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Fishing Reports

Ambition Report 19th.August’24

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Tuna  …

It seems like forever since I last wrote a report. Being overseas and then experiencing a rather unfriendly virus causing me to miss a lot of fishing days not to mention probably the best run of Bluefin Tuna off Sydney in recent years as well as Yellowfin, that didn’t help my reporting either.

Colin's Yellowfin
Colin’s Yellowfin

Well, the Bluefin seem to have moved on, pushed out by the warmer water moving down the coast. However, some good-sized Yellowfin turned up to replace them but at present they seem to have moved on too. The Yellowfin do come and go depending on the currents but from my records they should be coming and going for the next few months. Sadly, by the time most people hear about them it’s too late they are gone.

 Yellowfin off Sydney
Yellowfin off Sydney

On a more positive note, I have heard reports of Yellowfin further up the coast and with a bit of luck they will move down and give us another shot at them. Also, with this warmer water there have been more encounters with Striped Marlin, always a treat. Incidentally the last time I was out, a couple of weeks ago chasing those Yellowfin, I saw a heap of Sauries take to the air and to my surprise they were being chased by Mahi Mahi, who would have thought, Mahi Mahi in August .

The Mighty Yellowfin
The Mighty Yellowfin

So, getting away from the Game Fishing, Kingies are showing up on some of the offshore as well as the regular inshore reefs.

The last time I was out, Browns Mountain looked like the ‘Car Park‘  at Port Stephens  with all the bottom bashers looking for Gemfish and Blue Eye.

Interestingly it has become apparent that with all the boats out there chasing the Bluefin and Yellowfin how few now the boating regulations, most notably about giving way, not to mention just plain courtesy.

Anyway, we’re here to fish,

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Fishing Reports

Ambition report 11th.March’24

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Autumn Fishing has always been the best time of year for Game Fishing out of Sydney. Generally speaking, Autumn Fishing is when we encounter the larger fish of the species rather than numbers. Although having said that this Autumn has been exceptional, so far.
Big Blue
Big Blue
Over the last couple of weeks both Blue and Striped Marlin as well as Mahi Mahi have shown up in numbers off Sydney. The Mahi Mahi as is usual are found around the various F.A.D’s with live bait producing the bigger fish, being the first boat at the spot helps as they can become spooky when there is too much boat traffic.
As for the Marlin, they could be anywhere. Usually however, if you find the bait you’ll find the Marlin, but not always. Sometimes you’ll find the bait before the Marlin, as a friend of mine, Steve Baker (Fly By Night) did. He found heaps of bait well North of the ‘Bait Station’, worked it for several hours for no result. The next day Rob Molnar in his boat ‘On Call’ had a blinder of a day raising fourteen Marlin in that same area.
December Mahi Mahi
December Mahi Mahi
On the day Steve found the bait North of the ‘Bait Station’ I was out with Jamie McKay on ‘Ground Swell’ fishing an area a couple of miles South of them where there was scattered bait. We had a great day too. We’d already bagged out on Mahi Mahi and ended up raising eight Marlin of which we tagged three, all Blues ranging from 130 kg. to 180 kg. We should have had two more but for a broken hook and another mishap which I will not go into, if you want more info just ask Jamie.
From what I heard on the radio almost everyone fishing for Marlin over the last week or so have caught or raised Marlin with many being pack attacked by Stripies. Around the shelf area where the bait tends to stack up is where most of the action for them has been.
Browns…
But out around Browns both North and South out to four hundred fathoms there have been Stripies and Blues with the occasional sighting of Yellowfin tuna. Frustratingly Stripies are habitually finicky when it comes to lures and tough to hook so ‘Bait and Switch’, live baiting as well as skipping baits is the most effective method to hook them though teasing them on lures works too.
What to me is most interesting is the water temperature. We were reading 28.5 degrees which I confirmed with other boats. In the past we’d consider 27 degrees too hot and look for cooler water. Yet here we are with a great bite and much hotter water. I suppose one answer is that our on-board gauges have a limited range over which they are accurate. Another potential answer is these above high temperatures are only a surface layer of maybe only a metre or two in depth leaving the bait below in a more comfortable zone.
Well whatever is happening the fishing is great and if it keeps up the S.G.F.C’s annual Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament on the 13th. and 14th. April will be awesome. It is at this tournament where we have regularly weighed Blue Marlin over two hundred kilo’s with several over three hundred kilo’s also Yellowfin tuna over seventy kilo. For those that chase sharks big Tigers are a regular at the weigh station.
So, the Marlin are there and if you don’t go …
Tight lines,
Ivan
Fishing Reports

Ambition report 15th.December’23

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Cuyler's Marlin
Cuyler’s Marlin

I was keen to get out today after being out last Monday when we raised a Striped Marlin but sadly missing the hook up. However I was

surprised today to see how conditions had changed. On Monday the inshore water temperature was around the 23 C which is unusual enough for this time of year but offshore at 300 fathoms I read 25.2 C a temperature more normally found in February and March. Even allowing for error in my temperature guage the STC’s were showing 24.7 C, so it couldn’t have been too far out.

Cuyler's Marlin
Cuyler’s Marlin

Today the inshore waters were a more normal 21.7 degrees but dirty green probably from the rainwater runoff. However offshore, past the shelf, it was still over 24 degrees and a beautiful blue. The colour which induces confidence even if it is unseasonably warm.

We trolled towards Browns where we raised the Marlin on Monday when in roughly the same area the rigger with ‘Pakula Lumo’ took off at a rate of knots. Surprisingly even though both Ron and I were watching the lures neither of us saw the hookup. The Marlin jumped once and just raced off on one huge run leaving poor Cuyler (I hope I got his name right) an awful lot of line to get back.

Cuyler's Marlin
Cuyler’s Marlin

He did eventually get the Marlin which to the boat and released it. Then while Ron was resetting the gear the rigger with ‘Pakula Lumo’ went off again sadly this time it didn’t hook up.

We had another strike later in the day on ‘Brad’ by what I thought was either a Wahoo or a Spearfish but again no hookup. It was only because of the water temperature that I even considered a Wahoo a fish not often seen around Sydney these days.

What this unseasonal warm ( hot ) water might mean to the Sydney fishery is going to be anyone’s guess.

Will it continue to warm up?, seems most likely.
Will it bring more tropical species down here? , hopefully but whether this is good thing or bad thing is another question.
Will is push our Striped Marlin fishery South?, I hope not.

I am sure there are many other questions and likelyhoods but whatever the end result it will be interesting.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Fishing Reports

Ambition report 26th.November’23

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Joe’s Marlin

I took Joe and his wife, from Florida, out last Friday on what turned out to be beautiful day at sea. The sea calm and the rain cleared as we headed out. So off we went out looking for Joe’s Marlin.

Joe's Marlin
Joe’s Marlin

Joe had experience having caught Sailfish and Mahi Mahi in his home waters in the Carribean. However he hadn’t caught a Marlin and that was his ambition, no pun intended.

So we headed out and after hearing of Mahi Mahi around the FAD’s did a couple of circuits around the Sydney FAD with no result so headed out over the twelve mile to the shelf.

Joe's Marlin
Joe’s Marlin

Just past the twelve the current picked up and the temperature started to climb and the water turning that beautiful blue and 22.5 C.

I started to mark bait around the shelf and out to around 140 fathoms but it was very patch and obviously not being harassed. On approaching Browns I saw another boat and it looked like they were fighting a fish which was confirmed when I saw a Marlin jumping. Turns out it was a boat called ‘HotRod’. Later on they told me that they had a 2.5 metre Blue Marlin on board which had sadly died during the fight.

Joe's Marlin
Joe’s Marlin
Action

Spirits were now high and expectation great. Further out as I was watching the Mutton birds migrating South I could see that some patches were circling and indeed working an area. I concentrated on them for a while and though it was obvious they were on something I couldn’t make out what it was and nothing was marking on the sounder. Subsequently as I move further North I saw several more patches of birds working the same way. I have in the past seen similar behaviour when the Mutton birds were chase Flying fish in that hey scare the fish into taking flight then pounce on them.

Then Ron screamed out Marlin! and there behind the short corner was a Striped Marlin coming up behind ‘Evil’ mouth open and ready to eat. Ron dropped the lure back but no hook up. The Marlin came back onto the lure, Ron teased it a little then dropped it back and this time hooked up and the fish took off.

It was a very stubborn fish and I actually thought it might be a Blue which stayed deep and made Joe really work for it. However, he did eventually get the fish up and we released a good ninety to a hundred kilo Striped Marlin.

It was getting late by then so I turned for home anticipating my next trip out into the blue.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Fishing Reports

Ambition Report 30th.October’23

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Striped Marlin…

At last something to write about – October Marlin. Though over the last couple of weeks a few Striped Marlin have shown up October Marlin start the run, the last couple of times I’ve been out have been a misery of bad weather with cold and green water. Though there was plenty of bait around there was little if any bird activity… the water just seemed dead.

Mark's Marlin
Mark’s Marlin

Yesterday was a whole different kettle of fish, no pun intended. I headed out towards Browns put the gear in at the Twelve Mile, trolling out from there. The water wasn’t a great colour but at least it wasn’t that dirty green and the temperature was increasing with the current coming in from the East and the bait was building up.

Mark's Marlin
Mark’s Marlin

I was several miles North of Browns when I saw a heap of birds working, they weren’t going South with their migrating mates. It took a fair while to catch up to them since out there the current was going North and with the Northerly wind it made for a less than comfortable ride. I did catch up eventually and found they were chasing a school of Striped Tuna one of which took old ‘Brad’.

Yellowfin Tuna…

I decided then to go downwind to Browns to ease the pain for one of the guys who was not feeling very well. As it so happened after only a few minutes we had a double strike on the riggers with ‘Lumo’ and ‘Illusion’ hooked up on Yellowfin. The fish were around twenty to twenty-five kilo’s. We got one in but sadly lost the other at the boat when it took a last desperate run.

On the radio I heard there were a couple of boats around the ‘Bait Station’ and that they were working over large schools of bait. I stayed out in the deep water hoping to find the Yellowfin again. As I went North the temperature increased and the current swung more to the East. I didn’t find the ‘fin again but around mid-day a solid strike on ‘Lumo’ resulted in a good-sized Striped Marlin charging in at the boat. We actually thought it was coming aboard when it slammed into the starboard corner forcing Mark to duck for cover. It was a very active fish and Ace who had been very sick all day had to hand the rod over to Mark who brought it to boat.

I kept trolling North to give us a better run home and on the way marked incredible amounts of bait, the sounder virtually blacking out. Then again from eighty five to sixty fathom found birds and dolphins rounding the bait up.

With all the bait out there and with that warm Southerly current pushing down it can’t possibly be too long before the scene comes alive. Optimistic! maybe, too optimistic! probably but you never never know.

I also had confirmation from Rob the owner of ‘On Call’ that they had caught a good-sized Mahi Mahi and saw a couple of Striped Marlin wide of the shelf on Sunday too.  This reminds me that over the years large Mahi Mahi have become a common capture during November. To me indicating the warm edge is not far away.

Tight Lines,
Ivan

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Fishing Reports

Ambition report 14th.September’23

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Daniel’s Group…

I went out yesterday with Daniel’s Group, American soldiers here for the exercises, again not really confident, especially after looking at the SST charts. They were not showing any real feature. No temperature breaks, in fact hardly any temperature variation between shore and a thousand fathoms. The only reasonable feature being the zero line was reachable.

Daniel's Yellowfin
Daniel’s Yellowfin
Anyway, I went out despite the SST’s hoping that because of their low resolution I’d be able to find something to work with.

We put the lures in at the Twelve Mile, always the chance of an early season Marlin there, and worked our way out. As I neared the shelf I got a call from ‘Finfinder’ telling me they had landed a Yellowfin of around fifteen kilo’s wide of Browns. Well, that was incentive enough and I headed off that way.

Whales and Dolphins

There were plenty of Whales, Dolphins and Pilot Whales to see but bait and birds were scarce. Still we continued on getting out to the thousand fathom line sadly with no result, so headed back in.

On the way in I saw a ‘bust up’ but by the time I got there it was all over. I worked the area for a while however they never came up again so continued on my merry way. ‘Finfinder’ had also found nothing out wider so was also on their way back in. Just as I noticed them on the horizon I saw another ‘bust up’ and this one was close by, as I skirted the area we hooked up. I called ‘Finfinder’ in and within minutes they also hooked up. Both fish eventually landed and both roughly the same size, 25 to 30 kilo’s.
Interestingly the Yellowfin we caught had been eating Sauries which were hardly digested. Yet in all the time we trolled the area we never saw a single sign of Sauries.
We both worked the area for quite a while with no result.
So, there are still some Yellowfin around and should make it interesting for this week-end’s Sydney Game Fishing Club’s Monster Mako Tournament since there is a major prize for both the biggest and most tagged Yellowfin.
Tight lines,
Ivan

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Fishing Reports

Ambition Report 9th.September’23

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September Yellowfin…

Went out last Thursday with Chuck, his wife and son on board from New York State chasing September Yellowfin. I was not very optimistic about the day. The weather wasn’t as good as expected in fact verging on horrible and recent fishing reports were hopeless. There were a few Yellowfin off Kiama and further South and the Marlin and Yellowfin reports I’d heard from the Port Stephens area had dried up. However, on the way out I did hear a couple of boats fishing inshore catching what sounded like some good Snapper.

September Yellowfin
September Yellowfin

When I went past the 12 mile there was one boat there and with the North Easterly already doing fifteen to eighteen knots and the residual sea from the day before it wasn’t pleasant, so I can’t imagine they stayed there for very long.

September Yellowfin
September Yellowfin

Chuck and his family were still happy to be there, so we continued on. I went North to at least get a comfortable ride home. It really wasn’t looking good. No bait schools around the shelf, no birdlife to mention and only eighteen degrees water temperature with no breaks, but there were lots of whales.

September Yellowfin
September Yellowfin
Unseasonal MahiMahi…

I got a huge surprise when in two hundred fathoms the rigger went off with what appeared to be a good fish running hard, sadly it dropped off just as quickly. Then in around three hundred fathoms I saw a heap of Gannets sitting on the water with some occasionally diving in. As we drew closer I saw there was a big block of wood with a big Mako lying under it, a good sign for next weekend’s Mako Tournament. I passed the lures close to the block of wood and to my surprise a school of Mahi Mahi charged in. The SST was only eighteen degrees and the water green. We ended up with two nice Mahi Mahi before they spooked. I worked the area for a while but nothing else appeard.

Further on we got a good hit on the shotgun and line screamed off, this was a Yellowfin. After a good fight Chuck’s son brought it to gaff for a very happy and tired angler.

And so ended the day. The wind had picked up to over twenty knots and the decision was made to head for home – nice down hill run it was too.

That’s how it goes what looked like it was going to be a futile day ended well with the guys catching their biggest fish and something to eat to boot.

Tightlines,
Ivan


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Fishing Reports

Ambition report 17th.August’23

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It is fair to say that this winter’s fishing has been unusual to say the least. Earlier on, just a few weeks ago we had a run of big Yellowfin, what I have heard called the Fijian Yellowfin. It would be interesting to know if these fish have actually come in on a current of tropical origin, i.e. Fijian Yellowfin, it would go a long way into explaining the appearance of some of the other warm water fish we have seen lately.

Winter Yellowfin
Winter Yellowfin

At the same time as these Yellowfin, I will call them the Fijian Yellowfin, turned up we experienced a very short run of Bluefin with several over one hundred kilo’s caught. Yet at the same time there were a couple of Blue Marlin and Striped Marlin taken, sighting of Mahi Mahi and the weirdest of all more than a few Spearfish caught. So, a strange mix of warm and cold water species.

Winter Yellowfin

At present we are catching smaller Yellowfin in the twenty five to forty kilo range though a couple of bigger ones have been taken. In the past these smaller fish were found in large schools, often busting up, and when you found them you’d get multiple hook-ups. However, lately to find the fish you have to cover a lot of ground and the hook-ups are from blind strikes in the middle of nowhere with little if any bird activity to indicate their presence.

The last time I was out, a couple of days ago, we caught a couple of thirty kilo ‘fin. The first in three hundred fathoms South-East of Browns and the second in seven hundred fathoms on the same line. There were few birds around in fact for all intents and purposes the area looked barren. What was of interest was that the fish had been eating what looked like baby octopus or squid, hard to tell at the size they were, about two centimetres long and transparent. It amazed me that the fish were feeding on really small bait and yet still took old ‘Brad’.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 2nd.July’23

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Sydney Yellowfin Tuna…

Sydney Yellowfin tuna have been showing up in reasonable number. Everyone want to have a go at these Sydney Yellowfin tuna.

After checking the weather reports and seeing three different scenarios I thought I’d give Mikko and his friends the option to postpone. However, the lure of the fish ruled and the decision was made to go on out and see what the weather does. Exactly what we used to do before ( in the old days ) before everyone had computers and GPS.

Mikko and Yellowfin
Mikko and Yellowfin

The plan was to head out to where some fairly slack water was edging up to a slightly warmer and faster Southerly current.

Mikko and Yellowfin
Mikko and Yellowfin

When we headed out the weather was quite good but at around 10:30 the South Wester started to show it teeth and that combined with a building Southerly swell in the warmer water made it quite ugly.

I worked the edge for a while unsuccessfully and since couple of the guys were decidedly green I moved back into the slack water which was marginally calmer and headed to where we had caught the fish on the last trip. We had just reached the general area when we had a double hook up. It’s amazing what a shot of adrenalin can do. All hands were on deck and ready to go. The rough sea made it tough going but both fish around the 30 to 40 kilo’s mark were brought in.

Rising Seas…

Meanwhile the South-Easter had dropped off a little so I headed back out to sea and was rewarded with another double hookup and almost twin Yellowfin of the previous pair were brought on board. Rob hadn’t even reset the gear when we had another strike and while that was happening something grabbed my teaser and was stripping line off the teaser reel. I have never had a Yellowfin do that, plenty have hit the teaser but none have tried to escape with it. I guessed it might have been a Marlin but not having seen anything, who knows.

In the mean time the wind had turned to the South and picked up again. So, with five Yellowfin aboard and a happy crew I started trolling home.

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Tight lines,
Ivan

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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