Tag Archives: Sport fishing

Ambition report 30th. July’18

July 30, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

Winter and Spring are the time for Sydney’s Tuna, Albacore, Yellowfin and Bluefin. Though it looks like the Bluefin have passed there are enough reports of Yellowfin both North and South to be optimistic.

A Very Big Mako... — A Monster Mako checking us out…

Sadly we are in post Bluefin season though I’m sure we all hope they’ll return. It amazes me how they just disappear, here one day in numbers gone the next. Interestingly this year there were some good sized Yellowfin amongst the Bluefin.

In this post Bluefin time fortunately for us there are other options. We can concentrate on Kingfish, Blue Eye, Gemfish and Mako sharks as well as hope the Yellowfin turn up.

Last Saturday I took Dan and his friends out looking for the Yellowfin but still hoping a Bluefin might show up. We started by catching some live bait to have a shot on the outer reefs where the Kings were making an appearance. To cut a long story short we caught a few baits which were quite quickly converted into Kingfish. Not really large ones but good enough. However what they lacked in size they made up for in numbers.

Dan and his mates shared my love for the horizon and whatever it may hold, they’d caught enough Kingies and wanted bigger game. I headed out toward Heatons with my usual spread and a lot of optimism.

Around the thousand fathom line the temp started to rise and a few birds started to appear. Meanwhile on the radio I heard a couple of boats up North had found Yellowfin. They’d seen them breaking and even caught a couple on cubes. They were North of us but I didn’t know how far so I turned left hoping they weren’t too far. I later found out they were off Port Stephens.

We didn’t end up finding any ‘fin but knowing they were there was interesting enough. I later heard someone caught a couple around Heatons and South around JB too.

Winter mixture from Browns.... — Bottom dwellers from Browns…

Meantime the mountain is fishing well for Gemfish and Blue Eye. To cap it off the Mako’s are showing up too just in time for this weekend’s Monster Mako Tournament held by the Sydney Game Fishing Club.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 23rd. July’18

July 23, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

Sydney has been the place for Tuna Fishing with Bluefin the occasional Yellowfin and even Albacore taken last week but it is a day to day proposition.

On Thursday we headed out to where the fish had been caught the previous Wednesday. After my fruitless day on Tuesday I and the crew were keen to play.

Luke's Bluefin Tuna... — Luke’s Bluefin…

We set the lures out North-East of Browns and proceeded to listen in on the radio for clues to where the bite was happening. As is usual when nothing is happening the idiots came on air providing what their small minds consider entertainment. Thankfully word of the fish started filtering through.

I noticed a stationary boat about a mile from us and headed over for a look when a couple of hundred metres from him we had a crashing strike and landed a Bluefin of around 45kilo’s. We no sooner had the lures in the water when the second fish struck. This one was much bigger and gave the ‘newby’ angler a hard time. He eventually brought the fish, which back at the club weighed just on 70 kilo’s, to boat.

Meantime the radio had come alive with reports of Bluefin, Yellowfin as well as a few Albacore coming in. We continued working the same area marking fish down at 40 fathoms but couldn’t get them to come up. I decided to move away and come back a little later. I spent another half hour searching for more fish out wider but nothing. On returning to the previous spot I had no sooner marked the school than we hooked up, a double, missing another when it hit a lure as it was being taken out of the water.

These when weighed went just over seventy kilo’s and gave the guys a hard time too. We kept one fish out wide while fighting the other at ‘sunset’ so as to get it in fast.

Tuna time off Sydney... — Tuna time off Sydney…

It took a little time but we landed both the Bluefin. Since now we had bagged out we turned around and headed for home. I must say the only downside to the day was that I lost my favourite Brad ‘J’. Otherwise it had been a long but very satisfying day.

We went out again on the Monday after a week-end of bad weather with Luke who was dead keen to catch a Bluefin. I went back to the area South East of Browns. Reports were coming in of fish being caught down below the Southern Canyons but I noticed a boat that looked like they were fighting. Shortly after they gave their position and that they had the fish under their boat. I and another boat whose name I have forgotten was behind me and heading towards them too.

As we approached the boat behind me hooked up on a triple and Bruce who was on board called me back. I had obviously missed the school and it could have only been by metres. Anyway as we approached we were rewarded with a triple hook up which was a problem since we only had one angler, my deckie, ‘Howie’ and me. Howie went straight to sunset it nearly killed him but he got the fish in in time to gaff Luke’s Bluefin. Then Luke went straight into battle with his second fish. After what seemed an eternity to him a very tired, relieved and happy Luke finally brought the fish to the gaff.

It was time to go home.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 13th. July’18

July 13, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

It is Tuna time off Sydney and the bite is in full swing.

We headed out at 5:30 yesterday morning heading for where the bite had been on Wednesday. After my fruitless day on Tuesday I and the crew were keen to play.

I noticed a stationary boat about a mile from us and headed over for a squizzy when a couple of hundred metres from him we had a crashing strike and landed a Bluefin of around 45kilo’s. We no sooner had the lures in the water when the second fish struck. This one was much bigger and gave the ‘newby’ angler a hard time. He eventually brought the fish, which back at the club weighted just on 70 kilo’s, to boat.

Meantime the radio had come alive with reports of Bluefin, Yellowfin as well as a few Albacore coming in. The fish were spread out over quite a large area and being taken on lures, divers and skirts as well as cubes. You just had to find them.

We continued working the same area marking fish down at 40 fathoms but couldn’t get the to come up. I decided to move away and come back a little later. I spent another half hour searching for more fish out wider but nothing. On returning to the previous spot I had no sooner marked the school than we had a double, missing another when it hit a lure as it was being taken out of the water.

These when weighed went just over seventy kilo’s and gave the guys a hard time too. We kept one fish wide while fighting the other at ‘sunset’ so as to get it in fast.

It took a little time but we landed both the Bluefin. Since now we had bagged out we turned for home. It had been a long but very satisfying day.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 11th. July’18

July 11, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

I went out yesterday looking for the Tuna. I’d heard the long liners were working wide and South of Heatons so headed off in that direction. It was a bit lumpy going through the heads but eased up a few miles out away from the backwash. There were just a few mountains with which to contend. Happily it calmed right down during the day.

Out over the thousand fathom line I picked up a long liner on my radar. He was another ten miles further out. About a mile short of the him we passed through a current line where there was a marked temperature change and lots of bird activity.

I managed to contact the skipper of the fishing boat who told me he’d caught a few fish on their first string and that there were a couple more long liners working 15 to 20 miles South of him.
To cut a long story short I didn’t find any Tuna but I must say it looked really good out there with lots of birds and bait showing.

On returning to Port I was told a boat caught a couple of Bluefin a few miles North-West of me and another wide of Norah Head.
There are quite a few boats going out today so will be interesting to see how they go.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 11th.June’17

June 11, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

Yellowfin and Albacore are the prime target at this time of year with Kingies and dropping on Browns thrown in for good measure. The warm currents are slowing and cubing is also on the agenda.

I took Brad, his groomsmen and future father-in-law out on Saturday. The aim was to catch live bait, which we did. Have a jig and drop baits on 12 Mile then a deep drop on Browns followed by a late cubing session out wide.

We arrived at 12 Mile and after several passes sounding it out I couldn’t find anything. There didn’t even appear to be any ‘Jackets, normally a good thing. Irrespective we dropped a couple of live baits down and one of the guys feeling energetic started jigging. Sadly the sounder was telling the truth, not even a nibble.

Consequently we left 12 Mile to troll out to Browns. On the way the radio was telling a sad story of a 3 to 3.5 knot Southerly current making it impossible to hold bottom at Browns; so much for that idea. The only option left was to head out wide and see if we could find some good water to start cubing.

After a couple of hours trolling and reaching the thousand fathom line the only real change was the speed off the current. There was neither bait nor any bird activity so I headed back to an area where the current was slower and we started a cube trail.

To cut a long story short after a couple of hours cubing Brad took a strike and landed a good Albacore of about 7 kilo’s. Unfortunately the guys had to be back early for a dinner pre-wedding so we had to leave early.

I feel sure that if we could had have stayed until dark we would have had more action.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 28th. May’18

May 28, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

Striped Marlin and Mako Sharks as well as Tigers were all the news off Sydney last week-end. Two Tiger Sharks over 450 kgs. were taken as well as another of unknown size lost after several hours of fighting. With the thought of XOS Tiger sharks in mind I went out with Glen and Karen on their boat ‘Tantrum’ to see if we could find one for their daughter Makira.

We headed out on Sunday to the eighty fathom line off Long Reef where we planned to start our trail. On nearing the area we found large numbers of Gannets diving on schools of bait fish. It was more than one group too. We could see several gatherings all in roughly the eighty fathom area. With so much bait around this had to be a good place to start.

With baits set at varying depths on a couple of 15’s and 24’s and the kids punching the burly, it was that time of waiting. I must say there is something really pleasant about shark fishing, other than the smell and mess. It is quiet and peaceful with a tangible sense of expectation as all on board watch the floats for any sign of movement.

After about an hour one of the reels starting slowly ticking off drawing everyone’s attention. The speed increased then the fish took a run. Makira took the rod and wound in the belly of line and struck when Glen told her. She had weight and was hooked up.

Unusually the fish stayed near the surface then we saw a splash as a bill and head broke the surface. We had a Marlin and after a reasonable fight Makira brought a good sized Striped Marlin to the boat where it was tagged and released – not the 400 kg Tiger we were hoping for but a nice surprise.

All the gear was re-set and again we settled in, watching and waiting. The currents were doing strange thing though. We had drifted through two strong current lines. Now our deep baits were on one side of the boat while our burly was going in the opposite direction. This was obviously due to the very light breeze but still indicated a deeper current going opposite to the surface current. Hopefully our burly was heavy enough to reach the deeper water.

It took a while then at the witching hour a small Mako turned up taking scraps off the surface. We drifted a bait out but no takers and after about ten minutes he/she disappeared. Shortly after our deep bait on 15 kg. started to run and again Makira took the rod and under Dad’s instruction struck the fish. This one took a couple of runs and went deep, this had to be the Tiger. The fish continued to take line with the occasional head shakes causing concern. Eventually Makira started to gain line, slowly at first then steadily. After nearly an hour of give and take she had the double up and we got our first view of the fish. Howy took the leader and much to everyone’s dismay brought up a 30 to 40 kilo Mako hooked in the tail. I don’t think anyone could believe a Mako that size could fight as hard as this one had.

So that was the day, we’d tagged a Striped Marlin and a Mako shark. I heard of another boat losing a Striped Marlin and that Browns was fishing well. Generally it seem it was a very quiet day off Sydney.

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition 21st. April’18

April 22, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

Yellowfin Tuna – after seeing a couple of Longliners coming into port yesterday I thought I’d give the Yellowfin tuna a shot. I planned to head out wide to where the charts were showing a good temperature break then search along it.

As luck would have it I found an area of bird activity and saw a couple of showers of Sauries. I spent some time working the area ultimately raising the ‘fin we caught. Dan fought the fish hard for nearly an hour eventually and to his great relief bringing it to the boat.

I heard reports on the radio of a couple of boats raising Marlin out from Browns so headed off in that direction. On the way I noticed a small boat, a Carribean I think, fighting a fish and there were heaps of birds in the area too.

Dan who has eyes like an eagle spotted a Marlin tailing. I went right past it several times but it kept turning away from me. After working the area for a while we had raised two Striped Marlin that did what they do best by just playing with the lures. Then finally a Blue came in from the side and crashed the Brad ‘J’ behind my teaser, it also did what Blues do best by trying to spool us – it failed !!!

This is all boding well for the ‘Sydney Game Fishing Club’s tournament next week-end

‘The Peter Goadby Memorial’…

So with Blue Marlin, Striped Marlin even a couple of Blacks found through the week-end. Not to mention the Yellowfin and Mahi Mahi all in attendance nor the prizes and trophies. You best come on down…

So that was the day. ..

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 6th. March’17

March 6, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

Port Stephens deep sea fishing is at the best I have ever experienced. All three species of Marlin are there in numbers. Also Mahi Mahi, Yellowfin tuna as well as the occasional Wahoo and Spearfish. During the previous week the ‘Car Park’ really fired and out wider we had caught Blue Marlin and a couple of big Yellowfin. Consequently I decided to take Stephen and his wife out wide to chase Blues. As luck would have it the conditions out wide had changed. The current was from the South and the water cooling so I turned back inshore. On the radio the ‘Car Park’ was really going off. I have never heard so many double hookups nor so many calls for boats to get out of the way of their hooked fish.

Port Stephens Blue... — Port Stephens Blue…

As we approached the ‘Car Park’ and we were actually only a half mile away when we had another screaming hookup and a good Blue headed East at a rate of knots. This proved to be a very stubborn fish and poor Dr. Stephen had to work really hard to bring it back to the boat. However, after nearly an hour a very tired Stephen had it boat-side. We took some photo’s and let it go and set off again. Neither really expecting the Doctor to take another fish nor his poor wife who had been sea sick pretty well since we left Port.

Well, as Murphy does it didn’t take long for another Blue to climb aboard the ‘Lumo’ and this was a significantly bigger fish. The Doctor was there in a flash ready to go. Fortunately this was a much easier fish and only took about half an hour to subdue.

Due to the circumstances it was decided that we should head for home. We put the lures out again and headed off for home. As we passed over the shelf we had yet another strike, this time a Striped Marlin which dragged off some line then did as Stripies do and went on its way.

The next two days were not so exciting. For all the fish at the ‘Car Park’ on Saturday there were significantly fewer on Sunday and even less on Monday. The action on both days had moved further South and it was hard fishing for everyone. I reckon that nearly every fish in the area on Saturday had either a toothache or a backache. Or, I guess I could just blame the moon or the water colour or the temperature. Anything but the fact that I couldn’t do a thing right on Sunday or Monday – that’s fishing…

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 5th. February’18

February 5, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

port fishing tours — A good day’s fishing.

Port Stephens firing is every Game Fishers dream and it fired last week-end. The weather, however, didn’t play ball. On the shelf where a lot of the action was taking place it was far less than comfortable.

On Saturday I took Daniel and a couple of his friends from Wollongong out. We didn’t bother taking Live bait with us choosing to catch it out on the shelf. It was a long and bouncy trip out because of the short steep Easterly swell.

There was no real problem catching the Slimy Mackerel needed. Once the schools were located it was more of a balancing act between standing up and holding the boat in position against the wind the current and the swell.

It didn’t take long for the action to begin and in short time we had an active Striped Marlin tearing up the ocean. The guys loved it especially when I was backing up into those swells and surfing down waves backwards, adrenalin inducing stuff. We eventually brought the Marlin to the boat and tagged it. Then I screwed up and ran over the dredge. It was too rough to go in and clear the prop so it was a long slow trip back home.

Port stephens marlin fishing — Another Mighty Mar;lin…

On Sunday Lindon and three of his mates joined us. The weather was a little kinder but only marginally. This day we had the advantage of knowing where the bait was. We soon caught the bait we needed. Soon we were skipping baits around the bait schools and dropping livies onto Marlin we had marked. This is an exciting way to fish, watching a Marlin come up and take a skipping bait is very visual, the best kind of fishing. All the boats out there caught a mixture of Striped and Black Marlin. Unfortunately there were a lot of sharks out there too, mostly Whalers but also Hammerheads.

We ended up the day with four Marlin tagged plus a Whaler which was hooked in the dorsal fin. A couple of the local boats did better than us but I think everyone caught something.

My only comment after the last few days up here is that Port Stephens is firing…

Tight lines,
Ivan

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Ambition report 29th. January’18

January 29, 2018 Ivan Leave a comment

Over the last three days, the Port Stephens Marlin have been almost like the days of past when the ‘Car Park’ fired. Bait is building up on the shelf and the run of Blacks seems to have started up on the inshore reefs. To add further interest there is a good run of Blues and Mahi Mahi on the wider grounds.

Port Stephens Blue on the Trace... — On the Trace…

There is an old saying among fishermen that goes :
‘ If there are ten people fishing and one catches a fish it is luck but if ten people are fishing and one catches ten fish then it is skill’. So what do you say about a lure that gets struck by ten fish out of twelve strikes over two days?

It started like this. A few weeks ago Tony from Mackay called he was comin to Port Stephens and wanted to catch a Spearfish as part of a Slam to catch all the Billfish in one year in Australia. All that was left for him were a Spearfish and a Broadbill, the most difficult ones. Now I don’t know how to target Spearfish but I have caught several and all on smallish lures. In my arsenal, I had a Bullet Head that Peter had given me and assured me that on the shotgun it was deadly, here was the opportunity to test the theory.

In the spread, I had all my regulars out but in the small sizes with the bullet head on the shotgun so off we went. The first strike came in about 400 fathoms when a nice Blue charged the bullet and after a short but exciting burst came undone. Without going into detail we hooked six Blues, a Black and three Striped Marlin all on this one lure. We did, however, manage to tag a Blue of around140 kgs. and the Black about the same size. I have never seen anything like it, every fish hit the one lure, what are the odds.

The next day we went to the same area and put out the same spread. Unfortunately, the Blues had moved on but the first strike was a 15 Kg. Dolly which stayed hooked followed by a Striped Marlin which didn’t hook up. Then to add insult to injury a Wahoo bit the lure off, it was devastating. Over the two days that bullet accounted for strikes from six Blues a Black, three Stripes a Mahi Mahi and a Wahoo. I put the bad conversion rate down to the fact we were primarily after a Spearfish. We were using small lures with small hooks which don’t have the holding power necessary. In spite of not catching a Spearfish it was still an exciting couple of days. If for no other reason than those incredible Blue Marlin strikes and runs.

On Sunday we trolled lures for a while but with bigger lures this time. Without that Bullet I wasn’t confident so switched over to skip baits and trolled the shelf around the bait schools. We ended up missing one Striped Marlin but tagged another as well as a good Black Marlin.

So that was three fun days fishing for Port Stephens Marlin.

I don’t generally recommend anything I can only report on my experiences. I must say I have never seen any lure do what that one did even the mighty Lumo Sprocket. For those interested the colour was ‘Brad J’.

Tight Lines,

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Tag Archives: Sport fishing

Ambition report 30th. July’18

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Ambition report 23rd. July’18

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Ambition report 13th. July’18

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Ambition report 11th. July’18

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Ambition report 11th.June’17

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Ambition report 28th. May’18

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Ambition 21st. April’18

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Ambition report 6th. March’17

Ambition report 5th. February’18

Ambition report 29th. January’18

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