What a remarkable day at sea today was. I took out Qing and three of his friends for their first day at Game Fishing and they had a baptism in fire. The video will give you some idea of the mayhem, but you had to be there to appreciate it. Bear in mind that these guys’ experience was only some small fish caught rock fishing. The day started slowly for us, but the radio was telling that the bait schools hadn’t moved on and that several Marlin had already been seen and tagged. I worked the bait schools for a while with no result so had decided to move on and that’s when we got our first strike, a blind strike on, surprise, surprise the Brad’J’ bullet. One of the guys took the rod and the others moved in to help him, one holding the rod, one winding and the other holding the guy with the rod, we were in trouble. It didn’t take long to realise it wasn’t a Marlin and as they brought it closer, I was surprised to see it was a Yellowfin around twenty to thirty kilo’s. Sadly, as luck would have it and with the help of some slack line the fish won its freedom. Though there have been a couple of Yellowfin taken around these bait schools recently it still comes as a big surprise to find any inside the shelf these days. So, we carried on and shortly after all hell broke loose. We had five, maybe six Marlin in the spread hitting the lures. Ron was running around like a chook with its head cut off trying to tease them into solidly striking the lures but to no avail. We had a couple on for a short time however not one of them stuck, but it was exciting to say the least. Sadly, the video does not do it justice. Fortunately, the day wasn’t a complete failure, we did end up tagging a Striped Marlin. Later in the day we had a double hook up and between the four of them on the rod they got one to the boat where Ron released it. The other fish was left to its own devices, the rod just left in the holder, so lost. By this time none of the guys were feeling terribly well so they decided it was time to go back in. A frustrating decision since it seemed the bite was happening with several boats hooking up as we left. Other than the seven or eight Marlin that came into our spread throughout the day, I saw another couple tailing down sea. Also, considering that three other boats, Rampage, Shoki and another whose name escapes me, had caught three when we left, not to mention several others boats with at least one to their credit it is hard to imagine the number of Marlin in the area. This Marlin bite has been going on for quite some time now and it is only October, the next few months could be quite something. The question is, are they holding in the area because of the bait or are they constantly passing through? Tight lines, Ivan • All lure used unless otherwise specified are Pakula Lures .

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 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 .