Fresh Mid North Coast Fishing Reports

The water has started to cool and the well conditioned king are on the chew

Last weekend, coinciding with The Port Hacking 100 Tournament was an interesting if not frustrating couple of days to go fishing. Though it did have its highlights the fishing was disappointing when compared to the last few weeks with Striped Marlin. The Saturday was very quiet, a few Striped Marlin tagged and as many lost, Stripies being what they are. Undoubtably the most outstanding catch of the tournament was by a junior, Hunter Davies, fishing on ‘Tantrum’, who spent seven hours on a Blue Marlin which later weighed one hundred and seventy four point five kilo’s. Sunday was just as quiet but there were more encounters with big Blue Marlin, fish in the three hundred kilo range. Hopefully a sign of things to come. Sadly, there were no reports of Yellowfin tuna. The unluckiest boat of the tournament would have had to be Rob Molnar, ‘On Call’. They fished solidly for two days for virtually nothing but then just after the end of fishing hooked and tagged three Striped Marlin. I went out on Saturday taking Thomas Criniti and his family out to celebrate his father’s sixtieth birthday. The weather was pretty average to start with but soon calmed down. It was decided that Micky, Thomas’ sister would be first up. Sadly, listening to the tournament scheds with seventy two boats almost all calling zero’s didn’t inspire confidence. Then, just after the high tide the sounder beeped marking a couple of fish twenty fathoms down. I turned back on them and only a few minutes later there was a fish coming up behind Brad and yet another on Black Betty at the short corner. Black Betty hooked up and young Micky took the rod, the excitement on board was unbelievable. She did a great job on a very stubborn Striped Marlin which was eventually brought to boat and released. We saw nothing else for the rest of the day but in general it had been a good fun day and happy to have been among the few who caught fish. If the water stays as warm and the currents play the game hopefully the Blues will show up and maybe even the Yellowfin will show up too. Tight lines, Ivan

This seasons mahi mahi fishing has been the best ever

The Marlin bite here off Sydney continues as it has over the last few weeks with lots of reports coming in yesterday as well. Most boats out there are finding fish and more than a few experiencing multiples strikes. Most of the Marlin are Stripies but there is the occasional Blue as well as larger Mahi Mahi among them. We generally associate Striped Marlin with the shelf area, between eighty and one hundred and fifty fathoms where the bait congregates. However, this latest run has found the Stripies in numbers out to and over the thousand fathom line. There have been sightings of Yellowfin but they remain aloof though a few have been taken. I took George and his son Chase out today they saying it was their one-time chance to catch a Marlin. So, if it was going to happen today was the day. I put the lures in at eighty fathoms and trolled out towards Browns where there had been lots of action. At around four hundred fathoms we raised our first fish, a Striped Marlin which played with a couple of lures and did what Stripies do. We tried teasing it but no go. Expectation was now high, the guys had now seen their first Marlin and all eyes were glued to the lures. The second strike was a screamer but it only lasted a few seconds, the line snapping for no apparent reason and I sadly I lost one of my Brads. My only conclusion being that the line had tangled on the outrigger clip, one of the many ways to lose a Marlin. We continued on heading wider without seeing much but hearing that the action was further North, so off we went. It took a while for the next strike, but when it came it really took off, I thought it was a Blue. A long greyhounding run then sounding. George had the rod and was worked hard but he wanted to give his son a shot so they swapped over. This was a tough fish and Chase did a good job eventually bringing it to the boat and it was a Stripy a very very good one. The next fish hit us as we crossed the shelf on our way home. George took this one and made quick work of it. It put up quite a spectacular show much to the joy of George and Chase whose ambition, no pun intended, had been satisfied. Tight lines, Ivan

I Took Sean and his brother Kevin from Ohio out last Monday with high hopes of finding the Marlin and Yellowfin that we’d seen over the previous weeks. Recently we’ve had a really good run of Marlin with both Blues and Stripes being found in good numbers. The Bait Station as well as the shelf area holding heaps of bait, attracting the Stripes. Out wider Blues caused havoc amongst the many sightings of Yellowfin even though few of either have been caught. Once reaching the shelf I trolled out seeing very little bait and bird activity, in fact it wasn’t until we were in four hundred fathoms that we saw anything. Meantime Huss on ‘Finfinder’ called up saying they had Yellowfin busting up in five hundred fathoms. That was motivation enough and it wasn’t long afterward that one of the rods took off. Ron and the guys were yelling Yellowfin but all I could see was a really good Mahi Mahi running and jumping away from us. What I hadn’t seen was a bust up of sixty kilo plus Yellowfin beside us. Finally, the hooked Mahi Mahi got the crew’s attention and after a good fight Sean landed a 1.4 metre Bull, one of the best I’ve seen in a very long time. As we headed out we saw more and more birds and scattered bait, expectation was high. We were soon rewarded with a heavy strike on the rigger and the ‘Blue Illusion’ was taken and racing off with a nice Blue of around 130 kilo’s attached. The fish put on a great display which sadly cannot be fully appreciated from the video below. After releasing the Marlin I continued out hoping for Yellowfin. The further out we went the more birds we found, all working over a wide area. Occasional the birds would come together and the Yellowfin would bust up drawing us and the birds towards them. It was incredibly difficult to reach these bust ups in time to present the lures to the fish they were so short lived, only a few fish being apparent. It seemed as though there were only a few small schools of Yellowfin moving very quickly chasing small schools of bait. However, I did manage to get close to one of the bust ups while the fish were still up. We had swirls behind the lures but no hook ups, exceedingly frustrating. However, while chasing the Yellowfin we did pick up another big Mahi Mahi. I went out again on Wednesday with Mat and some of his friends from San Francisco. We went out hoping the Marlin, Yellowfin and Mahi Mahi were still around but this time in a better biting mood. It was a lot rougher this day so I headed for the Bait Station to give us a more comfortable ride out. There was as expected plenty of bait but after working the area for some time with no action moved further offshore. As I trolled out it became apparent everything had changed, no birds, no bait, no nothing. I trolled out to five hundred fathoms then turned South toward where we were on Monday. As I made the turn Ron yelled out Yellowfin. I turned around just in time to see a big ‘fin out of the water trying to eat Brad but alas it missed. Everyone was awake now and with great expectations.I worked the area for a while with no result then continued South. Well, we were just about done for the day when ‘Lumo’ took off with yet again another big Mahi Mahi. Compared to Monday the ocean was dead, everywhere was dead, the bait was gone and the birds were not to be found. I could think of a myriad excuse for our lack of success and why it was so i.e. full moon, water colour, wrong tides, too sunny etc. The facts of the matter is that here off Sydney especially there is nothing to hold bait other than Browns, the Bait Station and the Southern Canyons. We are at the mercy of the vagaries of the East Australia Current and its unpredictable spin-offs creating an ever-changing fishery. So there is reason to be optimistic tomorrow will be different and maybe even better. Tight lines, Ivan

Autumn has always been the best time of year for Game Fishing out of Sydney. Generally speaking, this is when we encounter the larger fish of the species rather than numbers. Although having said that this Autumn has been exceptional, so far. Over the last couple of weeks both Blue and Striped Marlin as well as Mahi Mahi have shown up in numbers off Sydney. The Mahi Mahi as is usual are found around the various F.A.D’s with live bait producing the bigger fish, being the first boat at the spot helps as they can become spooky when there is too much boat traffic. As for the Marlin, they could be anywhere. Usually however, if you find the bait you’ll find the Marlin, but not always. Sometimes you’ll find the bait before the Marlin, as a friend of mine, Steve Baker (Fly By Night) did. He found heaps of bait well North of the ‘Bait Station’, worked it for several hours for no result. The next day Rob Molnar in his boat ‘On Call’ had a blinder of a day raising fourteen Marlin in that same area. On the day Steve found the bait North of the ‘Bait Station’ I was out with Jamie McKay on ‘Ground Swell’ fishing an area a couple of miles South of them where there was scattered bait. We had a great day too. We’d already bagged out on Mahi Mahi and ended up raising eight Marlin of which we tagged three, all Blues ranging from 130 kg. to 180 kg. We should have had two more but for a broken hook and another mishap which I will not go into, if you want more info just ask Jamie. From what I heard on the radio almost everyone fishing for Marlin over the last week or so have caught or raised Marlin with many being pack attacked by Stripies. Around the shelf area where the bait tends to stack up is where most of the action for them has been. But out around Browns both North and South out to four hundred fathoms there have been Stripies and Blues with the occasional sighting of Yellowfin tuna. Frustratingly Stripies are habitually finicky when it comes to lures and tough to hook so ‘Bait and Switch’, live baiting as well as skipping baits is the most effective method to hook them though teasing them on lures works too. What to me is most interesting is the water temperature. We were reading 28.5 degrees which I confirmed with other boats. In the past we’d consider 27 degrees too hot and look for cooler water. Yet here we are with a great bite and much hotter water. I suppose one answer is that our on-board gauges have a limited range over which they are accurate. Another potential answer is these above high temperatures are only a surface layer of maybe only a metre or two in depth leaving the bait below in a more comfortable zone. Well whatever is happening the fishing is great and if it keeps up the S.G.F.C’s annual Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament on the 13th. and 14th. April will be awesome. It is at this tournament where we have regularly weighed Blue Marlin over two hundred kilo’s with several over three hundred kilo’s also Yellowfin tuna over seventy kilo. For those that chase sharks big Tigers are a regular at the weigh station. So, the Marlin are there and if you don’t go … Tight lines, Ivan