Ambition report 26th. March'18
March 25, 2018 Sydney 3 photos
Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)
Dolphin (Mahi Mahi)
Marlin (Blue)
Marlin (Blue)
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Marlin (Black)
Marlin (Black)
Marlin (Striped)
Marlin (Striped)

Trip Summary

The good news is that Marlin are still here, Blues and Stripes mostly and amongst them a run of Sydney Yellowfin Tuna. This run of Tuna was a regular occurrence in the past and was the reason the Sydney Game Fishing Club's 'Summer point score' season was extended from mid-April to May. One can only hope this is the start of another period of Yellowfin prevalence. Also, around the FAD's and traps there are schools of Mahi Mahi. Though not the real big ones they are the good eating schoolies. The run of Marlin that has kept us on our toes and losing lures for the last few weeks has slowed. The bite has moved a little further South with the prevailing currents. Over the week-end Port Hacking held their annual Tournament. About seventy boats competed, the biggest Marlin a Blue weighing 190kg. and the biggest Tuna a 68 kg. Yellowfin. I don't think we have seen the end of this run of Sydney Yellowfin tuna and Marlin. It is still just the end of March, the beginning of autumn. If history is anything to go by we'll have several more weeks of Marlin and hopefully Yellowfin tuna to enjoy. It's just a matter of perseverance and patience waiting for the next warm current to pulse down from the North. Tight lines, Ivan
Ivan Bennett
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Other reports from this captain

Ambition Report 28th.March’24
Ambition Report 28th.March’24
March 25, 2024
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
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Ambition report 11th.March’24
Ambition report 11th.March’24
March 12, 2024
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
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Ambition report 15th.December’23
Ambition report 15th.December’23
December 15, 2023
I was keen to get out today after being out last Monday when we raised a Striped marlin but sadly missing the hook up. However I was surprised today to see how conditions had changed. On Monday the inshore water temperature was around the 23 C which is unusual enough for this time of year but offshore at 300 fathoms I read 25.2 C a temperature more normally found in February and March. Even allowing for error in my temperature guage the STC’s were showing 24.7 C, so it couldn’t have been too far out. Today the inshore waters were a more normal 21.7 degrees but dirty green probably from the rainwater runoff. However offshore, past the shelf, it was still over 24 degrees and a beautiful blue. The colour which induces confidence even if it is unseasonably warm. We trolled towards Browns where we raised the Marlin on Monday when in roughly the same area the rigger with ‘Pakula Lumo’ took off at a rate of knots. Surprisingly even though both Ron and I were watching the lures neither of us saw the hookup. The Marlin jumped once and just raced off on one huge run leaving poor Cuyler (I hope I got his name right) an awful lot of line to get back. He did eventually get the Marlin which turned to the boat and released it. Then while Ron was resetting the gear the rigger with ‘Pakula Lumo’ went off again sadly this time it didn’t hook up. We had another strike later in the day on ‘Brad’ by what I thought was either a Wahoo or a Spearfish but again no hookup. It was only because of the water temperature that I even considered a Wahoo a fish not often seen around Sydney these days. What this unseasonal warm ( hot ) water might mean to the Sydney fishery is going to be anyone’s guess. Will it continue to warm up?, seems most likely. Will it bring more tropical species down here? , hopefully but whether this is good thing or bad thing is another question. Will is push our Striped Marlin fishery South?, I hope not. I am sure there are many other questions and likelyhoods but whatever the end result it will be interesting. Tight lines, Ivan
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