Fresh Mid North Coast Fishing Reports

It was an interesting day out yesterday. The wind held off, even though the predicted North-Easterly turned into a moderate South-Esterly later in the afternoon, it was like roller coaster ride with long low swells. The charts were showing that the warm water had pushed in closer and with it the temperature break. As we went out the temperature was what I thought to be an amazing 24.3 C at the Heads and at the 12 Mile over 26 C. It was going to be interesting to find out how the last few days of weather had affected the fishery. So, onward we went. Reports I’d heard were of Yellowfin out wide and longliners working in the area too. Before the weather there were good numbers of Marlin, both Blue and Striped, our targets for the day but if a Yellowfin got in the way it wouldn’t be a problem. The lines went in at the 12 Mile where we caught a couple of Striped tuna but nothing else eventuated until we were over the shelf. We were over the shelf in the cooler water when the band on one of the riggers broke and as Ron was winding the Lumo back a Striped Marlin raced in, Ron dropped the lure back and hooked up. After a stubborn fight the Stripy was brought to the boat and photos taken, and the fish released. I continued out to where I hoped the Yellowfin and a big Blue might be. And it struck me that though the VHF radio can be a punish to listen to, it can provide good info if you have the patience. When you’re out there alone you are fishing blind to a degree. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the Yellowfin or the longliners, though I have since heard they are down off Wollongong now. I went out to eight hundred fathoms but having found neither bait nor bird activity moved in closer where a Striped Marlin came in and hit a couple of lures without hooking up. Then in three hundred fathoms what I thought was a Blue smashed the Lumo and hooked up. It was brought to the boat without much fuss and we realised it was a Black. Unfortunately, while Ron was holding the bill waiting for the guys to take photos with a shake of its head the Marlin slipped free. Connor and his mates wanted to catch some Mahi Mahi so I headed for some FAD’s that I knew. I wasn’t sure if they’d be there after the big seas but we had to try. As suspected we couldn’t find them, whether they were pushed down by the current or lost altogether is unsure. As a last ditched effort we went to the fisheries FAD on the Nine mile reef but it too was gone. So ended an interesting day… Tight Lines, Ivan

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

Today worked out for a few successful Kings On The boat off On The Reef great day good times happy Fishing please join us you know you love it.

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

It has been a tremendous season for mahi mahi and this watm water , and fish , will hang around until at least mid june

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