Ambition report 25th.April'18
April 24, 2018 Sydney 3 photos
Marlin (Blue)
Marlin (Blue)
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Tuna (Yellowfin)
Marlin (Striped)
Marlin (Striped)

Trip Summary

I took Tony and his wife Anne from Mackay out Game Fishing off Sydney on Monday. After my success the previous Saturday I decided to go South again. It was a mistake, it was a beautiful day but still a mistake. The only fish I heard about when we got in were a 200 kilo Blue Marlin from Ed Aspden's boat 'Malekula' and a 60 kilo Yellowfin by Robbie Antunes from his boat 'Angelica'. I had gone the wrong way. I later heard about a Spearfish taken somewhere off Botany. Ironically the reason for Tony's visit to Sydney was to fulfil an ambition (no pun intended) to tag all the Billfish species found off Australia in one year. He only needs a Spearfish and a Broadbill to succeed. He'll probably get the Broady in Tasmania, his next stop, but I don't like his chances for a Spearfish but you never know. Yesterday I went North to the area Ed caught his Blue. The water had cooled a little and as I went out developed a greenish tinge. I continued out to what I thought might be a Long Liner some ten miles further. At around 600 fathoms the shotgun went off and we were on. Tony took the rod and after a relatively easy fight of 45 minutes we gaffed a 60.5 kilo Yellowfin. We took photo's taken and continued out. It seemed to get more barren as we continued so at around 800 fathoms I turned back to where we had taken the previous fish. I had no sooner turned when a fish crashed the short corner and screamed off. My first thoughts were a Blue but it quickly became apparent it was another 'fin. This one wasn't so easy, poor Tony had to fight for every inch. Most of the fight was at 'sunset' and took nearly two hours to bring it to gaff much to a relieved Tony. The Yellowfin later weighed at the club went 72.5 kilo's. Notwithstanding the fact that Tony didn't really want to get involved with another Yellowfin anyway, we had now bagged out. So I headed in to safer waters to maybe find a Striped Marlin or two, which incidentally didn't happen. Over the last couple of weeks I have found the Yellowfin over a wide area ranging from as close in as 250 fathoms and out beyond 1,000 fathoms. If the Long liners are still around they must be in good numbers too. Apart from the Yellowfin there are reports of big Blue Marlin too. The boat 'Doghouse' killed two weighing 198 and 202 kilo's from further South. This has always been the time of year for big Blue Marlin off Sydney. All this action augers well for the upcoming 'Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament' this week-end at the S.G.F.C. See you there, Ivan
Ivan Bennett
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Other reports from this captain

Ambition Report 27th.April’25
Ambition Report 27th.April’25
May 11, 2025
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
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Ambition Report 27th.April’25
Ambition Report 27th.April’25
April 25, 2025
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
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Ambition Report 18th.April’25
Ambition Report 18th.April’25
April 12, 2025
A bit of a late report but better late than never I guess. Last weekend’s Peter Goadby Memorial Tournament held by the Sydney Game Fishing Club was held in great weather with thirty-four boats competing. There were thirty-eight Marlin tagged, both Blues and Stripes. Twelve Yellowfin were taken and one good one going sixty-eight kilo’s also a thirteen-point seven kilo Mahi Mahi. There were also a couple of Mahi Mahi, Spearfish and even a couple of Wahoo tagged and taken. Generally speaking, a great weekend of fishing even given that the moon was full and however you want to interpret its relevance. We on Ambition had a frustrating time of it. We tagged a Striped Marlin early on the Saturday and our high hopes were slowly dashed having not seen any further action for the rest of the weekend. One of the interesting things during the tournament was that on Saturday there were lots of Yellowfin, seen and hooked yet on Sunday they had virtually disappeared with only a couple taken - the fickleness of fishing. We were actually mass attacked, as you’ll see in the video, creating excitement and confusion on deck. The, or whichever fish it was finally hooking up on, as you’ll probably guess, Pakula’s Brad ‘J’. The water is still especially warm and with Striped and Blue Marlin out wide and even Blacks inshore not to mention Yellowfin amongst Spearfish and Wahoo in evidence it should be interesting fishing over the next few weeks. Tight Lines, Ivan
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