines. A few other boats had tagged two fish and lots had one. All day long we were waiting for someone to over take us – to say it was a long frustrating day was a major understatement.

However we did prevail and the crew of Wayhu, Daniel, George and Marchello with the help of Pat received a great introduction to Tournament fishing.

Tight lines,
Ivan

Though the Blacks are here, in close at Port Stephens, they are proving difficult to locate and even more difficult to coax onto the hook, at least for the majority of us. Perseverance is one of the keys to success but there are a few skippers who have the system wired, catching fish regularly while most of us struggle.

So after a couple of days chasing the small Blacks from the Gibber to Anna Bay the frustration overtook me and I went out wide. I was told the water was dirty and hot, up to 28 degrees and running hard to the South but I wanted to see for myself.

At about 75 fathoms after the water had gone through several shades of colour from green to Blue-green  it started to clear up and went the colour we love to see. I put the gear in at 8o fathoms in 26 degrees and headed East. Over the edge there must have been a different current running because the sea really picked up becoming short and steep much to the dislike of the clients.

Bird life was increasing and flying fish were everywhere as we continued out, the temperature now 27 degrees, then as I had been anxiously anticipating we had a crashing strike on the shot gun – its amazing how quickly sea sickness can be cured, at least temporarily. After a typical Blue Marlin fight we had it boat side and released a 130 kg fish.

The boys were happy, the seasickness came back and it was time to go home…

Tight lines,
Ivan

The good news is that the Black Marlin have moved into Port Stephens and some much bigger than the 30 to 40 kilo models you’d normally expect, the bad news is they are here one day and gone the next. Well maybe not quite gone but they do require a bit of searching and a lot of perseverance to catch them, it pays to keep your ear to the ground.

Over the week-end one boat,  ‘Calypso’, tagged 6 out of seven another couple of boats got three’s and most boats at least came into contact with them. There is no point saying where the fish were caught since I don’t think they were found in the same place two days in a row but they were anywhere from Seal Rocks down to past the lighthouse. Also, they are definitely only biting half heartedly thus hard to get a solid hook up – some would say the green toads might have something to do with it.

Out wide the water is still green, very warm and running down the coast at over 3 knots which is not really conducive to the building of bait schools at places like the ‘Car Park’. I dare say that if you ventured way out wide and found the blue water you could run into a Blue or two.

However being the eternally optimistic fisherman this will change ; when is another question, until then…

Tight lines,
Ivan