I fished on Friday and Sunday and both days had nothing in common at all.
On Friday I had the gun jigging crew on board. Thien ( Timpon ) and his friends who can jig like machines all day long. It’s tiring just watching them. However this day we were chasing those Yellowfin. After hearing the report from Bushy about the ‘fin just South of Sydney and some wide off Broken Bay we had to give it a shot.
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t very kind with a South-Wester doing its best to blow us off the water and make us as miserable as possible.
The first stop was to warm up with a jigging session chasing Kingfish. However the gusting wind was making it difficult to control the drift. After a frustrating half hour the attraction of Yellowfin out wide won out so off we went. We trolled for a few hours making it to the thousand fathom line with no sign of activity. No birds, no temp breaks and no info from other boats. We were on our own.
Then in the distance I spotted something red floating. So I we went to investigate. As we got closer I could see it was a couple of very large red buoys apparently holding up something very heavy. My first thought was that it was a long line float but there was neither a radio beacon nor any identifying markings. Also there were no other floats in the surrounding area – a mystery.
We passed by the floats and I presented the lures as close as I dared. A double strike took us all by surprise. The water was green and only 18.5 degrees and we were hooked up to two Mahi Mahi. We managed to land one of around 6 kilo’s which was a good effort in those seas.
After a few more fruitless hours trolling with only one Mahi Mahi to show we decided to give the Kings another shot. By now the wind had eased to only 15 to 20 knots.
At the reef the sounder revealed a lot more activity than it had in the morning. The drift was a lot more manageable and the Kings started to come aboard. At the same time a school of Bonito showed up consequently if the jig missed out on a King a tasty Bonito was to be had. However there was still the ever present danger of Leatherjackets to steal the jigs.
I didn’t go out on Saturday. The weather was supposed to ease through the day but with Sunday looking so much better I postponed the outing.
Sunday dawned a perfect day. Simon Fisher had fished on Saturday and talked of Yellowfin out wide and of losing a Blue Marlin. We went out with great expectations on a magic day.
I started trolling near the shelf. Gannets were diving on schools of Slimy Mackerel and Dolphins were harassing them from below. The whole area was alive. We worked the area for a while only catching Striped Tuna, but big Striped tuna. From what I gathered over the radio nearly every boat out there saw a Marlin. Unfortunately no one actually caught one in our area but Ed Ingram on his boat ‘Hold Up’ managed a very out of season Spearfish (pictured). It was also one of the biggest I’ve seen. Peter Pakula caught one on my boat a few years ago weighing 32.5 kilo’s .
It was only on our way home in about 300 fathoms we encountered our Marlin. As is usual for the species it ripped off some line without hooking up then a few minutes later had another go. This time we thought t was hooked but after a reasonable run it just simply dropped off.
So, though no one found any Yellowfin so many Marlin appearing and so much bait building on the shelf is gratifying. The water is warming and the EAC getting stronger. You just have to be optimistic about this upcoming season. Especially with so many juvenile Blacks up North.
Tight lines,
Ivan
Last Friday and Saturday there was still a good bite around Sydney though the fish were still hard to find a few boats found the Bluefin and Albacore wide of Browns out around Heatons and down to the Southern canyons strangely there were even some Mahi Mahi caught with more than one boat encountering Marlin.
On checking the SST’s and seeing that the current had dropped off and that there was a fairly strong Southerly current 35 to 40 miles out I thought Yellowfin might make a showing. It was a real surprise when ‘Phat Cat’ ( I think that was the boat ) called in with a six way hookup on Southern Blues and to his credit transmitting his position on the radio. I would be most surprised if most thought it was a hoax call as the usual radio idiots were out in force. However it didn’t take long to realise it wasn’t a hoax call and several boats headed out to the area where a couple of them got onto the fish. I unfortunately couldn’t get out there due to my group having to be back early.
We started by trolling the cliffs to catch some fresh bait in the form of Bonito then have a few drifts on the Flathead grounds. All went to plan and before long we had some good Flatties in the esky and were off to Browns for some Gemmies.
We started our drift at around 4pm. when after about an hour Mark had a hit but after a short fight lost it then a short time later Rob had the same thing happen. It went quiet for a while then out of nowhere this big shark cruised up to the boat. I still can’t say whether it was a Mako or a White. I guessed it to have been 300 to 400 kilo’s in weight. We never got to see its teeth to be certain of its identity but going by it colour I’d say it was a White.
The shark stayed with us for 15 to 20 minutes before disappearing to where ever it came from. I guess that was the cue because soon after it left we caught our first Alby and the action was on. It wasn’t a mad rush more an steady flow with all on board catching a fish or two with the occasional loss also.
Due to the weather and the apparent lack of anything around Sydney for the last little while most boats stayed in close looking for numbers of small fish to tag in the dead calm conditions. They weren’t too disappointed for even though the fish were fairly localised those who found them enjoyed good results. There was a fringe benefit for those chasing the small fish in that they enjoyed a good bycatch of Snapper, Flathead and other assorted bottom fish.