Decisions, decisions, which way to go - do I go North or South, stay here or keep looking . These dilemmas are what I suppose most of us face every day we head out. These were the thoughts going through my head as I headed out last Friday. In previous days other boats found Yellowfin East and South of Sydney between five hundred and a thousand fathoms. However I liked a patch of water showing on the charts to the North -East. Because of the weather conditions I decided to go East, work my way South and come back with the wind. Inside the shelf I found heaps of bait so put the lures out hoping for a Marlin which didn't happen. We pushed on to the area were previous reports indicated Yellowfin encounters but there was no sign no life, no birds and no bait. I worked the area for a while to no avail. To save the day we put out a Stripy lure and caught a few Striped Tuna which as a fringe benefit cured some seasickness. So Saturday came around and there was no decision to make. We were going North-East to the patch of water in three hundred fathoms. Again , around the shelf there was a good build up of bait so we put the Marlin lures out in anticipation as well as a Stripy lure for insurance. We didn't catch a Marlin but we did get a couple of Striped tuna. Then in the middle of nowhere the rigger with Blue Illusion went off and it definitely wasn't a Stripy. After a short fight before a very excited and less than experienced crew , as can be seen on the video, we landed a Yellowfin of around 25kgs. Photo's taken we continued on. At this stage one of the clients who was quite sick started looking really bad with a couple of the others also looking the worst for wear. So with a nice fish on board we made the decision to head back. However since we were still in fishy waters I suggested we continue trolling for a little longer . Unbelievably another strike , Blue Illusion again, from obviously a much bigger fish this time and remarkably within a hundred metres of were we caught the first fish. This Yellowfin went through two anglers and after and hour they brought to gaff. Back at the club it weighed in at 69 kilo's. Interestingly we caught both 'fin on blind strikes with no indication of bait or bird life and in much shallower water than previous reports indicated. It makes you wonder just how many fish we drive over. The other thing of interest is the build up of bait on and around the shelf . I don't think it will be long before the Striped Marlin become more prevalent. Tight lines, Ivan

The offshore fishing off Sydney is all about the Fickle Yellowfin Tuna. Here one day gone the next. There are long liners working offshore so they must be somewhere. After the spell of bad weather last week I was keen to get out on Friday since there had been a few 'fin previously. The ocean still looked a bit lively on Friday morning but the decision was to go. So we set off. I planned to run out to the shelf before putting the lures out. Unfortunately with wind against current I was forced to slow down and as it happened, fortunately. The lures went out in about 70 fathoms, at least there was the chance of an early season Striped Marlin. Surprisingly it was only a few minutes after the lures went out that the shotgun, with you know what lure, screamed off. My first thoughts were of a Marlin, but no jumping and running too hard to be a Striped tuna. So you can imagine my surprise at seeing the yellow sickles of a 30 kilo Yellowfin in only 75 fathoms, something I haven't seen in many a year. The interesting thing about this fish is that we caught it on the 'Zero' line. Maybe we should take more notice of it even when it is close inshore. Photo's taken and gear reset we continued on our way. My original aim was to reach the other side of the 'Zero' line in a thousand fathoms. The further we moved offshore the greener and warmer the water, and also more lifeless . Then just inside the thousand fathom line we had a double strike. We saw no birds and no bait, absolutely no sign of life yet we were hooked up. We landed one of the fish, a Yellowfin about 30 kilo's but lost the other when it crossed one of the the lines as it was being cleared. After Friday's fishing I was keen to get out again on Sunday. Unfortunately at the last minute my clients cancelled their charter so I never made it out . However after talking to some of my friends who were out it appears as though the fish have moved on again. Though they found long lines and Long liners setting their gear I didn't hear of anything caught off Sydney but there was some action around the Norah canyons. Even the Kingfish are playing hard to get. One reef one day another the next. However they are still making an appearance in the harbour especially middle harbour. Until next time... Tight lines, Ivan

After the less than comfortable conditions last Saturday yesterday was a dream. We'd heard that the 'fin were still around so off we went. On Saturday the bite occurred fairly early so I didn't make my regular stop over at 12 mile or Browns. Well after an hour and a half running we put the gear in at the 500 fathom line. I noticed a temp break and followed it further offshore. After another hour of trolling July Tuna were looking like a no go, and then with the clients showing signs of boredom we had a massive strike on a rigger and shortly after one of the flat lines took off at a rate of knots. Well boredom quickly turned into mayhem as the crew raced to the rods. Finally under a semblance of control we settled in to fight what were obviously two big fish. The guys neither of whom had had much experience on this type of gear settled in and with Ron's guidance and their mates support started to make headway. Unfortunately twenty minutes into the fight we had a tackle failure and lost one of the fish. It then took almost another half hour to bring the second fish to the boat where we gaffed and brought aboard a beautiful Yellowfin of 65 to 70 kilo's. After photo's and congratulations we put the lures out again. The radio was telling of 'fin out a little wider so off we went. We hadn't travelled far and finally had the other boats in sight when again two rods went off. This time they were obviously smaller fish and the guys had them under control when inextricably one of them just dropped off. However the other fish a Yellowfin of around 35 kilo's was landed. A little later I saw a school of Sauries take off obviously some unknown predator wanting to eat. I got close a couple of times but nothing eventuated. As I moved away we had another strike on one of the minnows. At first I thought it was a small fin because I could see a yellow tail. But as it happened and much to my surprise it turned out to be a Mahi Mahi. Not what you expect in the middle of winter. Of interest to me was that there was no sign that there were any fish in the area when we had the strikes. There were no birds no bait and no whales unlike last Saturday when the area was so obviously alive. Well I guess that's fishing... Tight lines, Ivan

We went out yesterday in ideal conditions. I was aiming to have a shot at Kings then go to the Mountain do a drop or two and go wide to have a late cubing session on the thousand fathom line where there were supposed to be long liners. As it happened live bait was hard to find but we did manage a few. Arriving at 12 mile the soundings looked good but after several lost rigs and a couple of jackets landed it was time to get out of there. The lures were put out and we headed for Browns. As we neared the shelf I sounded schools of bait and they were fairly high in the water column. Even though it was June and the temperature and water colour weren't great it was looking increasingly fishy. Just on the edge we had a hit on the shotgun where Brad 'J' lives. It took off a bit of line but no hook-up. Howie tried teasing with the lure to no effect then as I made a turn to circle the area the fish hit again we had our hook-up. It, as you are probably aware was a good Striped Marlin of around eighty kilo's which put up a great show for the novice angler. We ended up coming back inside Browns and starting a cube trail. Rhys put a jig down and to my surprise hooked up on his first drop. We were all speculating as to what it was. It was going pretty well, I thought it was an Albacore. Unfortunately the line broke but later on the guys using cubes caught a couple of big Striped tuna so I guess that was what we lost, I think... Tight lines, Ivan

We went out last Wednesday to try and find those mysterious Yellowfin. Reports had been coming in of the Yellowfin ranging along the temperature break South-East of Browns. Along with the'fin were occasional encounters with Blue and Striped Marlin. One of which we caught last week. We took Joseph Liu out, he primarily wanted to deep drop on Browns and have a go at Kingfish on the way. Unfortunately the current was not favourable at all. The Peak were there had been some action over previous days was completely shut down. To top it off there was no way to fish Browns, in my opinion, with 3.5 knots of current. So, the last option was to go wide, find the temperature break and maybe those mysterious Yellowfin and Marlin. Well we did just that and we were working the break when Ben who was just ahead of us in his boat 'Markoo' called up to say the were hooked up to a Yellowfin which they ultimately landed, it weighed 62.5 kilo's. So we were in the right area but unfortunately to no avail. Of interest it was apparent the current was easing. I got another chance to chase those elusive Yellowfin on Friday. I took out Tim and Scott who had just arrived from Minnesota after an unexpected delay, so were a little fatigued. The aim again was to go to the temperature break, work it and hopefully find them a fish. We got to the break were it was immediately apparent the current had eased and moved further out. I know a lot of anglers believe in the change of tide but I am a sceptic having caught heaps of Marlin well away from the changes. In this case the change was at 12:38pm. We had a crashing strike at 12:20pm., I'm still a sceptic. When the fish struck I thought I'd seen a bill but the fish never showed itself, maybe it was a 'fin. Then after nearly half an hour it started to move up to the surface where I got a glimpse, it was a Marlin and when it jumped a big Stripy revealed itself. Either because this fish had conserved its energy by staying deep or because Tim and Scott were jetlagged and had had a VB or two it put up a tough fight and both of them fought it a couple of times. As you will see in the video it didn't want to give in and was incredibly aggressive even at the end . The current out there has eased further and the fact that there are Long liners working near that break is indicative of Yellowfin in the area. Hopefully when the weather stabilises again we'll find them, we'll certainly be looking. Tight lines Ivan

After hearing reports of Yelllowfin and Marlin during the week. We went out with great expectations. I'd also been out on Wednesday with a group of jigging specialist. So a stopover on a couple of the reefs was on the cards too. Wednesday produced a wide assortment of fish due to the slow jigging technique these guys used. They caught Kings, Bonito,the ubiquitous Leather Jackets and Flutemouths which I have since found are quite a delicacy. The main ambition, no pun intended, however was to jig at Browns where they d told me they had been quite successful. The trouble was the current running South at 2.5 knots made the jigging all but impossible. I did learn a lot though. Saturday saw us going over the reefs again but all had changed. There was nowhere near the life that had been there on Wednesday, you could blame the moon if you wanted, so it was off to find the Yellowfin and Marlin . Needless to say we covered a lot of ground seeing only Dolphins and the occasional Gannet. The radio wasn't much help either. I heard of a couple of Marlin tagged, the shark fishermen weren't doing too well either unlike last week. However we persisted in the unseasonal warm water moving in to the shelf were there were patches of bait. Still nothing and the boys were getting restless. I moved in even closer hoping for some cooler water and that's when we got the strike. In only 70 fathoms the water was still 23.5 C and this fish took off at speed but not showing itself. It took a long run and I started to think we had a big 'fin but then it jumped much to the excitement of Blake and his mates and my relief. After a reasonable fight we had the fish along side where Ron Kovacs released it. To tell the truth I'm not sure if it was a Stripy or a Blue. Tight lines, Ivan