Tag Archives: Black Marlin

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

Weather and Sea State :

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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

Weather and Sea State :

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Fishing Tackle :

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Electronics :

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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

Weather and Sea State :

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Fishing Tackle :

Pakula Tackle
Global Tackle
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Electronics :

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Ambition report 24th.March’23

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Rob’s Blue Marlin…

Rob’s Blue Marlin…After the last couple of day’s out and checking the SST charts it was apparent that little had changed. In fact the zero line was still pretty well encompassing Browns and the warmer current still running hard out wide with very little current inside.

Rob's Blue
Rob’s Blue

Maybe it is just me but it seems strange that with such warm water persisting the Dollies are not in the numbers I would have expected. However, reports are saying there are Dollies to be had around the various FAD’s but you have to get there early with live bait preferable.

Anyway, I was after Marlin so headed out to work the zero line planning to go out to the thousand fathoms line, where a lot of fish have been caught recently, later.

Rob's Blue
Rob’s Blue

I put the lures in at the 12 Mile which is always worth a shot and trolled out. The water was 23 C pretty well all the way to the shelf where it slowly started to rise. We started seeing birds in groups obviously looking and occasionally coming together. After spending some time following and working the area it became apparent the Mutton birds were chasing Flying Fish.

Continuing on in the middle of nowhere we had a massive strike on the rigger and Grasshopper took off at a thousand miles an hour. There was no jumping just one long run that threatened to spool us. Could be a Yellowfin was the thought and if it was it was huge. The fish stayed near the surface most of the time going deep occasionally, I thought it had to be a Marlin no Yellowfin I have ever caught has gone this hard.

After nearly an hour Rob brought the fish which indeed turned out to be a Blue Marlin around 140 kilo’s to the boat. Sometime during the fight the line had become wrapped around its pectoral fins, the angle of pull impeding it from jumping. Even worse when my deckie finally took the trace he had little control over the fish. He did win in the end and eventually freed the lure and let the fish go.

We continued out finding more Mutton birds working but they all seemed to be on Flying fish. On the thousand fathom line we got a massive strike leaving a big hole behind Evil on the short corner. The Blue missed the lure but came flying out of the water. If I’d have had a looping camera I would have had a great shot of a 150 plus kilo Blue Marlin high in the air and broadside to the transom but alas.

Shortly afterwards I could just make out a fish following the Illusion. I couldn’t quite make out what it was but after it had had a couple of shots at the lure I figured it was a small Striped Marlin but in retrospect I think it was a Spearfish.

So, with three fish up within the last couple of hours I thought this is going to be a great day. As it happens we saw nothing else for the rest of the day – I guess that’s fishing.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Fishing Tackle :

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Electronics :

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Fishing Reports

Ambition Report 12th.December’22

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Game Fishing December…

We took Zack an American who was basically a freshwater fisherman out on Saturday. He had had no experience at Game Fishing December off Sydney but was keen to give it a go.

The sea was a little joggly as we left the heads but a hell of a lot better than it had been on Friday. There was still a good swell running but it got lower the further out we went and the wind eased giving us beautiful conditions.

Zack's First Marlin
Zack’s First Marlin

We put the lures in fairly close to shore and visited the inshore reefs and FADs in the hope of an early season Black sadly with no result even though there was plenty of bait and the water looked good. Continuing on we reached the shelf still with no action but there was bait in patches down deep and still no bird activity.

Zack's First Marlin
Zack’s First Marlin

In the distance I could see lots of splashes which as we approached turned out to be Dolphins balling up some type of baitfish and charging through them. I worked the area until the action dissipated again with no result.

At Last…

They say all comes to he who waits, but that is also true of those who put the time in.

Zack's First Marlin
Zacks Stripy

I don’t know where I was, lost in some sort of reverie when I nearly jumped out of my skin brought back to reality by Ron yelling… Marlin!

I looked back to see a Striped Marlin hitting the short corner and doing what Stripies do best and missing the lure. But Ron had been trained well and teased the fish to the point where he dropped the lure into its waiting mouth – and we were hooked up solid, some would say at last.

Zack took the rod and for someone who had never used the gear handled it like a pro. The fish was a stubborn one and by the time we released it Zack was as beaten as the fish. He’ll never feel the same about Northern Pike and Muskies.

The only other thing we saw on the day was a very large and very dead Sunfish which I imagine had been hit by something very large.

So that was the day. It was good to come back with a result and knowing there is bait out there hopefully starting the food chain. And hopefully ending a very long fruitless run of fishing.

Tight lines,
Ivan

P.S. : I hadn’t planned on taking  Ambition up to Port Stephens next year for the Marlin season but I have access to another boat and will be available from mid-January until the end of March for charters.

Weather and Sea State :

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Fishing Tackle :

Pakula Tackle
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Melton Tackle
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Electronics :

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Fishing Reports

Fishing December 2022

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Fishing December 2022
How different can two years be ?

Though I can’t compare fishing December 2022 with December 2021, due to Covid and associated lockdowns. Below is a report from December 2020 to show what should be.

In general, so far this year the offshore has been pretty well non-descript.

I did my first charter on a double with Hammerhead Charters off Port Stephens last week. There were substantiated reports of Striped Marlin, Mahi Mahi and Yellowfin and lots of bait in the area the day before I went out. But as luck would have it the weather turned it on on the Friday and we went out into a rising sea and 20 knots of South-Easterly. To the clients credit surprisingly they lasted the whole day.

The warmest water I found was around the FAD , from there on the temperature dropped. Out on the shelf even though it was rough the water looked great but there were only patches of bait and it was all deep and no birds. Hammerhead did manage a 6kg. Mahi Mahi and that was it for the day.

After returning to Sydney I heard that the bait previously reported off Port Stephens had moved down to the Norah Canyons and I later heard there was bait building up on the shelf off Sydney

So it looks like we just need the predators to find their food.

December Reports’20 :-

Reports were coming in of Striped Marlin and some good sized Mahi Mahi around the shelf and the odd Yellowfin further out. So after  I cancelled  a couple of charters because of the Virus I decided I was going out no matter what. I received quick responses from members wanting to join me after a post to the club’s facebook page so all was set.

Unfortunately due to cloud cover the only SST’s available were from several days beforehand but I’d been told the temps were around the 22 to 23 C so it was all systems go.

The forecast was for light winds and calm seas. However  15 to 18 knots is not exactly light winds and the sea was a mess with a residual swell coming from the yesterday’s Southerly. So, that together with the bounce back from the cliffs made for an uncomfortable ride from which one of the crew succumbed.

We put the lures in just short of the shelf and headed out marking bait as we went but it was all deep. One of the boats out there, ‘Grey Goose’ , had already raised a Marlin but no hook-up. Later on a Mako hit one of their lures; it is not uncommon for Mako’s to hit lures and just to prove it wasn’t a fluke they raised another later in the day.

We continued marking bait and found some birds working on what looked like to be Striped tuna but we raised nothing after chasing them for a while. What we did find sadly was that the warmer water had moved out. The best I found was 21.6 C and that after a temperature break of 0.3 C .

It was while working the break that we had a double hook-up. Marlin was the call, but the sight of green and gold told a different story. We landed two good sized Dollies, supper was provided.

December Mahi Mahi
December Mahi Mahi

Several other boats reported hits from Striped Marlin, I think one tagged fish was estimated to weigh only 50 kilo’s. And then it was our turn, the shot gun went off, the Marlin took a bit of line then just dropped off. Damned Stripies, however he was still there following the lure. He/she had at least four other shots and missed each time and eventually lost interest.

We pulled the lure in to check it out and I found the leader chafed for nearly a metre above the lure. I know it happens all the time but it is so frustrating, they obviously know they want the lure but just keep missing it. Maybe they should get some lessons from their Black and Blue cousins.

So, that was the day, a good feed to take home and calm seas for the run.

I have booked in at Port Stephens from the 24th.January until the end of February. Not as long as previous years due to the virus but I hope next year’s season will be as good if not better than this year’s. So, if you do want to catch a Marlin, Port Stephens is the place to do it…

Tight lines,
Ivan

Weather and Sea State :

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Ripcharts
C.S.I.R.O.
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Fishing Tackle :

Pakula Tackle
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Electronics :

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Ambition report 16th. November’22

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November Offshore :-
Sydney Blue Marlin
Sydney Blue Marlin

It’s November offshore and it feels like forever since I have had anything to write about and I suppose in all fairness I still don’t have anything much to report.

Sydney Blue Marlin
Sydney Blue Marlin

I will start by saying that I have never experienced the fishing off Sydney to be so bad for such a long period of time. Sadly, I must say that in our last five or six outings, covering on average around eighty nautical miles a day and out to a thousand fathoms, we haven’t, other than a few Kingfish, caught anything more than a few Striped and Mackerel Tuna.

On a brighter note I did hear that for those fishing inshore there are some good Snapper spooking around if you know what you’re doing.

My own theory for the poor pelagic fishery is that the runoff from the floods up and down the coast has affected the normal flow of the offshore currents. The outflows from the rivers have spewed out huge amounts of nutrients creating plankton blooms. As a result the water inshore has varied from ‘clean green’ to virtual ‘mud’. These recent floods have been more than excessive and have also pushed the good water further out. The outflows are normally beneficial providing the nutrients needed to start food chains. Anyway, hopefully the worst is over and the systems will go back to some form of normality. I have noticed the last couple of times out that the blue water is moving closer in shore but still very dead looking with very little bait and virtually no bird activity other than the migrating Mutton birds.

Ambition's Yellowfin
Ambition’s Yellowfin

I am only writing this report because after coming in yesterday I felt some degree of confidence that things were changing for the better.

To cut a long story short after trolling out around Browns then to a thousand fathoms and up the past the Bait Station then trolling down the shelf and only catching a couple of Striped Tuna we headed for home.

Action at Last:-

Suddenly in eighty fathoms Ron started screaming Marlin! Marlin! I turned around to see that unmistakeable dorsal fin behind the Lumo Sprocket on the rigger. It came in twice then appeared to hook up, taking a good run and then doing its imitation of a window wiper. Before I could say anything it threw the lure, Bugger!. I turned around to go over the area again and halfway round the short corner with a Lumo Animal went off. This one seemed well hooked, no playing around this time. But then this one did it too and went into Window Wiper mode and also threw the lure, Bugger! Bugger!.

After examining the lures, one of the Marlin had attacked the swivel and been bill wrapped. On the other trace there was not a mark, the line was probably caught on one of its fins. One must wonder how Striped Marlin survive if they miss their prey so readily.

Even though we didn’t get to tag the fish it was the most action I have seen in ages and motivation to get out there again.

Tight lines,
Ivan

P.S. : I hadn’t planned on taking  Ambition up to Port Stephens next year for the Marlin season but I have access to another boat and will be available from mid-January until the end of March for charters.

Weather and Sea State :

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Radar
Seabreeze
Weatherzone
Weathercams
Ripcharts
C.S.I.R.O.
N.S.W Bluelink

Fishing Tackle :

Pakula Tackle
Global Tackle
Otto’s Tackle
Melton Tackle
Aftco
Campbell’s Pro Tackle

Electronics :

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Keogh’s Marine Electronics
Olectric Systems

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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
 
Fishing Reports

Peter Goadby Rundown

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Peter Goadby Rundown
After much toing and froing about whether to hold the Peter Goadby Tournament over one or two days; the number of entries and the weather being the matters of contention, the decision to go ahead was bravely made by President Karen at the last minute; it would be a two day tournament.
As predicted Saturday’s weather was pretty horrid. The ocean was all over the place, very short and nasty. I know everyone my boat was feeling the ‘mal de mer’, however not enough to stop neither us nor any of the others out there either.
Sadly, the fishing was not up to standard for this time of year. The water colour varied from chocolate crap to what I call clean green. In places it almost made it to blue but always with that tinge of green, however it did get up to 24.4 degrees in places. And to make matters worse there was lots of debris of all sizes drifting in the current.
Day 1
Saturday saw ‘Smartbill’ tag two Marlin and both ‘Kill Tank’ and ‘Tantrum’ a Yellowfin each. On the capture side ‘Reaper’ killed two Mako sharks, one, a magnificent fish of 330.50 kilo’s by Jayden Hudson and Mia Wright a junior on dad’s boat Tantrum weighed a Striped Marlin of 101.20 kilo’s.
Day 2
Sunday was a much kinder day, weatherwise any way, the fishing didn’t get much better. Jack Jones on ‘Rampage’ after a very long fight weighed a Striped Marlin of 68.50 kilo’s on 10 kilo line and both ‘Smartbill’ and ‘Sniper’ each tagged Marlin.
Overall seventeen boats fished for a total of five Marlin, six Yellowfin, two sharks and eighteen Mahi Mahi. Incidentally the Yellowfin weighed went 27.20 and 27.50 kilo’s respectively.
It was good to see the appearance of Yellowfin even though we generally expect much bigger ones at this time of year.
So let’s hope that the crappy water clears up and we get the Autumn we’re used to.
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