By any standards yesterday was a glorious day to be at sea, especially as look out of my window this morning. The sea was calm and warm, actually it was hot, the temperature was over 25 degrees at the 12 Mile getting up to 26.7 degrees at Browns, and the current was raging. We left the club with Linwea and his group with high expectations and reports of Blue and Striped Marlin as well as Yellowfin and Mahi Mahi of varying sizes being taken over the last couple of days. We put the lures in at the 12 Mile, there is always the expectation of a Striped Marlin between there and the shelf, but not today. A couple of boats found Yellowfin around fifteen kilo’s in the Browns area and were working patches of birds. We arrived in the area and worked it for a while, marking fish down twenty to thirty fathoms which we couldn’t induce to come up. I thought about jigging but with the current raging didn’t think it was a feasible option. Meanwhile the boat ‘Shoki’ had moved wider and caught a Blue Marlin and a big Mahi Mahi, later on they also took a good sized Yellowfin. That made up my mind and we headed off. At around eight hundred fathoms the water temperature started dropping and the current slowed considerably. It was looking really good but also as we headed out each one of Linwea’s group succumbed to sea sickness and at nine hundred fathoms they wanted to go back. So, we turned back, I was disappointed, but seasickness is a horrible thing which cannot be appreciated unless you’ve been there. And then it happened, a splash behind the Pakula Lumo and the fish took off. It was a big Mahi Mahi. The seasickness was forgotten, Linwea took the rod and with a bit of instruction brought the fish to the boat where Ron gaffed it. As you’ll see in the video it did what Mahi Mahi do and went crazy. Also, it appears that tag team angling is very popular amongst the Chinese, the tourists anyway. We continued trolling in and just on the shelf a Striped Marlin came up on Pakula’s Brad ‘J’, took off some line and just let go. Shortly after we go attacked as a big Blue Marlin came into the spread and had a go at all the lures finally deciding on Pakula’s Brad ‘J’, taking off like an express train, as they do, trying to overtake the boat. After a bit of chasing and backing up the fish went deep, and stayed there, I couldn’t get it to come back up. We were at a stalemate. I figured the fish had died and tried planning it up but that didn’t work either. By this time Linwea and his crew had each had a shot at fighting the Marlin and were stuffed so Ron stepped in, but after nearly an hour he was done too. I must say this was not the sort of fish you expect to run into inside the shelf. Then, almost as a relief the line gave way, and it was to home we pointed. Tight Lines, Ivan

I can only describe yesterday’s fishing, for me anyway, as one of the most frustrating days I have ever spent at sea. I won’t go into details but it could best be described as a ‘good news, bad news day’. The good side was that the clients caught some beautiful Mahi Mahi and experienced the excitement of catching a Marlin which put on a great aerial display. The bad news side the details of which as I have already said I will not go into but suffice to say the current run of Marlin continues unabated. All three species are evident with several Blacks being found on the inshore grounds. Out wider there are both Blue and Striped Marlin and even further out you’ll find Yellowfin tuna. The Yellowfin are moving around and moving pretty quickly so take a bit of finding. However around them there is always the chance of running into a big Blue Marlin. Surprisingly for the number of pelagics around there is not much bait. I did find patches but I would have expected more. Interestingly, I did see something I haven’t seen off Sydney for years. As I was approaching a private FAD I saw Mutton birds working over a small patch of what looked like a pool of blood in the water. It was in fact a bait ball of ‘Red Bait’ with a school of Mahi Mahi rounding them up from below. If you’ve never seen ‘Red Bait’ before I can assure you that you’ll never mistake it for anything else. Tight Lines, Ivan

Well the Pakula report card for yesterday’s fishing was one to the “Lumo”, one to “Illusion” and a looker on “Brad’J’”. It was a beautiful day as we headed out to sea with Wang and his group. The Marlin bite was continuing off Sydney but with more action further down the coast yet still enough up here to be confidant about. I headed up towards the ‘Bait Station’ but listening to the radio it seemed pretty quiet with more action a few miles further North. Consequently, because it was just that little bit too far I decided to head East to see if I could find the Yellowfin that Rob on ‘On Call’ had found previously. There were a couple of Long Liners about so I was half confidant. As it happened I didn’t find them but Rob did later in the day. We got our first strike just inside Browns, again a blind strike. The Marlin just took off and by the time the crew was ready it was a long, long way off. As you can see in the video there was a lot of angler changes. I think there is a new style of angling becoming the fashion, ‘Tag Team Fishing’. Though it is funny to watch, it is extremely frustrating…they always pick the wrong time to change over. Doubly frustrating an overheat alarm went off on one of my engines. Fortunately the fish was close and we managed to release it without too many problems. Because of the overheat I had to shut down the engine and we continued to troll on one motor. Shortly after I noticed a ‘kill slick‘ with a few birds working it. So I went over and headed up wind from it and was rewarded with another strike and another Stripy took to the air. This Marlin took a bit of doing without the manoeuvring ability of two engines. After what had become a regular routine the Tag Team anglers eventually brought the fish to the boat and released it. I must say though, this current ‘Tag Team’ added a new variant to the theme in that they included my decky in their routine. In fact he did most of the work, both fighting the two fish and tracing them too, very versatile indeed and extremely t Tight Lines, Ivan

It is good to see this amazing run of Marlin continuing off Sydney. Initially it was Stripies but now there are Blues mixed in with then as well as the occasional Black. There are plenty of Dollies on the FAD’s and even some small Yellowfin out wide as reported by Rob on his boat ‘On Call’ who also tagged five Marlin. Last week-end, coinciding with the ‘Bill Heyward Classic’ saw some great catches with several boats tagging multiple fish, most notably the boat ‘WA WA’ tagging twelve Marlin over the two days with more than a few boats tagging multiple fish. As always with Striped Marlin there were lots of missed strikes and lost fish as well. I went out on Sunday with Fred and his friend, expecting great things after listening to the radio on Saturday. However, though there were still plenty of Marlin out there it didn’t compare with the previous day’s bite. I started off in close beacause at this time of year the migrating Black Marlin are usually evident but there was a distinct lack of bait on the inshore reefs so I gave up and headed out. In seventy fathoms I marked a fish and as I turned around to check the lures we got the strike on the’Pakula Brad ‘J’’ but sadly no hook up. It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that we had another hit. This time on the ‘Pakula Lumo’, it was a good sized Blue and there was no messing around, it took off like a steam train. Now, being a charter boat skipper can be very frustrating, you meet all sorts of people. You meet good keen worldly fisher people, keen lesser experience fisher people, those beginners who want the experience of Game Fishing and those who teach you new tricks. I would say that Fred and his friend were of the latter group. They taught me a new style of fishing. Akin to Tag Team wrestling, Fred and his friend alternated on the rod at least twenty time in less than an hour, you can see this on the video. Every time they changed over I imagined my rod and reel going overboard. Every time they alternated, they left slack line in the water and I still don’t know how that fish stayed on the line. I have had to mute some sections of the video as it wasn’t fit for prime time viewing. Anyway, it was a better than beautiful day out at sea, the clients were happy and all’s well that end well. Tight Lines, Ivan

It is good to see this amazing run of Marlin continuing off Sydney. Initially it was Stripies but now there are Blues mixed in with then as well as the occasional Black. There are plenty of Dollies on the FAD’s and even some small Yellowfin out wide as reported by Rob on his boat ‘On Call’ who also tagged five Marlin. Last week-end, coinciding with the ‘Bill Heyward Classic’ saw some great catches with several boats tagging multiple fish, most notably the boat ‘WA WA’ tagging twelve Marlin over the two days with more than a few boats tagging multiple fish. As always with Striped Marlin there were lots of missed strikes and lost fish as well. I went out on Sunday with Fred and his friend, expecting great things after listening to the radio on Saturday. However, though there were still plenty of Marlin out there it didn’t compare with the previous day’s bite. I started off in close beacause at this time of year the migrating Black Marlin are usually evident but there was a distinct lack of bait on the inshore reefs so I gave up and headed out. In seventy fathoms I marked a fish and as I turned around to check the lures we got the strike on the’Pakula Brad ‘J’’ but sadly no hook up. It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that we had another hit. This time on the ‘Pakula Lumo’, it was a good sized Blue and there was no messing around, it took off like a steam train. Now, being a charter boat skipper can be very frustrating, you meet all sorts of people. You meet good keen worldly fisher people, keen lesser experience fisher people, those beginners who want the experience of Game Fishing and those who teach you new tricks. I would say that Fred and his friend were of the latter group. They taught me a new style of fishing. Akin to Tag Team wrestling, Fred and his friend alternated on the rod at least twenty time in less than an hour, you can see this on the video. Every time they changed over I imagined my rod and reel going overboard. Every time they alternated, they left slack line in the water and I still don’t know how that fish stayed on the line. I have had to mute some sections of the video as it wasn’t fit for prime time viewing. Anyway, it was a better than beautiful day out at sea, the clients were happy and all’s well that end well. Tight Lines, Ivan

I took David and his family from Colorado out yesterday. David hoping to catch his first Marlin. And what a day it was. The weather couldn’t have been better, in fact, it was glassed out nearly all day. After all the rain we’ve had I didn’t know what to expect but I thought I’d try in close to see if there were any Black’s around. The water in close was fairly green not that that matters for the Blacks but more importantly there was very little bait, only small patches and no birds activity. So, it was the wild blue yonder to find a Stripy or maybe even a Blue. Out in eighty fathoms I found some good patches of bait which I worked to no avail so kept on going. It was out in three hundred fathoms where we got our first hit and disappointment, the line screaming off at a rate of knots and young Elliot took the rod. We cleared the gear and I started the chase just then line went slack. I know a lot of people don’t like ‘wind-ons’ but for me in a charter situation they are invaluable. Anyway, we had lost the fish and my ‘Pakula Evil’ because the wind-on let go. I trolled out to six hundred fathoms but though the temperature increased there was neither bait nor birds so it was time to get back near the shelf where there was at least some activity. We got our second hit just outside the shelf. A really good sized Stripy screamed off and David took the rod. It gave him a good work-out but he got it to the boat where photo’s were taken and the fish released. As we continued on our way another boat not far from us hooked up on what looked like a great fish. The temptation to stay and work the area was great but we were a long way from home and it was getting late so the decision was made to head for home. Continuing on down the shelf we raised another Marlin, most definitely a Stripy, playing with the lure yet somehow missing the hooks. A little further on a couple of big Mahi Mahi burst into the spread but were only half-hearted in their attempt to eat. A little later what was either a Wahoo or a Spearfish darted in from the side and yet again missed the hooks. Overall, it was a more than interesting day but not without its frustration but still with happy anglers and a first for David. Tight Lines, Ivan