Captain
Ivan Bennett

Member since November 2016 Sydney, Australia
Background
I have been a fisherman since I was a kid, when I developed a love for the seas and everything that lives in and on the oceans. It's my passion! I have been a member of the Sydney Game Fishing Club for over 30 years, and have fished competitively along the East Coast of NSW from Bermagui to Ballina for the various game fish species found along our coast. I started my chartering business in the year 2000.
Techniques
I love all types of fishing and over the years have had experience in all forms of fishing form Fly fishing to Heavy Tackle Game fishing on the Barrier reef. My two loves are Game Fishing for Marlin and Tuna as well as all the other great ocean wanderers and Fly fishing in both salt and fresh water...

Hey, I'm Captain Ivan Bennett

Sydney, Australia
Background
I have been a fisherman since I was a kid, when I developed a love for the seas and everything that lives in and on the oceans. It's my passion! I have been a member of the Sydney Game Fishing Club for over 30 years, and have fished competitively along the East Coast of NSW from Bermagui to Ballina for the various game fish species found along our coast. I started my chartering business in the year 2000.
Techniques
I love all types of fishing and over the years have had experience in all forms of fishing form Fly fishing to Heavy Tackle Game fishing on the Barrier reef. My two loves are Game Fishing for Marlin and Tuna as well as all the other great ocean wanderers and Fly fishing in both salt and fresh water...

My Charter Listing

Excellent
4.9 / 5
(26 reviews)
Sydney
 Instant Confirmation
Trips from US $1,611

Fishing Reports

Ambition Report 22nd.Novemberโ€™24
Ambition Report 22nd.Novemberโ€™24
Nov 19, 2024 Sydney
Well, itโ€™s always an ice breaker when you catch your first Marlin for the season and yesterday, we caught ours, a good sized Stripy. I took Shouren and five of his friends out on a perfect day, weatherwise. The plan was to catch some live bait then head out to the FADโ€™s and have a shot at the Mahi Mahi which have been so prevalent lately. But as it happened,sadly, not this day. As luck would have it the Mahi Mahi had gone off the bite at the spots I visited. I must say I wasnโ€™t unduly surprised as they have copped quite a hammering lately. So, we made the move to go offshore and see if we could find a Marlin or maybe a Yellowfin. Game fishing is probably the most fickle and frustrating discipline of the sport of fishing. Perseverance and persistence being the key to success and sadly not for everyone. After a few hours of trolling in what was the oceanโ€™s equivalent to a desert the natives were becoming restless. Fortunately as luck would have it, we got a hit on the shotgun but no hook up. The crew were all screaming and I turned around in time to see a Stripy hitting โ€˜Lumoโ€™ on the rigger, doing what Stripies do bestโ€ฆmissing the hooks, so frustrating. The Marlin disappeared. Then a few minutes later the shotgun took off, a solid hook up at last. After thirty odd heart stopping minutes, we had the fish at the boat. On the way home I thought we should give the FADโ€™s another shot. The Mahi Mahi should have had enough of a break from the hammering to come on the bite again. When we arrived the fish were evident, but not going off their heads as they had been, but after persevering we did catch a couple, the crew had something to eat and it was time to go home. In general, the water had changed from the previous week. The current coming in from the East and the water cooler and greener. However we found that Marlin in a current line of that beautiful blue water. Tight Lines, Ivan
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Ambition Report 7th.Octoberโ€™24
Ambition Report 7th.Octoberโ€™24
Oct 6, 2024 Sydney
Spring is an interesting time of year to fish out of Sydney. The Kingfish start setting up on the offshore and inshore reefs, Yellowfin can be found and quite often we get an early run of Striped Marlin and big Mahi Mahi as well as some of the other summer species. And this was surprisingly the case when I went out yesterday. I say surprising because on looking at the charts the current inshore was running to the East and out wider to the North with no apparent temperature breaks, not really conducive to good fishing. After taking Su, his girlfriend and her friend out the previous weekend when they all got seasick Su was keen to have another shot. The girls however gave it a miss. Anyway, we headed out to the 12 mile and to let Su do some jigging. It looked very quiet and after a few fruitless jigs we left and trolled out, heading for Browns. Between the eighty and ninety fathom lines there were huge bait schools, some deep some high up with Gannets flying high above. There had to be a Marlin around but sadly we never saw one, however a couple of other boats did see cruising Marlin and at least one free jumper. After working the area for quite a while I headed out wider and in five hundred fathoms found a temperature break where there were small schools of Striped tuna popping up on each side of the break. I always run a small lure on fifteen kg. line for the clients who do enjoy catching the Stripies. Well as luck would have it after weโ€™d caught a couple of Stripies the rod went off and it was apparent this was no Stripy. After nearly half an hour Su brought the fish to the boat. We saw it was a nice Yellowfin in the order of thirty five kiloโ€™s, a great effort by Su on his first big fish. Incidentally the fish coughed up several small fish of which I could only identify one, a green toad the others were pretty well digested but had the shape of bream, about six centimetres long. After working the area with nothing other than more Stripies I headed back inshore where a couple of boats had found Mahi Mahi around the bait near the shelf. In eighty five fathoms I found them too. We caught two and lost one. A fine end to an interesting day, it was time to go home. So, we found early season Mahi Mahi, caught a Yellowfin among Stripies, heard of a few Marlin and saw heaps of Whales and Dolphins to top off my clients day. Who could ask for more from a most unexpected dayโ€™s fishing. Tight Lines, Ivan
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Ambition Report 2nd.Septemberโ€™24
Ambition Report 2nd.Septemberโ€™24
Sep 1, 2024 Sydney
After checking the weather on several different weather sites, three of which were pretty well corresponding, however one, incidentally the BOM, showed the worst case scenario, I decided to see what the conditions were like in the morning before making a final decision. As it happened surprisingly, conditions looked perfect in the morning, there was no wind at all. At present there is a warmish current with twenty degree water pushing down the coast between โ€˜Twelve Mileโ€™ and โ€˜Brownsโ€™ covering the shelf were bait generally accumulates. Ideal for an early season Marlin . There had also been word of Yellowfin tuna on the edge of this current but further North. So, we headed out in great almost Summery conditions. We put the spread out near the โ€˜Twelve Mileโ€™ and headed towards โ€˜Brownsโ€™. On the way inside the shelf there was huge amounts of bait but not very densely packed. I did mark a couple of fish and worked the area for a while to no avail so continued on to โ€˜Brownsโ€™ looking for the cooler edge of the current where I hoped we might find the Yellowfin. However by then the North Westerly was beginning to puff so I decided to move back to the warmer water and then head North to get a better run home . Then, in about two hundred and fifty fathoms a Marlin came up and hit the short corner (Black Betty), missing the lure and surprisingly didnโ€™t come back to hit any of the other lures which Striped Marlin usually do. I worked the area for a while but nothing happened so continued back on course. Back in the warmer water I found some birds working and to my surprise they were on Mahi Mahi, not something you usually find at this time of year. After a couple of passes with hits from smallish fish we got a solid strike on the shotgun and old โ€˜Bradโ€™ was into a more decent fish. This turned out to be a good six kiloโ€™s of good eating Mahi Mahi. By that stage the wind had come away blowing around fifteen knots, not something that would worry me, but I got word from Scotty Torrington โ€˜Freedomโ€™ of twenty-five to thirty knots of Westerly heading out way. In light of the fact that a couple of guys on board were quite seasick they decided enough was enough, so the course was set for home. It had been an interesting day and with that warmer water moving down and the build up of bait on the shelf area we could be in for an interesting Spring. More reports of Marlin sighting and Yellowfin are coming in as well as Kings on the offshore reefs, it could make for an interesting times. Tight Lines, Ivan
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Ambition report 19th.August'24
Ambition report 19th.August'24
Aug 19, 2024 Sydney
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, that didnโ€™t help my reporting either. 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 itโ€™s too late they are gone. 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 . 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 โ€˜Car Parkโ€˜ at Port Stephens with all the bottom bashers looking for Gemfish and Blue Eye. Tight lines, Ivan
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Customer reviews

Rating summary
Excellent
4.9 / 5
out of 5 stars from 25 reviews
Boat
Excellent
4.9 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience
Excellent
4.9 / 5
Photos & videos by reviewers (39)
November fishing trip
Best fishing experience ever!
Best fishing experience ever!
+36
Angler rating
22
2
0
0
0
Anglers claimed
Good experience
95%
Friendly captain
100%
Recommend this charter
96%
Appropriate for children
67%
Satisfied with the boat
100%
Caught fish
81%
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5 of 25 reviews
Philip W.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Awesome Guys

VERIFIED   10 Hour Game Fishing on April 18, 2024
We were looking for an offshore Trip for Marlin during our short term visit in Sydney. We decided to choose Ivan & Ron...
Philip W. recommends Ambition Charters
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Shouren X.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

November fishing trip

VERIFIED   NEW  10 Hour Tuna Trip on November 21, 2024
Shouren X. recommends Ambition Charters
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Shouren X. recommends Ambition Charters
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Xiao X.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Best fishing experience ever!

VERIFIED   10 Hour Tuna Trip on September 29, 2024
Ivan is professional and has a boat with specialized tuna fishing tools๏ผWe got a big tuna and 2 other fish! Best fishing...
Xiao X. recommends Ambition Charters
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Xiao X. recommends Ambition Charters
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George M.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

Trip of a lifetime!

VERIFIED   10 Hour Game Fishing on April 1, 2024
Captain Ivan and mate were a pleasure to spend the day with and possessed exceptional knowledge on the fishery .ย  My Son and...
George M. recommends Ambition Charters
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Bryan T.
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Experience:
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Boat
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Crew
Excellent
5.0 / 5
Overall

February fishing trip

VERIFIED   10 Hour Game Fishing on February 27, 2024
Bryan T. recommends Ambition Charters
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Bryan T. recommends Ambition Charters
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