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Ambition Report 26th.June’23

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Yellowfin Tuna…

 

The Sydney tuna run is coming. With a much-awaited moderation in the weather and reports of the Sydney Tuna with Yellowfin North of us and Bluefin to the South with both groups getting closer I had to get out there.
Colins Yellowfin
Colins Yellowfin
The plan was to head East around to where there was some interesting looking water around Heatons. Out there a cooler Northerly current was eddying on the Eastern edge of a warmer tongue of water from the North, all looking very fishy in theory.
Colins Yellowfin
Colins Yellowfin
We put the lures in at eighty fathoms after dodging all the whales, there’s always the chance of a Striped Marlin around the shelf and headed out.
Colin's Yellowfin
Colin’s Yellowfin
As it was we didn’t encounter anything on the way and as you can see or rather hear in the video below the wind was howling. When we reached the warmer water, the conflicting currents caused the already uncomfortable sea to stand up. To my great surprise there were a couple of smaller boats out there too – I know I wouldn’t have been there in those conditions in a boat smaller than mine – hell, I didn’t even like it in mine.
We spent a little time in the area but there was neither bird activity nor bait so I picked a relatively comfortable course and started heading inshore. On the way I heard one boat say they had caught a couple of Albacore wide of Heatons, another had caught a Yellowfin somewhere inside Heatons yet another had caught a Spearfish wide of the Bait Station. Oddly enough it was the third Spearfish I’ve heard of recently…strange times.
On the way Home…
To cut a long story short I was trolling towards the Bait Station when if five hundred fathoms we were rudely awakened by three rods screaming off. Fortunately, since there were only three of us on board, myself the client and my deckhand, one dropped off. Rob took one of the rods and muscled the Yellowfin to the boat in ten minutes while Colin kept tension on his fish keeping it out of the way until the other was landed. Colin took a little longer but he duly brought his fish to the gaff.
So, an interesting day with a good result and hopefully the start of a good Tuna season. The Bluefin aren’t far away and there are enough Yellowfin to make it interesting.
Inshore there are Kings on the reefs and in the harbour and for those in the know some good Snapper too.
So, get on out there…
Tightlines,
Ivan
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Ambition report 11th.September’22

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Yellowfin.

Well it did turn out to be a good day for Yellowfin. Not so much weatherwise though.

Yellowfin
Yellowfin
We had a shot early for Kingfish but it must have been too early for them. We only had jigs and eventually managed to lose what seemed to be a good fish.
So, it was offshore we went. The wind was blowing around 15 to 20 knots from the South-West but predicted to ease early in the afternoon. However, as we approached the shelf and the nearly 2 knot Northerly current the resonable swell turned into some really steep nasties. Conditions didn’t seem to be worrying the guys so I continued out and just then had a take on the shotgun. At first I thought it was just a Stripy but it turned out to be a Yellowfin of about 7kilo’s, enough incentive to keep on going.
Yellowfin
Yellowfin

Sometime later we had a much more solid hit on the lumo. This fish gave the angler a bit of a workout; using a new set of muscles. After a decent fight we gaffed a Yellowfin of about 25 kilo’s. There was no turning back now and fortunately the wind was easing, it was still very rocky and rolly but definitely backing off.

Yellowfin
Yellowfin
 It wasn’t too much later that the rigger went off again and this was a very much bigger fish taking a screamer of a run. Then before I could slow down the flat line took off, again a screamer. Sadly, the second fish dropped off after a few minutes but the other one was still going. It took a while and a toll on the angler but after twenty odd minutes we had our third Yellowfin, this one about 35 kilo’s.
So, what started out with an interesting sunrise turned into a great if not uncomfortable day’s fishing. Interestingly all the fish were blind strikes without any bird activity. But I guess it did show that the rough days are the good ones, at least for Yellowfin.
Tight lines,
Ivan
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Ambition report 23rd.May’22

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Friday
Due to the weather I’d been looking forward to getting out for a while now. What with the weather opportunities have been rare. But a last minute call on Thursday had us on our way.
Although the weather forecast looked good on paper, reality was a whole new ball game. We were met with a reasonable swell from the South and East with an unreasonable current from the North as well as the occasional squall generated by the rain all together making for a terribly unreasonable sea; very short and steep.
The guys did well to stay out and though we didn’t get the whole day in went home with a good feed of Mahi Mahi.
Mahi Mahi
Mahi Mahi
Saturday
It was a shame we didn’t make it to the wide grounds since even at the 12 Mile the sea temperature was 24 degrees.

I went out again yesterday, fortunately sea and wind had abated considerably however it was still fairly uncomfortable. We put in a shot for Kings at the Peak without doing any good so moved out to the FAD. There was at least a 1.5 knot current from the North running past the FAD but conditions weren’t bad and we caught several Mahi Mahi in the 80 to 90 cm. range.

Rob 's Yellowfin
Rob ‘s Yellowfin

Now it was time to at last go wide. The lures were put in straight away since Jamie from ‘Carnage’ had dropped a Striped Marlin in eighty fathoms the day before and we trolled out to Browns where there were a couple of boats fishing the bottom. We trolled a Striped tuna lure and caught a couple but sadly that was all.

Stripy
Stripy
I trolled out to a thousand fathoms without seeing much at, only the occasional Gannet and Albatross. But then as luck would have it out of the blue the Brad’J took off at a thousand miles an hour stripping off over two hundred metres in seconds. Then the unthinkable…there are many ways to lose a fish. The angler thinking he could slow the fish down by putting applying more pressure went straight to sun-set…with the inevitable result.
Our first thought was that it had been a Blue Marlin but when we examined the line there was no sign of chafing so we surmise it may have been a good sized Yellowfin…sadly history now.
The water still looks fabulous out there and I feel there is a lot left of this incredibly bad season…but then again you’ve got to be optimistic.
Tight lines,
Ivan
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Ambition report 18th.April’22

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Mahi Mahi

Yesterday in perfect conditions I took Brian, his father and his two young sons out fishing. They were visiting from America and wanted to experience Game Fishing. Sadly, they didn’t get the full experience though they did enjoy the day and succeeding in taking home a nice feed of Mahi Mahi.

Mahi Mahi
Mahi Mahi
The aim was to get out to the warm current the charts were showing running south behind Browns.
 
Leaving the harbour the water was a very dirty green. I had expected the water to clear up around the 12 mile but it was only slightly better, being what I call ‘clean green’ and slightly warmer. At ninety fathoms it was improving but strangely whereas I hadn’t noticed any floating debris in the water up until now between eighty and ninety fathoms there was a lots of it, ranging in size from small twigs to decent sized branches, a time for caution.
 
Hot Currents…

Finally, in about 120 fathoms the water went that ‘beautiful blue’ we want to see and the temperature reached 25 degrees with the current running South at 2.5 knots. It was a slow transition up to the 25 degrees and in it we caught a big striped tuna, close to 9 kilo’s, that put on
good show for Brian, lucky they don’t grow to Yellowfin proportions.

Mahi Mahi
Mahi Mahi
 
We did cover a lot of water, going out to a thousand fathoms, down the thousand fathom line, back into Browns, up the shelf, down the shelf and finally back into the 12 mile. We did catch several Mahi Mahi on our travels, all in the middle of nowhere and curiously none around any floating material. There were also lots of Dolphins but they weren’t stopping just travelling North.
 
On the radio I did hear of what was described as a big Striped Marlin but it was taken off Shellharbour. In fact I heard nothing locally the whole day and only saw two other boats out wide.
 
So that was the day, a nice feed some great weather and good company, what more could you ask for – would a marlin or two be too much !!
 
Tight lines,
Ivan
 
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Ambition report 30th.March’22

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La Nina
Big Blue
Big Blue
To say that this year’s ‘La Nina’ event has caused unmitigated disruption would be a monstrous understatement. Other than the floods and onshore destruction it has affected the fishery all the way down the coast. The flooding pushing water like mud out to the shelf and down the coast bringing down huge amounts of debris. Consequently, making the need for great caution while travelling offshore. I know I am not the only one but I have never seen anything like this summer that was. By far the worst fishing I have experienced. Even when the weather did clear, you had to be either very good or very lucky to find anything.
Stripy
Stripy
As with all things time fixes all and though the water has cleared a fair bit there is still a lot of debris being carried in the currents. One boat travelling down from Port Stephens reported a huge tree which they saw only because as it rolled in the sea a branch rose above the surface. They said the tree was huge.
Over the last couple of weeks the Marlin fishing has been improving up around Port Stephens. And it appears the fish are moving South.
‘Reef Magic’ travelling down from Port Stephens raised several fish and tagged three Striped Marlin and a Black, another boat ‘Riverview’ was pack attacked, haveing four or five Marlin hitting their lures. All this action happened at the Norah Canyons.
So, it would appear the bite is moving South and with a bit of luck arrive on our doorstep to coincide with the ‘Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament’ run by the Sydney Game Fishing Club. Entry forms available from the club’s web site www.sgfc.com.au
Peter Goadby Memorial
Peter Goadby Memorial
Autumn
Additionally, and historically, Autumn has been the best time to fish for big fish off Sydney. Especially for big Blue Marlin but there are also the bigger Striped Marlin, Mahi Mahi and even Wahoo and Spearfish.
Nearly every year the ‘PG Tournament’ capture section is won by Blues over two hundred kilo’s with fish over three hundred kilo’s regularly encountered.
With bad weather predicted until early next week chances are that the Tournament weekend will be good and the fish up North will be here, I hope !
Tight lines,
Ivan
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Ambition report 15th.March’22

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Autumn Sydney Blues…

After all the bad weather and floods of the last few weeks Sydney Blues took new meaning last weekend. This time of year usually heralds the arrival of Sydney Blues, that is Blue Marlin. If you look at the results of the Sydney Game Fishing Club’s annual ‘Peter Goadby Tournament’ which is coming up soon, you’ll find it has been dominated by big Blue Marlin, fish over 200 kilo’s with more than a few over 300 kilo’s.

Sydney Blue Marlin
Sydney Blue Marlin

On Saturday I took Leina and a few of her girlfriends out in the hope of a Marlin or even a Yellowfin. We went out not knowing what to expect what with all the flooding up and down the coast and the debris being pushed out to sea.

Sydney Blue Marlin
Sydney Blue Marlin

At the heads the water was like mud as expected, but as we worked our way out past twenty fathoms then thirty, forty, fifty and sixty fathoms it was not getting any better but the amount of debris was increasing.

Finally, out near the shelf it started to clear up and by the time we reached a hundred and twenty fathoms we had beautiful clear indigo blue water and 25 degrees. It looked good.

Sydney Blue Marlin
Sydney Blue Marlin

It looked good but there was no life in it. Then one of the girls spotted some birds working. As we got closer I saw Striped Tuna rounding up bait. We worked the area until the action dispersed and only catching some Stripies. Later on I was told over the radio by someone who’s boat’s name I can’t remember that they had caught a good sized Blue Marlin near Browns. We however had no more luck and turned for home.

On Sunday we had Scott and some of his friends. Little did they know what was in store for them.

Dirty Water…

Because of all the debris I trolled out and was surprised to find the Blue water had moved in to the eighty fathom line. We continued on seeing nothing but the occasional tree and pillow etc.

In about seven hundred fathoms I saw some Dolphins that looked like they were feeding so I headed towards them.  Suddenly the rigger went off and the Tiagra screamed. I looked back to see a really good Blue tearing the water apart; Lumo’s turn to shine. Pandemonium ensued. Scott took the rod and could only hang on as the Blue screamed off. It took over an hour of hard work before Scott got the fish boat side and we got a better idea of how big it was. Meantime poor Scott was f—–ed and could hardly move. He had done a great job and will probably suffer tomorrow.

Meanwhile we continued on hoping for another bite but no luck other than a couple of Mahi Mahi we found near the edge of the Blue and Brown water.

Generally speaking from now and hopefully until mid-May we see the biggest of species. Blue and Striped Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna and Mahi Mahi along with Wahoo and Spearfish. What they may lack in numbers they make up in size.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition Report 3rd.March’22

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Fishing Port Stephens…

Fishing Port Stephens was really tough this season. The main problem being the lack of bait, the big schools of Slimey Mackerel were not on their usual grounds, either inshore or offshore. Also, along with the lack of bait the juvenile Black Marlin had not shown up in their normal numbers. Offshore the Southerly current racing along at 3.5 to 4 knots and water temperatures up to 29 degrees Centigrade in early February was unheard of. However, it did come down to a more reasonable 26-27 degrees later in the month.

Port Stephens 2022
Striped Marlin…
Rough Seas…

There were those who persisted with the inshore fishery chasing the Blacks going far and wide in search of their quarry. Some of the more experienced fishermen did manage a few fish but they were far from consistent.

Fishing Port Stephens
Ron doing his thing…

To top off the lack of inshore Blacks, the weather didn’t help for those going wider chasing Stripes and Blues. The first day of the Garmin Shootout was very rough. So, once you reached the 3.5 to 4 knot Southerly current pushing into a 20 to 25 knot South-Easter the sea, with a 3 to 4 metre swell on it just stood up. Consequently lots of boats returned to Port and but some persisting inshore.

Ron doing his thing...
Ron doing his thing…

Fortunately, the sea eased off after that first day, but the fishing didn’t get much better. Those that put in the hard yards got results and there were some really good catches made. However, it was only on the last day of the Interclub Tournament that fishing got significantly better. And the last few hours saw a marked increase in the fishing results both inshore and offshore.

Incidentally, the winning T&R boat for the Interclub was ‘Doghouse’ with a number of Blues amongst which were two taken on 15kg. line, I still don’t know how you catch Blue Marlin, especially big ones, on such light line.

Sadly, though the fishing picked up on the Sunday of the Interclub and was looking like returning to the fishing we normally expect at Port the weather has done it again and who knows what we can expect now.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 17th.February’22

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Port Stephens February’22

I have just spent 3 days, 3 very different days due to the varying weather conditions fishing out of Port Stephens. On the first day, last Thursday, because the usual bait gathering areas were virtually devoid of bait I decided to go wide. Levi and Matty were keen to get out there too. To say the weather Gods where kind would have been a gross understatement. But it was the only very calm day I encountered.

On leaving the entrance the water temperature was well over 23 degrees. Incredibly the radio had reported 25 degrees on the One Mile Beach. As it happens in 500 fathoms my sounder registered 28.7 degrees, a photo of which is below.

High Temperature
High Temperature

The water even in close looked fabulous, that deep indigo blue and it was the same all the way out, only the temperature changing.

I put the lures in at 80 fathoms in ideal great conditions. Even though I hadn’t seen any sign of life all the way out expectation was high. We trolled East to the second drop off then North towards Almark. A couple of times I noticed Mutton birds working around  what appeared to be Frigate Mackerel feeding  near plankton lines. I worked them for a while all to no avail then continued on. Then the shotgun let go in a screaming run. Bloody ‘Brad’ had done it again. After a good fight which taught Matty how tough being on the rod can be we got the fish, a nice Blue, to the boat were we swam it and let it go.

Blue Marlin
Blue Marlin

Friday and Saturday we didn’t fish due to the weather. On Sunday it was still pretty lively but predicted to ease. As a result I decided to give the inshore fishery a go. As expected live bait was hard to find but we did manage some. We put out some small lures and trolled up to the lighthouse then out to the FAD where we used some of the live bait to catch some Dollies, then back into Broughton. We did get more Dollies, some so small I don’t know how they ate the lures. Surprisingly we also caught a small Yellowfin.

So, after experiencing the inshore and seeing the results of those much more skilled on the inshore reefs than I it was back to the wide grounds.

It was Tony’s turn to catch a fish. I trolled out from the FAD and again not seeing much sign of life. We were in about 350 fathoms when again ‘Brad’ took off. All was looking good until the Marlin charged the boat and the hook just fell out. I could go into a long story about having banana’s on board and Tony saying that that was why we lost the fish. I don’t really think he believed me that banana phobia is bunkum until we hooked another Blue. This one came in and hit ‘Evil’ on the short corner first, missed, and went out taking ‘Brad’ on the way. This one put up a great fight and really made poor Tony work. He did a great job getting it to the boat where we took photo’s and let the Blue go.

In summary, though the fishing was tough they are there to be found. It appears that there are Small Black just North of Port and a few more being taken around Seal Rocks.
To me it looks as though the stage is set, we just need the proverbial actors. If and when the current eases as predicted the bait will build up and it will take off, I hope.

www.ambitioncharters.com.au

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition Report 11th. January’22

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The weather looked too good to pass up yesterday. That, together with reports of Marlin and good-sized Mahi Mahi was enough for me to do a social day. I generally do these when I’m desperate to get out to sea.

We, Warren Knight, Elliot Wasserman and I headed out on a beautiful morning planning to try for  Black Marlin and good-sized Mahi Mahi in close then work out wider to see what we could find.

For this time of year the water is remarkably warm, so I thought the Blacks should be here, showing 23.8C at the Heads. Out across the Whale and the Wave Rider there was heaps of bait, but nothing was tempted by the Pakula’s out the back.

We worked out over the 12 Mile and again so much bait that you would have thought this would be Marlin heaven. We continued out towards Browns and in 80 fathoms the bait was stacked up, showing all the signs of being under attack. However, after a fruitless half hour with no action I moved on. At Browns the water looked a little greenish and the temperature near 25 degrees Centigrade, so I headed back inshore to try and find the temperature break. There was no well-defined break but in eighty fathoms the water was a lot clearer and bluer so I worked North zigzagging between the shelf and eighty fathoms.

The first strike came on the shotgun. The Marlin ran about fifty metres and dropped the lure, typical Stripy. Frustrating indeed but at least there was one Marlin about. Continuing on, a short while later another hit on the shotgun. Elliot took the rod while Warren started clearing the lines. As luck would have it another Marlin hit the short corner while Warren was winding it in, double hookup. Sadly, Elliot’s fish dropped the lure after five minutes but Warren’s was going hell for leather.

Ultimately, we got Warren’s Stripy to the boat and it gained its freedom in what is called a ‘Çharter Boat Release’ sadly losing one of my favourite lures in the process.

Continuing on we had another strike on the rigger. It hit while Warren was putting the line up and received a nasty cut, probably lucky that the fish didn’t hook up.

We’d all had a good time and were feeling the effects of the sun and the humidity so I turned for home and just then we had another strike and another Stripy was greyhounding  heading for the horizon. This fish fought like a demon and gave Elliot a really hard time   but he persevered and brought the Stripy to the boat were Warren tagged it.

A great end to a good day.

Something I find intriguing with regard to bait and bait schools is that there is obviously a time when staying with the bait is the thing to do. But on many occasions the fish are well away from the bait decisions, decisions.

Tightlines,
Ivan

Weather and Sea State :

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Fishing Tackle :

Pakula Tackle
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Otto’s Tackle
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Electronics :

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Ambition report 17th. February’21

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At Port Stephens  Black Marlin are the name of the game at present.
The Port Stephens Black Marlin of varying  sizes are chasing bait on the inner reefs. A lot of anglers expecting to find the usual inshore run of 20 to 30 kilo’s fish are being beaten on light tackle by Blacks  getting up to 80kgs. with reports of even larger fish too.
Mel first Port Stephens Black......
Mel first Black……
Sadly, I think mostly because of the weather, the offshore scene is bit of an unknown. A few boats have ventured out wide but not with any great success. Further South, around the Norah Canyons, the results are a little better though still not what we would expect at this time of year.
Troy's first Port Stephens Black......
Troy’s first Black……

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next two weeks with many boats fishing the local tournaments here at Port Stephens.

If the weather doesn’t stabalise there will be an awful lot of boats on those inshore reefs.
I for one can’t wait to go out wide…
Tight lines,
Ivan