Fishing for Game Fish during November can run hot or cold. It is a time when the cooler offshore water starts to warm up under the influence of the East Australia Current. As summer progresses the EAC moves closer inshore and within our reach . During November along with the EAC come the bait fish namely Slimy Mackerel, Sauries, Garfish, Cowanyoung and Striped Tuna . Naturally the predators follow. Striped, Black and Blue Marlin as well as Mahi Mahi, Spearfish and all the other great Gamefish not to mention the appearance of big Tiger sharks move closer inshore with the current. November is the month that heralds the changeover from the Winter to Summer species it is also the start of the storm season. I have noticed over many years that the leading edge of the EAC often bring with it an early unseasonal run of big Mahi Mahi and Striped Marlin with more than one early season Spearfish having been encountered. So far this year as well as a good run of big Mahi Mahi, Yellowfin tuna and Albacore are adding to the mix and continue to tease us offshore. So as we enter a 'La Nina' weather pattern, meaning we'll have warmer water offshore and more rain to flush out the rivers and estuaries we could and I emphasise could have a bumper season ahead. On another note I'll be available at Port Stephens from the end of January until early March. If the Marlin season next year is anywhere near as good as this year's it won't be one to miss. Sadly this year's season was shortened by COVID, let's hope not again. Tight lines, Ivan

I went out several times last week… On Wednesday I took Sergio and some of his friends out to chase those elusive Yellowfin. Reports had been coming in of them being around Norah Head. However on my previous outing I had found them further South so I headed that way. Worryingly the three weather reports for the day were stating different outcomes, varying from not too bad to horrible. Anyway we decided to go figuring that the NE would build in the afternoon and we’d come home with it. It was pretty good until we neared the shelf where the current veered to the South causing the sea to stand up. I thought we’d keep going for a little longer when in 150 fathoms a Marlin showed up behind the Lumo and proceeded to attack it. Sadly it didn’t hook up but the excitement was enough to motivate the guys to keep on going even though a couple of the guys weren’t feeling too well. To cut a long story short the conditions got worse and it was apparent we weren’t going to get to the area I wanted. So we turned around and trolled home hoping for another Marlin. Thursday was a totally different story. The wind not more than ten knots all day, a beautiful dead calm day. We had a crew of four girls who started the day with Champagne and Orange juice cocktails which was not the best way to start a day at sea, even on a relatively calm day. We tried for Kings but to no avail so headed out wide again. Whales and Dolphins were aplenty and even a couple of Sunfish but nothing else. In desperation Ron put out a red and white feather on 15kg. to see if there were any Striped tuna around. A couple of hours passed and we found a good looking patch of water. By then two of the girls were not very well, one of them quite sick. As luck would have it we started to catch Stripies which raised their spirits for a while however the decision was made to start heading back. I then noticed a Gannet hovering so went over to have a look. As we approached we got a hit on the Lumo and one of Peter’s new 3D Jet lures, obviously bigger fish but no hookups. I went around again and this time the Stripy lure went off, except this was no Striped tuna. As it turned out after a good fight Kristen landed a 25 kilo Yellowfin. Just goes to show you can always expect the unexpected. Saturday started out well, a strong North Easterly predicted for the afternoon but we’d be out there by then, so no problem. I put the lures, using the same pattern as on Thuesday, out at 80 fathoms hoping to raise another Marlin. Nothing happened until in about 250 fathoms the Lumo went off. I thought we’d found that Striped Marlin and looked back hoping to see it jumping. But no, just then the 3D lure on the rigger took off. We had a double of Yellowfin. The boys did a good job of avoiding crossed lines and soon had the fish on board. I went around again and again a double strike on the same lures but this time one dropped off and the other wore through the leader. After working the area for a while with no luck I headed out wider. The North Easterly started to come away so I turned with it and headed back to where we had caught the fish earlier. And again within a couple of hundred metres of where we had hooked up we hooked up again, this time it was a triple. After much confusion we landed all three. I went around again and managed yet another ‘fin making it just right, a fish for each angler, perfect. So now with a fish each and one man down It was time to head for home. On the way in I saw some Gannets hovering and as I watched there was a huge bust up below them. They were definitely Yellowfin, but what was surprising was they were in only 65 fathoms. The attached video shows some of the high lights, enjoy. Tight lines, Ivan

At last something to write about... For weeks I have been hearing about the Yellowfin Tuna off Port Stephens and the Bluefin Tuna well out of reach down South not getting any closer than Kiama. The action well out reach of most Sydney based boats especially since the weather has been less than favourable. Finally the mighty Yellowfin Tuna at least are getting closer. I went out on Saturday a little more optimistic than usual because I'd noticed a couple of long liners working wide and North of Broken Bay. Also a warm current pushing down with the break almost within my reach. However I was a little apprehensive also since the weather report was a little bit iffy. We were going anyway, worst case scenario we'd be coming home with the weather best case the bureau was wrong. We started trolling in 300 fathoms after passing through some very green water of 18.5 degrees which was a lot better than the 17 at the shelf. There was still very little life , other than Whales and the occasional Albatross in the area. But with still 14 miles to the break. I noticed a blip on the radar, too small for a tanker and too large and far away for a Game boat, possibly a Long Liner. As we got closer to it , about 5 miles away, the water colour changed and warmed then out of the blue a double strike. After a relatively short fight we landed two Yellowfin 25 to 30 kilo's. Consequently I worked the area but there was no sign of life, still neither birds nor bait so I moved on, out towards the Long Liner. After another hour of searching I decided to head back to where we caught the fish. You wouldn't believe it, we were within a couple of hundred metres off the spot when we had another strike, this one a much bigger fish. After a solid fight that only a Yellowfin Tuna can put up we landed a 50 kilo fish much to the excitement of the crew , as you can hear in the video, who had never caught a Gamefish before. And so we headed for home, thirty five miles away. With some luck the current will move in closer and bring with it the Tuna and bait and hopefully some Marlin will follow. Tight lines, Ivan

Autumn is a great time to be fishing off Sydney. Currently March Yellowfin are the go but there are also Striped and Blue Marlin in the mix. After hearing reports during last week of yellowfin ranging from mid 40 kilo's to around 70 kilo's I was obviously keen to get out there. I managed to raise a crew and headed out on Saturday. Reports during the week had been from widen of Broken Bay down to the Southern canyons. Since there was a Southerly due I went South. Just wide of Browns the water had reached 24 degrees so the lure were deployed and we went hunting. There was little action in the form of birds and bait until I found a temperature break from 24 degrees down to 23.6 degrees. Further down the coast on the break birds started to appear then suddenly they were everywhere. I worked the birds for a couple of hours seeing the yellowfin busting up but unable to get to them in time. I decided to look further afield and hadn't gone more than a couple of hundred metres when the 'shotgun' went off. Sadly after nearly an hour and with the fish just out of gaffing range the 'wind-on' gave way. It was devastating to lose such a good fish after a very tough fight so near to the end. Anyway these things happen. On the radio during the day there were several reports of Striped Marlin on the shelf both up around the 'Bait Station' and further down inshore of where I was. There was one Blue Marlin being fought but after a 2 hour fight I didn't hear whether they caught it. There were also quite a few Yellowfin taken . So though Saturday was a great day to be out wide after hearing the reports it was decidedly better on Sunday. It is such a shame that this unbelievable bite is coinciding with this virus. Tight lines, Ivan

I brought Ambition back from Port Stephens last Monday. I fished all the way down starting just North of the 'Car Park ' trolling skip baits. The plan was originally to come back on Sunday but due to the weather on Saturday my charter was pushed back to Sunday. Consequently we made the trip back from Port Stephens on Monday. Surprisingly the weather was pretty good as we left the Port even though the week-end's weather pad been pretty ordinary. The plan was to run out North of the 'Car Park', find some bait and troll skippies for an hour or so then put out the lures and work our way back home to Sydney. All went to plan, we found some bait and slowed down to put out the skippies, Adam had just put out one . Then as he was setting the second one it was pulled out of his hand and a good sized Black tore off at a million miles an hour, so to speak. This fish gave a good account of itself giving us a good run for our money however the 24 kg. inevitably took its toll and the Black was soon released. Excitement all round as it was the angler's first marlin. So, with one fish under our belt, with the baits deployed we started again. It took a little longer to find the second fish and a bit more difficult to finally hook it. This Black came in on one of the skipped baits , hit it and dropped back without getting hooked. We then put out a live bait which it again picked up and again no hook up. Then while we were waiting and hoping for it to take the live bait again the other skipped bait was taken while it was sinking and this time the Black was hooked. It was a strange fight in that the fish , quite a large Black that we called at least 120kg., never took a run and didn't even go deep as you'd expect from a Black , So after a very short fight we dully released the Marlin . Continuing our trip down we had changed over to lures. Oddly just past the Newcastle canyons the water started going green and cooling. I went closer looking for better water, no go. I went out to 500 fathoms , no change. Conditions didn't change for the rest of the run down. We did however get a strike from a good sized Striped Marlin on the Southern edge of the Norah Canyons. On examining the leader it was obviously the fish had been bill wrapped. The water was only 21.5 C , green and apparently lifeless. Conditions don't seem to be getting any better off Sydney as we approach what I've always considered the best time of year for our offshore fishing. But ever being the optimist , it will get better.Nothing stays the same for long in the ocean. Tight lines, Ivan

This year's Port Stephens Interclub could be seen as a make up for last year's dilemma. The Marlin really turned it on. The Shootout the previous week-end was a preview of what was to come. Unbelievably the weather held off for the full three days of the Port Stephens Interclub tournament. Resulting in around 430 Marlin tagged by just over 110 boats over three days at the Port Stephens Interclub . Averaging over one Marlin a boat per day, not a bad result. We on Ambition didn't do too badly. We opted to skip baits to cover some ground and locate the bait. I went well North of the crowd at the 'Car Park' and managed three tagged Marlin over the day, catching the first within minutes of putting out our first bait. Below us at the 'Car Park' there was a bite happening but because of the numbers there the individual results weren't so great. None the less some of the local boats stood out from the crowd. I went back to where I'd been the day before but all had changed, the bait had gone. It was much the same all along the shelf. What bait there was, was holding deep . After finally jigging up enough to use I again opted to skip baits and cover ground. I worked my way further North, around November 9, where a few boats were catching fish bombing the deep bait. However after a frustrating time watching several boats catch fish I changed over to dropping baits on the bait schools , not a style of fishing I enjoy, and ended up hooking and tagging a Whaler Shark after a lengthy fight. So, that was enough for me. It was back to skipping baits. We were a short distance from the crowd dunking their baits when a nice Striped Marlin hammered one of our skippies and we were on. After a short fight the Stripy was tagged and the baits put back out . Unexpectedly just after we had set the baits a Black took a skippy and was off more in the air than the water. It was quickly tagged and we were off again. It took a while but again on the outside of the crowd dunking slimies we hooked and tagged another Striped Marlin, our third for the day. We headed out with great expectations, back to the same area as the first day. The bait was there again and in fairly quick time we tagged two Striped Marlin, but then the wheels fell off. The bait disappeared so it was off searching again. There was a bite happening further South . When we arrived several boats were fighting fish and all looked good. I searched and searched but couldn't find any bait. There were obviously plenty of Marlin and lots of boats hooking up but where was the bait. We unfortunately didn't end up catching any more fish . Later on talking to other skippers the story was much the same. Whereas some did find bait most didn't but the marlin were definitely on the bite. I theorised that the bait was quite sparse, the schools dispersed and broken up by the Marlin to a degree where most sounders couldn't pick them up. Whereas those boats with more powerful sounders could however mark the bait. There were a few boats that went out wide and did find Blue Marlin. Two that I know of lost what they called very big fish. The Blues are usually at their best in Autumn as can be see from previous year's results especially further South around Sydney. Tight lines, Ivan