Fresh Sydney Harbour Fishing Reports

Yesterday was a most remarkable day, for fishing anyway. After last week-end’s effort where we raised two Marlin with no hook ups, yesterday was a complete turnaround. Reports during the week had indicated that the Marlin and most importantly the bait were still in the area so hopes were high for today’s adventure. We headed out intending to catch some bait to use either alive or as skippies so as to get a more secure hookup. It didn’t take long to catch the bait and that achieved, we headed for the shelf. It was a pleasant trip with some fair weather for a change. As we neared the shelf the bait and searching birds started to build up. The plan was to start with lures and to change over to baits as the day progressed. So, out went the lures and it wasn’t long before I marked a fish, which actually surprised me, because it was nowhere near any bait. It was only a few seconds later that the Brad ‘J’ on the shotgun took off and after a good fight a beautiful Striped Marlin was brought to boat and released. Continuing on and searching for bait I noticed heaps of Mutton birds on and beyond the shelf and went to look. Most of the birds were on their migration South from Siberia but amongst them many were working on what looked like Striped Tuna. I worked these schools for a while hoping there might be a Yellowfin or two amongst them. The end result was we didn’t find any so went back inshore and to chase the Marlin. By the time I got back inside the shelf the bait had thinned, when as I was considering changing over to skip baits the Brad ’J’ took off again with another nice Striped Marlin tearing the ocean apart. This was a tougher fish than the previous one but it was handled well and eventually brought to the boat and released. By now the bait had thinned out considerably so it was time to put out the skip baits. Having deployed the baits it was time to keep the eyes peeled and be ready. Suddenly the bait on the Port rigger popped out but since it didn’t appear to have been a hit Rob wound it back and put it back up when the Marlin showed itself. It popped the rigger again but again no hook up. Then while Rob was winding the bait back the Marlin appeared again and this time Rob teased it and it aggressively took the bait. After free spooling for a short time, the drag was engaged and we had a solid hook up. This one was also eventually brought to boat and released. So, now we had three Marlin for three of the four guys on board. The last guy was more interested in catching a Yellowfin. As luck would have it a friend, fishing out wide, had just landed a fifty kilo Yellowfin so I suggested we might go out and see what we could find. The guys all agreed so out we went. In the deep water there were heaps of birds migrating but we found several schools of Striped Tuna which I worked to no avail. Continuing on I was just about to head for home when there was a bust-up a couple of hundred metres ahead of us. Expectations were high but after working the area with no other sightings it was time to go home. It had been a remarkable day’s fishing for us with three Marlin under the belt. Generally speaking I would say to get three Marlin in a day off Sydney is remarkable however, to have, as I would guess, over twenty caught in a day off Sydney in October is exceptional. Tight lies, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .

I am glad to say those Yellowfin are still out there and in numbers. While travelling out to the grounds with Paul and his friends the radio was non stop reports of people hooking up. Hooking up with doubles and triples with Yellowfin varying from fifteen kilo’s up to and maybe over seventy kilo’s not to mention the occasional Marlin. It was to say the least a most frustrating hour. We finally arrived after what seemed an interminable amount of time and put the gear in. Even then the frustration continued. I seemed to be wherever the fish weren’t. Ron and I were getting restless, almost desperate for a strike. Well it did finally eventuate and you could feel the stress levels plumet as shouts of excitement rose from the deck. We went on to end up with five fish all between twenty and thirty kilo’s. We did lose a few fish when we had multiple strikes even a quadruple, luckily one dropped off before it became a real problem. Having a multiples with inexperienced anglers never having used our type gear and more used to catching Kingfish is quite an experience I can tell you. So, after an interesting day with plenty of fish to share and clean we headed for home. The wind had dropped off and an incredible sun set showed the way. Just had to watch out for the occasional whale. Tight lies, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .

Teraglin fish for the afternoon session pre storm bite session. Plus a morning box for the 7 hr trip display. This is a new feature too me , more to come on this feature.

I took Zakk and his friends from North Carolina out on Sunday. Zakk was keen to catch his first Marlin. However, after the weather we’d experienced over the previous week I had no idea what to expect. The charts only displayed the ocean currents which didn’t look very exciting, with no info of temperatures. So, we were basically going out blind, not that I that I trust the charts implicitly, however they do give a good overview. I put the lures in at the Twelve Mile where there were a couple of boats jigging and headed out. The temperature slowly increased to 20.8C at the shelf and as it turned out only increased to 21C at the thousand fathom line. On the way out we saw nothing neither birds nor bait. But I get ahead of myself. Just inside Browns I marked a bait school it wasn’t very solid echo but I did a circle and as I straightened up Ron let us no in no uncertain terms that there was a Marlin behind the *Blue illusion. It hit and took a bit of line but no hook up. When this happens, I always keep an eye on the *Brad ‘J’ on the shotgun. I have found that all too often if a Marlin hits one of the closer in lures and is not spooked it will come in on the shotgun. Sure enough, this one did too and was hooked up solidly, as it turned out the hook went right though the upper bill. It was a long hard fight, the Marlin hardly jumped, saving its energy until Ron took the leader as you’ll see in the video. There was a bit of tag teaming but eventually the Marlin, a quite big Stripy was brought along side and with photo’s taken released. With the pressure off now I continued out hoping to find the Yellowfin which should be here now. At the thousand fathom line I turned around not having seen anything, noting the current was coming from the East, not a very hopeful sign, hoping we might find another Stripy around the shelf. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any more bait, nor saw any birds and with daylight running out it was time to head for home. On the way in we did see a couple of Whales which performed for the charter but conversely also a caution for me. Tight lies, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .

Today was an interesting day at sea. It actually epitomised Game Fishing…ninety nine percent boredom and one percent mayhem, a lot of the time anyway. I took out Kin and some friends from Hong Kong today. These guys had never caught anything bigger than the equivalent of a Black Bream and were keen to catch a big fish. By any measure it was a very slow day out there today but after hearing of Yellowfin and Marlin caught yesterday the motivation was there to persevere. After several hours of trolling we hooked a Striped Tuna which created a lot of excitement and photo taking. After which we continued on just hoping something else would happen. After several more fruitless hours and with time running out I turned for home. I’d virtually given up on Marlin but as we approached the ’12 Mile’ Ron let us know in no uncertain terms that there was a Marlin following the short corner, a ‘Pakula Evil’. It hit the lure but no hook up then turned away, I thought that that was it but then it or another Marlin came in and took the lure solidly, hooked up and was off running. At the same time the starboard rigger got hit but didn’t hook up. Then amid the mayhem the port rigger was hit and took off at a rate of knots. It was absolute mayhem on deck as you’ll see in the video. Meanwhile Ron was working to clear the shotgun, frantically trying to keep the Brad ‘J’ from being eaten by yet another Marlin. With these guys of limited experience and limited English the last thing we needed was a triple hook up, a double was going to be problematic enough. Fortunately the fish on the ‘Lumo’ dropped off after a few minutes so we could concentrate on just the one fish which after some tag teaming, and lots of motivation, some of which I’ve had to mute from the video, was brought to the boat and released. Thankfully the perseverance paid off and Kin and his friends ended up experiencing the excitement of Game fishing as well as the tedium. Tight lies, Ivan

It was interesting fishing last week-end. I took Changyu and his friends out on Thursday hoping for a Marlin or Yellowfin. However there was still a residual swell running with a short frequency which exacerbated by a runout tide made for quite uncomfortable conditions. However conditions did ease a bit when we got out past the bounce back from the cliffs and the effects of run, but by then the damage was done. So, we headed back in and spent the day fishing in the harbour. Not something I can get excited about. It was back to grass roots fishing, catching lots of different species and seeing the excitement of newbies catching their first fish is in itself quite satisfying. Friday dawned a different day, it was pouring rain out to sea but the swell had ironed out and as the rain dissipated the sea calmed down. Again, Yellowfin and Marlin were on the menu. On Wednesday there had been a good bite from North of Broken Bay up to the Norah canyons. A bit too far for us to go but we did work our way up in that direction. We got our first strike just shy of the ‘Bait Station’ but no hook up. There weren’t many boats out but out there all caught fish,‘The Dom’ informed me that they’d tagged two Marlin earlier on in this area. I learned ‘Reel Smart’ and ‘El Pirata’ each tagged one and ‘Reel Smart’ also caught a big Mahi Mahi. We found a Stripy sunning itself but couldn’t excite it into taking the lure even after a couple of passes. Other than some flying fish and a patch of birds working on what appeared to be Striped tuna there was little bait in the area. However, it was patently obvious there were fish in the here so it would have been silly to leave the area. Eventually patience was rewarded when after hitting the Pakula Lumo and not hooking up a Striped Marlin found the Pakula Brad ‘J’, Ron then successfully teased it into striking and hooking up. After a short fight we released the fish, a nice Striped Marlin. Tight Lines, Ivan